Sham

It amazes me how many people don't know who he was! He was great!

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• sham
• secretariat
• racing
• 1973
• triple
• crown

[BreyerDreamStables]

Awesome. But you should not go on wikipedia. Anyone can change it.

[8bellesshoulda1]

Thank you!

But if the stuff was wrong, I would of changed it. And that's way it has "What wikipedia says" on it.

[GenuineRisk1]

Secretariat was God's horse. Sham was mere mortal, but this gallant hero gave his best, gave his all, despite pain and being unsound. in his last race. He deserved better. Ironic that the best two stallions of their generation became great broodmare sires rather than sires of sires. I loved Sham througout the TC...I Admired Secretariat for what he accomplished, but I always rooted for Sham, for how he tried.

[animaldynamics]

Frank Martin was the trainer of Sham and anyone who is involved in the Throughbred world knows that the man is nobody's idiot. Thats why he was elected to the Throughbred Trainers Hall of Fame.

A trainer is like a fight manager, you have to belive in your horse even in defeat or else no one else will. Frank knew how good Lucian's horse was, but every horse has an off day (or a mouth ulcer) as Secretariat did in the Wood.

Sham was one of the greats.

[Syncraftable]

Sham only had one thing stopping him from being one of the immortals, one of the greatest of all time: he was born in 1970, the same year as Secretariat. In any other year, Sham would have been a Triple Crown winner himself.

[Syncraftable]

@GenuineRisk1 The reason they both became great broodmare sires and not sires of sires is because they both carried the X Factor - the large heart gene. Secretariat's was ~22lbs, Sham's was ~18lbs. Average is 9lbs. That is why Secretariat was as great as he was, and why Sham was such a great competitor for him.. The gene that causes the large heart is passed on the X chromosome, which ALL stallions give to their daughters, not their sons. These daughters then pass it on to their foals..

[Skorzeny64]

@Subypowa Your spot on,every wonder horse(secretariat) needs another great horse(sham) to race against to bring out the best in them.Thats what makes their story more memorable!!Nutin like two champs goin at it hammer 'n' tongs time and again,never duckin each other - all credit to both their connections!!

[shilodance1st]

Sham looks like he is lame in the hindquarters to me.

[bon1042]

@labsrus1 On one of these videos and in an article I have in Spur Magazine (boutht it on ebay), Wayne Lucas has interesting thoughts on the broodmares brought to Secretariat, who he says is his favorite horse. He bought Terlingua, when he saw HER and then saw her pedigree, Crimson Saint I think her name was, he had to have her. I think he said trying with the best of the best to the best isn't necessarily the way to get a winner. Not sure.

[bon1042]

@GenuineRisk1 And to add to your wonderful thoughts, In Sham's gallant 3 efforts in the Triple Crown against Secretariat, he ALSO broke Northern Dancer's 2:00 min record ! You all here probably know that, but I just thought of it again reading this thread. What a story ! We'll never see it again.

[labsrus1]

@elaine31347 I'm well aware of that Elaine.I visited him 2months before he was euthanisized w/ a thoroughbred stable owner from NY State.They expected him to recover from his laminitis, not for it to reach the point it did.Rest in peace Big Red.Again, a lot of "if's" about Sham.If not for Secretariat, if not for his trainer. Those were the points I was making. How many times I've heard it said in horse racing or out of it, If the Queen had b@lls she would be the King. ;) Enuf said from me.

[elaine31347]

@labsrus1 Secretariat was euthanized at age 19 to spare him the suffering caused by laminitis. He was in otherwise good health...

[bigroan]

I modeled my racing colors after Sham and the Sommer family's. Who wouldn't have been proud to own a horse as gallant and talented as Sham! I had the blessing and good fortune to have lunch with Mrs. Sommer one day at Calder; and she told me the whole story of Sham. That was better than having lunch with Babe Ruth, or the President!