Haven't seen most of these ... but from their stories,
It's easy to look at the Secretatiats, Seattle Slews,etc.
but if you ever get to see any footage of some of these ...
some were pretty good..... and maybe you never heard of them.
1.
Secretariat nicknamed "Big Red") - Secretariat won the 1973 Triple Crown, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and set still standing track records in two of the three races in the Series, the Kentucky Derby (1:59 2/5), and the Belmont (2:24).
racing debut July 4, 1972
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Record: 21 Starts 16-3-1
Earnings: $1,316,808
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2.
Man O' War also nicknames "Big Red") is considered by most to be the greatest Racehorse of all time. During his career,he won 20 of 21 races setting three world records,and $249,465 in purses.
racing debut: June 1919
Record: 21 Starts 20-1-0
Earnings: $249,465
3.
Kelso : is considered to be among the best racehorses of the Twentieth century. In the list of the "Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century".
Kelso's first start and first win was at Monmouth Park N.J.,
He was an extremely determined horse. If he saw a horse in front, he wanted to get to him. You could take him back or send him to the front. He was an extremely sound horse who was light on his feet with incredible balance. Kelso could wheel on a dime, spinning round in a circle and never letting his feet touch each other." After the Monmouth race, he won eight times in nine starts.
Eclipse Awards:
- 1960 Champion 3-yr-old Male, Horse of the Year
- 1961 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- 1962 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- 1963 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- 1964 Champion Handicap Male, Horse of the Year
- Only 5-time Horse of the Year in history
- First 3-yr-old named Horse of the Year who didn't win a Triple Crown race.
Won 5 consecutive editions of the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
(the most consecutive wins of a major stakes by any horse in history).
Won 3 consecutive editions of the Woodward Stakes.
Three-time winner of the Whitney Stakes.
Two-time winner of the Aqueduct Stakes.
Two-time winner of the Suburban Handicap (G1).
Won 8 of 9 races (7 stakes) in 1960.
Won 8 consecutive races (last 6 of 1960 & first 2 of 1961).
Carried 130 pounds on 24 occasions, winning 13, placing in 5, and finishing third once.
Won 39 of 63 starts (62%).
Finished in the money in 53 of 63 starts (84%).
racing debut Sept. 4,1959
Record : 63 Starts 39-12-2
Earnings: $1,977,896
4.
War Admiral : offspring of the great thoroughbred Man o' War.
(standing at 15'2 hands tall being much smaller than Man o' War,)
(most racehorses are between 16 and 17 hands)
War Admiral won 21 of his 26 starts, including the Pimlico Special (G1) and the Triple Crownin
1937, earning him the Eclipse Award.
(American Award for Horse of the Year).
War Admiral raced in the Eastern United States and in 1938 won eight major races.
War Admiral would be linked forever to Seabiscuit, who was a son of War Admiral's half brother Hard Tack and the pre-eminent horse based primarily in the Western U.S. Their famous match race in the 1938 Pimlico Special, which War Admiral lost to Seabiscuit by four lengths, is considered by some to be the best Thoroughbred horserace in American history.
racing debut: 1938
Record : 26 Starts 21-3-1
Earnings: $273,240
5.
Count Fleet : was a Triple Crown Champion in 1943.
as a two-year-old Count Fleet started off slow losing several times before getting his first win.
Count Fleet prepared for the 69th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 1, 1943. He had been voted the two-year-old champion in all polls conducted at the end of 1942.
How good a juvenile was Count Fleet? Since the legendary Walter Vosburgh founded the Experimental Free Handicap in 1933, only *one* two-year-old has ever been assigned more than 130 pounds. Handicapper John Blanks Campbell gave Count Fleet 132 pounds in the 1942 Experimental.
Won: Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Wood Memorial Stakes, Withers Stakes, Pimlico Futurity, Champagne Stakes, Walden Stakes, Wakefield Stakes.
He gained respect with his six length victory in the Champagne Stakes, in which he set a new track record then followed this up by beating the best horses in the country in the Pimlico Futurity where he equaled the track record. In the Walden Stakes, he ran away from the field, winning by more than thirty lengths. At season's end, he had won ten of his 15 races while never being out of the money, a performance that earned him the two-year-old championship honors.
As a three-year-old, Count Fleet dominated North American racing,
never losing a race. Leading up to the
Kentucky Derby he won the important
Wood Memorial Stakes but injured himself in the process. He recovered to take the United States most prestigious race by three lengths then went on to Baltimore,Maryland where he dominated the Preakness Stakes, taking that one by eight lengths. He then won the Withers Stakes before heading to New York for the Belmont Stakes where he captured the Triple Crown by scoring an amazing
25 length victory, a margin record that stood until
1973. When the season ended, Count Fleet was voted Champion 3-year-old and named American Horse of the Year.
racing debut: June 1, 1942
Record: 21 Starts: 16 - 4 - 1
Earnings: $250,300
There are probably quite a few more .....
all of them
TRUE CHAMPIONS