Jerry-You and I are old enough to have seen this, but my point is we (who are about the same age) most likely will never see this kind of greatness ever again, though I hope we both live long enough to prove me wrong!
You\'re downplaying the significance of AP\'s accomplishments just a tad. I\'m not sure you want to compare the two you mentioned to AP either.
Only 7 horses in thoroughbred history, AP being the 7th, have won the triple crown after being crowned 2 year old champions. That\'s 7 out of the millions and millions of foals born every year since the 1800s.
As great as the totality of Rachel\'s career (she raced 19 times, I daresay AP will never get even close to 19 career starts), her claim to fame as a 2 year old was beating 5 female rivals in the Golden Rod Stakes (G-2)! You were one of the few people on planet earth who recognized the tremendous racehorse she would become! But as a 2 year old, it was all potential.
Smarty never ran as a 2 year old and sadly was completely crippled by the time the Belmont came about. Rachel ran in and won 1 leg of the triple crown, though one might argue convincingly she would have won the derby had she been given the chance. It\'s safe to say she would have beaten 50K claiming sort Mine that Bird as she did in the Preakness. But you honestly cannot compare either to AP at the same time in their careers.
I know AP is no friend to gamblers, namely no one is making a big score on odds-on runners, so the emotional attachment perhaps is lacking, I\'d be the first to admit that if I\'m being completely honest, but using whatever words we like, we are not going to capture the enormity of the greatness of this horse. When you run the last quarter of the Belmont Stakes faster than Secretariat, yeah, that\'s saying something.
