Sports History On This Day: May 19

May 19, 1973 – Riding perhaps the most famous racehorse of all time, Secretariat, jockey Ron Turcotte sets a record (not recognized until 2012) as the fastest Preakness race ever at the 98th running of the famous thoroughbred race.

Horse and rider crossed the finish line at a pace of 1:54. For Secretariat taking the second leg of the Triple Crown was his 11th win in 14 career starts and fourth race won in 1973. The racehorse bred by Meadow Stable in Virginia would go on to win the Belmont Stakes a couple of weeks later to claim the Triple Crown of horse racing.

Interestingly enough Turcotte claimed that Secretariat urged him to make the move for the lead much earlier than advised at the 5/8 of a mile mark in the 1-3/16 mile race. Turcotte was quoted by the Associated Press as saying; “Ordinarily, that’s a bad move, but under the circumstances, it was a big move.”

The talented colt did a lot of things that were out of the ordinary and that is why we still remember the horse half a century later.