RateItAll: The Opinion Network

He was the most beautiful, athletic, talented, charismatic horse I've ever seen and we will have to wait a long time for his like to come along again.

Steriod monster

Secretariat by a mile!!! Won Kentucky Derby 1973 - broke track record with time of 1:59 2/5...still the record in 2008 Won Preakness 1973 - broke track record with time of 1:53 2/5...still the record in 2008 Won Belmont Stakes to win the Triple Crown - broke WORLD record for 1 1/2 miles on a dirt track...still the record in 2008 Any other questions? :)

the greatest ever, none better, a machine!!

If you haven't seen the Life and Times of Secretariat, order it! This horse was absolutely talented and quite an athlete!

Only athlete on the list of 100 Greatest Athletes that wasnt human

The best ever... 2:24 in the Belmont.

Secretariat was possibly the greatest racehorse ever. Whereas some horse racing historians argue that Man o' War was the better racehorse, Man o' War never had to contend with the competitive field Secretariat had to face, and eventually, overcome. Would Man o' War have beaten the same field Secretariat raced against- perhaps the greatest field ever assembled, which included: Forego (who is ranked among the top 10 greatest thoroughbreds of all-time), Onion, Sham, Riva Ridge, Cannonero II and et cetera? It is not far-fetched to make a claim that many of these horses were capable of winning the Triple Crown (and Sham likely would have done it in most other years). However, it takes a special horse to beat such a talented field, and Secretariat proved he was. Nevertheless, it is truly hard to say whether Man o' War would have been able to achieve such a similar feat (as great as he was). And finally, to compare Man o' War's 100+ length victory in a match race against Secretariat's spectacular 31 length dominance over his rivals in the Belmont Stakes is inane. Secretariat's victory was far more significant over a tough field of capable horses than Man o' War's drubbing of a single horse in a match race. And destroying the old Kentucky Derby record by Northern Dancer, as well as unofficially breaking the record the Preakness- not to mention his supernatural shattering of the record at Belmont by over 2+ seconds (which has only once been approached within 2 seconds since)- weren't just by coincidence! Secretariat performances were nothing short of surreal, especially on the biggest of stages (of course, he was a freak of nature as Secretariat's heart weighed 21+ pounds at his autopsy). No disrespect to Man 'o War, but as great as he was, I just cannot see him winning over the legendary Secretariat.

Great, but cat-food for the likes of Eclipse (1764-1789) and Kincsem(1874-1887). Also, Carbine (1885-1914) carried more weight!

The greatest horse of all time, with the possible exception of Man o' War.

There is some symmetry to the fact that both these horses had the same barn nickname, Big Red.

His thirty something length victory in the Belmont will stand forever as one of the benchmarks of greatness.

In any sport.

Overrated--got beat--wouldn't have had the Belmont finish he did if Sham hadn't come up lame at the start.

Without any close rival; No point in even rating any of the others on this list.

I would never bet against him. He did incredible things on the race track. His Triple Crown races were really something to behold... record, record (clock malfunction), record!!!

Greatest!!!!

UNQUESTIONABLE greatness. Belongs at the very top of any great thoroughbred list. Lot's of great names on this list...but don't kid yourselves, people, and try to bring up long forgotten equines from another age...("harumph, sniff...yeah Elvis was OK, but ACTUALLY Leonard Wockenfuss, a great singer fom the 1820's, was probably the author of the greatest sounds ever produced by a human larynx"). Everyone just get over themselves for a moment and, at least this one time, face conventional wisdom. It's Secre-FREAKIN-tariat !!!

2 year old racing season, could not compete with Man O WAR

Secretariat has to be one of the greatest, if not, THE greatest, race horses of all time. He won the Belmont by 31 lengths, going faster each quarter! Need I say more? I may be a little prejudiced though, considering that my horse is one of his great-grand daughters.

Only because there's not a "6" rating. He was the ultimate.

