Secretariat vs. Sham in the 1973 Wood Memorial
I’ve been preparing for months to travel back to Churchill Downs in Louisville to experience the 1973 Kentucky Derby featuring Secretariat vs Sham. That trip will be in a couple weeks.
But recently I learned that Secretariat, and his worthy rival Sham, met for the 1st time 2 weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby in 1973 at Aqueduct race track in the Wood Memorial Stakes.
That race took place 50 years ago yesterday. Well, of course, I had to jump into the sports travel time machine to experience this horse race that I never heard about and don’t remember.
I was 9 years old back in 1973 and I was a Sham fan. Don’t ask me why. I just loved Sham and I was pulling for him in the Kentucky Derby.
But it wasn’t until yesterday that I got to see Secretariat vs. Sham in their 1st meeting, exactly 50 years ago at the Wood Memorial.
Here’s the story from my trip.
AQUEDUCT RACE TRACK, QUEENS, NY - April 21, 1973
It is a great April day, sunny and 60 degrees here at Aqueduct race track in Queens, about 7 miles from Shea Stadium (where the Mets are playing this afternoon against the Expos). I’m here for the 49th running of the Wood Memorial Stakes.
The largest crowd of the season, 43,416, is on hand to see the 2 best 3 year old horses in the country, Secretariat and Sham.
Secretariat, the 2 year old horse of the year in 1972, has won his last 10 races. In the 2 races he’s run this year, he won each by a wide margin.
He is ridden by Ron Turcotte and trained by Lucien Laurin. His Sire was Bold Ruler, the winner of the Preakness in 1957.
Last month, Secretariat was featured in Sports Illustrated in an article titled, “Oh Lord, He’s Perfect.” Pat Putnam, of Sports Illustrated, wrote, “If God were to make the ultimate racehorse it would be Secretariat… He has an excellent chance to become the first triple crown winner since Citation in 1948.”
Today, Secretariat is going off at odds of 1 to 5. One reason for such formidable odds is that 1 of the other 7 horses in the field, Angle Light, is also trained by Lucien Laurin, and as a result the betting combines the 2 horses.
Sham is considered the top horse to contend with Secretariat for the Kentucky Derby. Racing in California, Sham has won 7 of his 9 races this year including the prestigious Santa Anita Derby 3 weeks ago, where he defeated his west coast rival Linda’s Chief, another horse that has been considered a Kentucky Derby contender.
The 11⁄8 mile Santa Anita Derby proved Sham can win at races over a mile, a distance Secretariat has not yet raced before today.
Sham is going off at odds of 5 to 2.
In a bizarre oddity, anyone who bet on Secretariat to win actually won their bet, even though he finished 3rd, because of the coupling in the betting of Secretariat with Angle Light, the actual winner of the race, in 1:49.8.
As far as what happened to the heavy favorite, jockey Ron Turcotte has this to say about Secretariat, “He just didn’t have his punch today… He finished good but not with his usual kick.”
The New York crowd jeered at the results. One horseplayer yelled at Secretariat’s trainer Lucien Laurin, “You’re a disgrace.” There were many in the crowd who thought Laurin had held back on Secretariat to let Angle Light win.
Sham, although not the winner, ran well, running 2nd the entire way, and closing fast to finish less than half a length behind Angle Light.
Sham was jockeyed today by a substitute, Jorge Velasquez, filling in for Sham’s usual jockey, Laffit Pincay. Velasquez explained to the Times what happened to Sham, “(I was) caught in the middle. I was worried about not letting that horse (Angle Light) get away from me, but I had to make sure I had enough left for Secretariat. My horse ran good.”
Most importantly, Sham defeated Secretariat handily in their 1st ever meeting.
In beating both Secretariat and Sham, Angle Light established himself as a possible threat to win the Kentucky Derby next month. Edwin Whittaker, owner of Angle Light (but not Secretariat), was ecstatic. He told the New York Times, “This colt is going into the Kentucky Derby with Secretariat, because they are both trained by Lucien Laurin. As to who will win I can’t say. But they will run 1-2.”
Joe Nichols writing in the New York Times summed up the impact of this race on the upcoming Kentucky Derby, “The result is bound to give a lot of owners and trainers new hope for the 11⁄4 mile Derby, in which Secretariat and Sham had been solid 1-2 favorites.”
One of those with new hope would be Linda’s Chief, who raced in the California Derby today. Going off as a 1 to 5 favorite, Linda’s Chief crushed the field in the 11⁄8 mile event, building a 10 length lead on the backstretch and finishing in 1:49 flat to win for the 11th time in 16 starts.
Linda’s Chief’s time was 0.8 seconds faster than Angle Light’s winning time today.
The 1973 Kentucky Derby is in 2 weeks on May 5th at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The Sports Time Traveler™ plans to be there.
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