I wonder if the booers were Sham fans. Any other year, Sham would most likely have won the Triple Crown. I feel really sorry for Sham....not just because he was a great horse that had the misfortune to be in the TC with Secretariat, a one of a kind horse, but also because he always got such a beating from Pincay. I hate that!!
The booing is interesting and unfortunate but not unexpected. Some people are deriders of anything great. All one has to do is visit other videos of some great horses and you will see the same irrational behavior toward Secretariat. However, at the end of the day, they who boo and deride deprive themselves of the joy that Secretariat so unselfishly bestowed upon the entire world.
I'm not surprised that Secretariat received some booing. Being a gambling sport there were people there who wanted to make some money so naturally if they bet on Sham or any of the other horses they would want Secretariat to lose. Luckily Secretariat didn't know the diference between a boo and a cheer; he just picked up on all the energy, negative or positive, and ran with it. Or I shold say flew with it because he was more Pegasus that day than Secretariat.
I was 12 at the time, living in Merrick, NY, some 10 miles from Belmont. It was June but hot as August. Our house had no a/c. My father and I were watching the telecast on a portable tv. As soon as Big Red II stepped onto the track (at about the 3:54 on the clip) .... blackout! TV brat that I was, I cursed the video fates. My father, radio child that he was (and still is), got out his Sony barrel-shaped portable AM radio and we listened to Chic Anderson count 'em off.
Thank you for posting this! I haven't seen the entire Belmont coverage of Secretariat's Triple Crown since 1973 when my parents and I watched it live. I was six years old and excited to see "my" horsie race again. I remember yelling at the TV, "Hurry up! I wanna see my horsie run!"
I hear some booing, but I can't be sure what or who the boos were directed at. Let's just say IF it WAS toward Secretariat, the boo birds must have been eating crow as the lead got bigger, ad bigger and bigger.
Are you sure it's Secretariat they're booing? Sham was his challenger, and only one horse ahead of him; it can be hard to determine who's doing the booing, and from what angle. Granted, it might be bad sportsmanship, but so many people craved to see a Triple Crown winner (kind of like right now, actually...) that they might have booed 1A because he stood as the greatest threat to Secretariat freeing everyone from the 25 year drought.
Well Bon and CF, i'm about sure when these booing are watching this in 2009, they will feel pretty stupid. Haha. These were the Golden Years of racing in the US, right?!
Listen to the booing of the cynics, unbelievable, it's age of high exposure , Vietnam, and Watergate. Watergate breakin was almost exactly one year before, June 17, 1972. Alfred Vanderbilt was stunned, shocked at the amazing dismissal of Secretariat after the Wood Memorial. You wouldn't have had this in 1948, 25 yrs earlier. It warps the ability of these cretons to realize what we had, how pathetic. And of course, announcers like Jack Whitaker had no idea of the abscess when doing his intro.
Couldn't agree more. It's a shame that people were booing; if only they knew what they were about to witness. The way Big Red was widely dismissed is one of, if not the biggest, misjudgements in racing history. You're right, it's painfully obvious that Secretariat was not right in the Wood, but many hypercritical cynics just can't/wont accept a logical explanation. I'll take the word of those connected to the horse over anyone, anytime. What gives anyone the right to deem them liars?
@bon1042 agree wholeheartedly. they were dead wrong. Goodness and purity and a straightforward and simple love of running and freedom, incarnate in a race horse, stuck it to all those cynics and self-servers that day. i was a happy and triumphant 10 year old who had his hope affirmed that day. No one could ever tell me otherwise about dreams and faith and hope...
