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Kentucky Derby


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56 minutes ago, TxHoops said:

So I take it julep sales were down?

Typo. Actually, looking at that crowd, I'd say alcohol sales were very good.

I always bring up Secretariat when I watch these races. Unbelievable horse. 

Secretariat's closest race was the Derby, which he won by about 3 lengths. The Preakness, he came from dead last out of the gate to win. The Belmont Stakes was absolutely no contest. Watch this...

 

 

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1 hour ago, baddog said:

Typo. Actually, looking at that crowd, I'd say alcohol sales were very good.

I always bring up Secretariat when I watch these races. Unbelievable horse. 

Secretariat's closest race was the Derby, which he won by about 3 lengths. The Preakness, he came from dead last out of the gate to win. The Belmont Stakes was absolutely no contest. Watch this...

 

 

After Secretariat died, they did an autopsy and found that his heart weighed over 20 lbs.  The heart of a normal thoroughbred is about 8 - 9 lbs.

 

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3 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

After Secretariat died, they did an autopsy and found that his heart weighed over 20 lbs.  The heart of a normal thoroughbred is about 8 - 9 lbs.

 

Wow, that could explain why he did better in the Belmont. It's 1 1/2 miles while the other two are 1 1/4. More distance for him to explode. 

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16 minutes ago, LumRaiderFan said:

From what I've read, all the valves were normal size but the heart was just bigger.

He simply had the heart of a Champion.

Just something I found. You can find anything on the internet....

Necropsy was performed on Secretariat when he died, and although his heart was bigger than the average TB's, there was absolutely no evidence of any pathology, which would have been the case had the bigger size been drug-induced. Also, his heart was not weighed, and the size was only approximated. A bit of hyperbole is often included with these "whisper down the lane" reports of the size of Secretariat's heart. There have been some studies conducted about the therapeutic value and side effects of anabolic steroids on racehorses. Although there is no conclusive proof that administering them improves athletic performance, the jury is definitively in that they do clearly increase aggressiveness in horses. Secretariat was never in his life known for being aggressive. Also, looking at other males in his family, particularly the Princequillos (Prince John, Bold Lad, Mill Reef) there is a natural tendency for the build that Secretariat had. I think it is unlikely that Secretariat owed his ability even in part to anabolic steroids. I think Cigar's groom's comments can be attributed to run of the mill trash talk.

 

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41 minutes ago, baddog said:

Just something I found. You can find anything on the internet....

Necropsy was performed on Secretariat when he died, and although his heart was bigger than the average TB's, there was absolutely no evidence of any pathology, which would have been the case had the bigger size been drug-induced. Also, his heart was not weighed, and the size was only approximated. A bit of hyperbole is often included with these "whisper down the lane" reports of the size of Secretariat's heart. There have been some studies conducted about the therapeutic value and side effects of anabolic steroids on racehorses. Although there is no conclusive proof that administering them improves athletic performance, the jury is definitively in that they do clearly increase aggressiveness in horses. Secretariat was never in his life known for being aggressive. Also, looking at other males in his family, particularly the Princequillos (Prince John, Bold Lad, Mill Reef) there is a natural tendency for the build that Secretariat had. I think it is unlikely that Secretariat owed his ability even in part to anabolic steroids. I think Cigar's groom's comments can be attributed to run of the mill trash talk.

 

This was where they estimated the size of his heart...never knew they didn't actually weigh his heart.

This is the hidden content, please

From the article:

At the time of Secretariat's death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat's heart, but stated, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn't believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine."

This is the hidden content, please
 Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham's heart, and it was 18 pounds (8.2 kg). Based on Sham's measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated Secretariat's heart probably weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg),
This is the hidden content, please
 or about two-and-three-quarters times as large as that of the average horse.

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I watch Secretariats races over and over, especially in the weeks leading up to the Derby. I've been obsessed with horse racing for as long as I can remember. I don't bet on the races, I just love the horses. My Mom says I should have been a Jockey..lol

I looked up the pedigrees of every horse in the Derby. Several of the horses have 2 Triple Crown winners mixed up in there. Almost everyone had Secretariat down the line and some had him on both sides. Lots of crossbreeding and inbreeding going on. Another popular sire is Northern Dancer, he was used a lot.

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