It is odd that it took this long. They actually settled a little faster than even those manual timers, with a flat 1:53. I heard an interesting interview with Ron Turcotte. He said Secretariat was a left-handed horse. He lead his gallop with the left leg and thus loved to run fast on the turns because it was so natural. He also said he wanted to slow him down in this race but Secretariat was much bigger than him so he lost the argument.
yes, he was a big beautifully built horse, who just loved to compete, loved to run, had a strong
disposition, not much bothered him at all, he had it all.
Wonder how he would have done in ireland and such, where they run the opposite direction. I'm sure he
would have been just as successful, as he would have run right footed on those tracks from a yearling,
and it would have come natural too. we'll never know, but the memories of him are wonderful, and to
make it more enjoyable, my two middle daughters were so into it at that time, they had all the stats
for him written down, pictures, and stories about him. I just informed my daughter of the time being
made official, and she was very happy to know that bit of news.
they were about 9 and 11 at the time, the perfect age for little girls to fall in love with horses,
and we did get them a horse each, and they got up early each day, went to the barn where their horses
were, fed them, let them out, and back there again after school to clean stalls, ride, and have the
time of their lives, (me too).