Secretariat was so far out of the ordinary that the only thing one can say is that he, like Shakespeare, Beethoven or Aristotle, was touched by the hand of God. I'm not religious...but that horse did things I've never seen before or since in any sport. If he had been human, he'd have topped all the all-time lists. You had to live through it to understand. I'm 46. All three TC races were ridiculous. The Derby...accelerated the whole way. Preakness...last to first around a narrow turn. And the Belmont. People in the stands...were crying. Even Arcaro said he believed no horse could've beaten Secretariat that day. I have a pic of the finish that day...to include all the horses, the pic is seven inches tall by eighty four inches long. Unbelievable is an overused term...but unbelievable is what it was and that's why people are so emotional about it to this day. Some horse. Who cares about "best?" All I know is that you'd be damned hard pressed to find anyone who knows anything about the sport to bet on any other horse if that big red one was healthy and in shape. And he intimidated his rivals. Ask Forego. A great horse in his own right, he was cooked by Secretariat. The only other horse I've seen in my lifetime who may've given him a problem was the 4 year old Spectacular Bid...Cheers...

Secretariat was everything and then some...His two year old losses were hardly losses; for all practical purposes he went undefeated in '72....In '73 the Wood Memorial loss was a fluke as the Derby showed....Na, they knew about the blistered gum; they didn't think it would matter and they chose not to inform Turcotte, but he and the exercise rider knew something was wrong before the race...in his workouts he was acting strange.. As for the Whitney, carrying an infection does matter...look what happened to Rock Hard Ten a few years ago in the Travers Stakes. He too carried an infection and temperature, and after starting well he faded to last...After the race they discovered he was running a temp and tucked him away for the rest of the year. The only race Sec lost where there was no physical problem was the Woodward. In that race he finished second to Prove Out who ran one heck of a race...Prove out ran 1.5 miles in the slop at 2:25.8, 4/5ths faster than the previous track record for that distance (the record set on a fast track by Gallant Fox in the 1950’s). He had been well trained for that race by Allen Jerkins and no doubt his performance surprised Allen himself. Secretariat on the other hand finished at 2:26.4, 1/5 faster than the previous record, and this in the slop. Sec's trainer and owner had hoped not to run him that day as they had been preparing Riva Ridge for the race but the track turned up sloppy and Riva couldn’t handle off tracks. Sec instead had been going thru light workouts on the grass track as his trainer was introducing him to that surface in preparation for the ManOWar Stakes, a race scheduled for the following week. And despite that, despite not being worked hard as Sec had always required hard workouts to loosen and stretch his muscles, in particular for long distances, Sec for the second time broke the previous track record of 2:26.6, and this on a slow deep sloppy tack. Had he been properly prepared, perhaps as much as a second could have been taken off his time. He would have defeated Prove Out by maybe 1 to 2 lengths, but it would have been close. Na, Sec was everything his records show and then some.

A good horse during his time, but as good as some of the others? I think he would of not done well under some of the conditions the other greats did.

He was great during his day, but I don't think he could of overcome the challenges that the early greats did.

Secretariat was indeed a Great Horse, probably in the very tops of all time. He set a total of 5 time records as a 3yo, although none were OVERALL world records (the Belmont was only a DIRT record). Clearly the horse had the talent (for the Belmont doubters, the fact that he blew away the other opponents indicates the track was not "super slick" - otherwise they would've been up there with him!). I doubt his perserverence, though, so I will not rate him #1 of all time. A sore lip (that according to some never surfaced in public until a year had gone by), a pre-illness, and "unpreparedness" (they entered him but weren't prepared? come on) just don't cut it for a super-great talented horse to be #1. You have to be THE MASTER who can overcome certainly abstract (off-track) much less concrete (on-track) problems, and doesn't need special equipment besides (hood, front wraps). When 1 already exists who covers all that - you cannot be #1. But for general rating, Sec deserves to be up there in range.

NO one seems to remember that the great horse broke, yes broke the existing track record for the Preakness ! Four separate judges on their on stopwatches picked that up. The "official clock for the track, had him at a much slower time, the clock was checked at the days end of racing and found to be incorrect and had to be recalibrated !! How ?? could that happen ! accident or not the existing record holder at that time was a MARYLAND STATE BRED ... Track officials refused to alter the winning time Secretariat would have broken all existing legs of the Triple Crown a racing feat indeed. Too bad he had an aging bumbling trainer who thought that Riva Ridge was the best of the two horses in his stable...

Secretariat was an absolute phenomenon as were the only other American racehorses who can truly be mentioned in the same breath as him - Man O'War and Citation.

