What do the lead up to the Belmont Stakes and this year’s national election have in common? A lot of gibberish on the part of the media. With the the outcome of Big Brown’s Triple Crown bid less than a week away, trainer Rick Dutrow has drawn fire for his confidence in the colt, while Big Brown’s owners have been criticized for their plans to retire him this year.

I am reminded of what Ron Turcotte told me, several years ago, about his confidence in Secretariat prior to the Kentucky Derby.  Secretariat had suffered a stunning loss in the Wood Memorial and speculators were beginning to question his ability, especially at longer distances.

But Turcotte and trainer Lucien Laurin had discovered an abscess in Secretariat’s mouth to explain his Wood Memorial performance. “He was the type of horse that ran real strong against the bit, but everytime I pulled back on the bit (in the Wood Memorial), he would throw his head,” said Turcotte. “After that healed, I became very confident, maybe a little over-confident. But people were asking me and I’d say, yes, I’m going to win the Derby.

“They thought he couldn’t go the distance (in the Kentucky Derby) because he was by Bold Ruler, who had not thrown any horses that ran great distances,” he added. “But I thought he was more like his grandfather, Princequillo. I told the owner and Mr. Laurin, if they were worried about going a mile and a quarter, I’d gallop him for the first quarter of a mile. We already knew he could outrun any horse going a mile. I was getting a little cocky, I guess.”

True to his word, Turcotte galloped Secretariat for the first quarter and drew back to last. But then he passed the wire with a mile to go and started picking up horses one by one. “When I called on him at the quarter pole, I had a tank full,” he said.

Secretariat finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of second-placed Sham in the record time of 1:59 2/5. To see the 1973 Kentcuky Derby, as well as Secretariat’s Preakness and Belmonts Stakes wins, click here.

“All the (Triple Crown) races on him were very exciting because they were all different,” said Turcotte. “In the Kentucky Derby, I came from last and took the lead the last one-eighth mile. In the Preakness, I passed the whole field in the first turn. Sham, who in any other year would have won the Triple Crown, chased me and kept trying to get to me, but I just kept galloping on the lead.

“Then in the Belmont (photo), except for a few strides where Sham got a neck in front, we were in front all the way. It was like riding Pegasus, the horse with wings, he was just flying, but he was doing it very easy – just galloping.” Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths and set a world record for 1 1/2 miles in 2:24, a record that still stands.

Although he went on to win four more major stakes at three, because of a syndication agreement, Secretariat was retired at the end of his 3-year-old season. Said Turcotte, “Nobody ever saw the real Secretariat because he was just a baby when he was retired.”

For more about Secretariat, and other great horses ridden by Turcotte, click here.