Never underestimate BIG RED
MrFrank440 5 days ago
Big Red heard the booing and though,::"" im gonna show this guys """
tikizia1981 1 month ago
I wonder if the booers were Sham fans. Any other year, Sham would most likely have won the Triple Crown. I feel really sorry for Sham....not just because he was a great horse that had the misfortune to be in the TC with Secretariat, a one of a kind horse, but also because he always got such a beating from Pincay. I hate that!!
kwgrid 4 months ago
The booing is interesting and unfortunate but not unexpected. Some people are deriders of anything great. All one has to do is visit other videos of some great horses and you will see the same irrational behavior toward Secretariat. However, at the end of the day, they who boo and deride deprive themselves of the joy that Secretariat so unselfishly bestowed upon the entire world.
bbmtge 5 months ago
I'm not surprised that Secretariat received some booing. Being a gambling sport there were people there who wanted to make some money so naturally if they bet on Sham or any of the other horses they would want Secretariat to lose. Luckily Secretariat didn't know the diference between a boo and a cheer; he just picked up on all the energy, negative or positive, and ran with it. Or I shold say flew with it because he was more Pegasus that day than Secretariat.
ScooterGirl9988 1 year ago
I was 12 at the time, living in Merrick, NY, some 10 miles from Belmont. It was June but hot as August. Our house had no a/c. My father and I were watching the telecast on a portable tv. As soon as Big Red II stepped onto the track (at about the 3:54 on the clip) .... blackout! TV brat that I was, I cursed the video fates. My father, radio child that he was (and still is), got out his Sony barrel-shaped portable AM radio and we listened to Chic Anderson count 'em off.
WhiteCamry 1 year ago
Thank you for posting this! I haven't seen the entire Belmont coverage of Secretariat's Triple Crown since 1973 when my parents and I watched it live. I was six years old and excited to see "my" horsie race again. I remember yelling at the TV, "Hurry up! I wanna see my horsie run!"
deb90566 1 year ago
I hear some booing, but I can't be sure what or who the boos were directed at. Let's just say IF it WAS toward Secretariat, the boo birds must have been eating crow as the lead got bigger, ad bigger and bigger.
MelC54 1 year ago
Are you sure it's Secretariat they're booing? Sham was his challenger, and only one horse ahead of him; it can be hard to determine who's doing the booing, and from what angle. Granted, it might be bad sportsmanship, but so many people craved to see a Triple Crown winner (kind of like right now, actually...) that they might have booed 1A because he stood as the greatest threat to Secretariat freeing everyone from the 25 year drought.
Just a thought, anyway.
VampireYoshi 1 year ago
Well Bon and CF, i'm about sure when these booing are watching this in 2009, they will feel pretty stupid. Haha. These were the Golden Years of racing in the US, right?!
blisscanbebeautiful 2 years ago
Listen to the booing of the cynics, unbelievable, it's age of high exposure , Vietnam, and Watergate. Watergate breakin was almost exactly one year before, June 17, 1972. Alfred Vanderbilt was stunned, shocked at the amazing dismissal of Secretariat after the Wood Memorial. You wouldn't have had this in 1948, 25 yrs earlier. It warps the ability of these cretons to realize what we had, how pathetic. And of course, announcers like Jack Whitaker had no idea of the abscess when doing his intro.
bon1042 2 years ago
Couldn't agree more. It's a shame that people were booing; if only they knew what they were about to witness. The way Big Red was widely dismissed is one of, if not the biggest, misjudgements in racing history. You're right, it's painfully obvious that Secretariat was not right in the Wood, but many hypercritical cynics just can't/wont accept a logical explanation. I'll take the word of those connected to the horse over anyone, anytime. What gives anyone the right to deem them liars?
Take care.
cf1970 2 years ago
@bon1042 agree wholeheartedly. they were dead wrong. Goodness and purity and a straightforward and simple love of running and freedom, incarnate in a race horse, stuck it to all those cynics and self-servers that day. i was a happy and triumphant 10 year old who had his hope affirmed that day. No one could ever tell me otherwise about dreams and faith and hope...
revpgesq 6 months ago
@bon1042 Yes, but at the end of the race, those people who booed were probably on their knees weeping.
deb90566 1 month ago