I agree with the below comments on Phar Lap, he was a great horse, good enough for the mob to poison and kill him...BUT Secretariat gave me goosebumps. I am so glad he lived in my lifetime. His belmont record still stands 33 years later. I still get chills when I watch that race. NO horse has ever run each quarter faster than the one before it at a mile and a half! I got to see him in his paddack and took pictures years later...what a horse!

On his best day, at any distance, on any surface, Secretariat was unbeatable. In all of sport, he is and always will be the greatest. He is so good, he should not have been able to exist.

Read Hippy Lawyers comments carefully. He really does a good job of summing up the Legacy and greatnest of secretariat. I think he was the greatest horse of all time.

Secretariat was a great racehorse. Phar Lap (New Zealand) was probably better than Secretariat and Man O'War though. He dominated racing in Australia to such an extent that rules were changed to try and stop his dominance (much they they have done to Michael Schumacher). He was so good he was given 150 pounds to carry in the 1931 Melbourne Cup. In 1932 he came to America an desroyed the American horses in the Agua Caliente Handicap. His heart was about double a normal horses (Like Secretariat's was).

Amazing horse . No horse has come close to his time in the derby!

no comparison

With the possible exception of Wayne Gretzky (I don't know enough about hockey to comment), there have been 3 figures in American sports history whose feats were so great they would blow out a computer. The first, and most obvious, was Babe Ruth, who led the league in all the categories now recognized to matter most, almost every year, over a 14-year span (1918-1931). He had 3 years where he hit more home runs than any other American League TEAM. (It's true.) He led the AL in slugging 13 times in 14 years, and if you eliminate his years with the dead ball (1914-1919), his CAREER slugging average was well over .700. Until steroid ball, only something like 7 other players had ever slugged over .700 for a single season. And Ruth had a better lifetime batting average than Tony Gwynn, and was a spectacular pitcher. Only Mays, among non-steroid users, is remotely close, but no great all-around player can do as much damage as a hitter like Ruth. The second is Wilt Chamberlain, who once scored 100 points in a game, once had 55 rebounds in a game, once AVERAGED 50 points per game for a season, once led the league in assists (!), and has some unbelievable percentage of the games where someone scored 70 or more points. Like Ruth, only slightly less so, Wilt's numbers would blow up a computer. I don't think it's an overstatement to put Secretariat in this company. His record in the Derby still stands, 32 years later. How many racing records stand that long? Almost none. And his performance in the Belmont is arguably the greatest single-day performance in the history of American sports. All the pressure in the world on him--and we know how animals feel human expectations--and he goes out and does the equivalent of hitting more home runs than any other entire team. I mean, 31.5 lenghts?!?! It is an unreal feeling to listen to the broadcast of that race. I saw it on TV at the time, at age 20, and watched with tears of joy streaming down my face. I make no apology for those tears. I recall when ESPN did their Top 50 Sports Figures of the 20th Century, and several athletic friends of mine were outraged that a racehorse made the list. I told them I was outraged Big Red was only #33 or #35, or whatever he was. It is my understanding that in the 32 years since Big Red's biggest coup, no horse has come within TWO FULL SECONDS of his time in the Belmont! Is that true? If it is, just ask yourselves how many racing records even stand for 32 years (like his Derby record), much less do so by a two-second margin. I know Big Red lost races. Babe Ruth got thrown out stealing second base, an attempt he made entirely on his own initiative, when he was the tying run and a power hitter was at the plate with the winning run . . . with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the 7th game of the 1926 World Series. That may sound incredible, so look it up. And Wilt Chamberlain had dreadful moments on the court. But it is indisputable that nobody ever dominated their games to the degree that they did. Perhaps Mays (I doubt it) and Jordan (probably) were better players when all was said and done, but they were nowhere near so dominant over their peers, in their primes. Secretariat is fully their equal. That he failed occasionally at lesser moments is not, as I see it, terribly important. He knew when it counted most, and when it did, he did not merely win. He annihilated. He did the statistically unthinkable. For that, he deserves to be remembered in the same breath as the two most famously dominant American sports figures--men who so utterly dominated their games that others could only shake their heads and compete for second... like those other jockeys and horses did at the 1973 Belmont. Jim F.

Belmont by 31. Need I say more?

Superior horse, his heart, I heard, was 2.5x larger than a normal horse's heart. More of a freak of nature. He made Sham look like a Sham.

IF ANY OTHER HORSE BUT SECRETARIAT HAD RAN IN THE WHITNEY WITH 102 DEGREE TEMPERATURE THAT AFTERNOON AGAINST ONION HE WOULD HAVE BEEN FINISH FOR THE YEAR, IF HE COULD HAVE FINISHED AT ALL THAT IS LET ALONE COMIIG BACK DO DEMOLISH THE BEST THEY COULD THROW AT HIM IN THE MARLBORO CUP SETTING A WORLD RECORD FOR THE ONE MILE AND ONE EIGHT, GREED BEAT THE GREAT HORSE NOT OTHER,HE OFTEN RAN WHEN HE SHOUDN'T, HE WAS A MEASURING STICK THAT ALL OTHER HORSES WILL FOREVER BE MEASURED, THE GREATEST EVER YES HE WAS, BY THE WAY DOES ANY BODY KNOW WHICH WAY ONION WENT WHEN HE RAN AGAINST BIG RED IN THE MARLBORO,WELL LOOK IT UP HE IS STILL RUNNING. CALL IT AS I SEE IT

I don't normally go for the horses that are not the underdogs but secratariat is cool. Man O' War is still beter than him, and Ruffian tops them all.(to me)

Secratariat was ok, but Ruffian would not have lost to Onion. She definantly had more heart than he did. She had more heart than any racehorse ever born or ever to be born. she still races on in our hearts, and she always beats Man O' War, Seabiscuit, and duh, even Secratariat. irishgit: Tell me why then did Secratariat and Man O' War die in thier stalls? Why didn't they die while trying to beat the horses they lost to? Tell me that and i will change my ratings on both of them. I don't go for the big, well bred horses, but i go for the underdogs and the fillies!

A truly great horse... 31 lengths, Secretariat is widening now, moving like a tremendous machine... Oh man I get goosebumps when I see that Belmont on tape. He ran the mile and a quarter in his Belmont fater then mile the mile and a quarter in his Kentucy Derby. To this day holds the world record for 1 1/2 miles. if they would have Beyer figures, they say his Belmont Beyer would have been a 130! He ran each quarter mile in his Kentucky Derby faster then previous quarter mile... unheard of! Then there was that incredible move he made on the Pimlico clubhouse turn in the Preakness... My God what a horse!!!!!! But how does he lose to Onion? He was super but not as super as Big Cy...

A legendary racehorse with a cool name to boot.

By far the greatest of all time.

Secretariat was the absoloute best, shattering one record after another with his large size and his brilliant speed. The top of this list is where he belongs, not Man o' War. No one will ever forget his devastating 30-length victory in the Belmont Stakes. He was dubbed Horse of the Decade, but some say he was horse of the century.

Man O' War would not have lost to Onion!

The Greatest. In fact, so great that he made the ESPN 100 Greatest Athletes of the Century. While some people expressed outrage that a beast made it over some humans, I'll take Secretariat's athleticism over, let's say, a race car driver. His performance in the Belmont Stakes was one of the greatest feats of athletic dominance I have ever seen. When he died, his autopsy revealed that his heart was nearly twice the size of an average racehorse.

Secretariat is and forever remains Thoroughbred racing's greatest horse!!! His records at the Kentucky Derby,Preakness, and Belmont will never be broken!

An absolutely imcomparable racehorse. I can still see him running away at the Belmont Stakes in 1973. I doubt we'll ever see the likes of him again. Yes Man O'War was great, but Secreteriat was the best.

This was the greatest horse ever to race. He ranks number 1 all-time. He was the last horse to win the Triple Crown in 1976. He was the quickest and fastest horse ever to race. He was not that strong but he was so fast he won the races by a mile.

There once was a Secretariat, but only once! The greatest of all time.

I'm not a fan of Horse racing, but I am a fan of Secretariat..

I can't get past the big red horse. Sprinter to routing, dirt or turf, he was one in a million. He had the looks, the pedigree and the talent to back it all up.

Im my opinion the greatest horse of all time. The 73 belmont says it all, his record time still stands, and no other horse has ever come close, and winning by 31 lengths? Thats like winning the INDY 500 by 10 laps, oe a marathon by a mile,

secretariat's performance in the belmont was unforgettable and will never be rivaled.