[Horse Racing] 147th Belmont Stakes

[BobbyMac]

Here's a simulcast of Secretariat's and American Pharoah's Belmont races. Interesting note: American Pharoah actually ran the last 1/2 mile 1.15 seconds faster. WOW. There is nothing more iconic than Secretariat's stretch run at Belmont but American Pharoah.

Secretariat would have dominated American Pharoah at the Belmont Stakes | For The Win

Also of note: If you add up the 3 legs of the triple crown run by ANY horse, American Pharoah comes in as the 5th fastest behind Secretariat, Affirmed, Seattle Slew and Count Fllet. If you give him 4 seconds for the slop at the Preakness, he slides into 3rd.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Unfortunately, Secretariat shot only blanks.

Hmmm, Secretariat didn't exactly shoot blanks. He sired about 600 foals and is a 5th generation ancestor of American Pharoah, as well as being an ancestor of several other successful racing horses. The problem with Secretariat as a sire is that he didn't produce many particularly successful sons (Belmont & Preakness winner Risen Star was probably the best of the lot). He did produce several very successful mares.

Secretariat almost certainly possessed a genetic anomaly known as the X Factor that can be traced back to a horse from the 1700's that is one of his ancestors. This genetic anomaly sometimes causes a racehorse to have a perfectly formed and healthy heart that is 2-3 times the normal size. Having such a huge, perfectly functioning heart means the horse can pump an enormous amount of blood through its body and have exceptional speed, power and endurance. A typical race horse's heart weighs about 8 lbs. Secretariat's was estimated by the vet who autopsied him to weigh 22 lbs.

The problem is that the gene for this is on the X chromosome and thus a male can't pass it on to his sons. He can only pass it on to his daughters, and even then only about half of them will inherit it. They can then pass it on to about half of their sons. This is why Secretariat produced so few outstanding sons, but was a legendary sire of daughters.

 

[ND NYC]

Hmmm, Secretariat didn't exactly shoot blanks. He sired about 600 foals and is a 5th generation ancestor of American Pharoah, as well as being an ancestor of several other successful racing horses. The problem with Secretariat as a sire is that he didn't produce many particularly successful sons (Belmont & Preakness winner Risen Star was probably the best of the lot). He did produce several very successful mares.

Secretariat almost certainly possessed a genetic anomaly known as the X Factor that can be traced back to a horse from the 1700's that is one of his ancestors. This genetic anomaly sometimes causes a racehorse to have a perfectly formed and healthy heart that is 2-3 times the normal size. Having such a huge, perfectly functioning heart means the horse can pump an enormous amount of blood through its body and have exceptional speed, power and endurance. A typical race horse's heart weighs about 8 lbs. Secretariat's was estimated by the vet who autopsied him to weigh 22 lbs.

The problem is that the gene for this is on the X chromosome and thus a male can't pass it on to his sons. He can only pass it on to his daughters, and even then only about half of them will inherit it. They can then pass it on to about half of their sons. This is why Secretariat produced so few outstanding sons, but was a legendary sire of daughters.

good info thx!

 

[ulukinatme]

Bump. American Pharaoh wins pimp of the year:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">30: # of steps from American Pharoah's stable to the breeding shed, where he will breed with 175 mares this year for a total of $35M.</p>— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) <a href="https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/698258204409643008">February 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

$200k a pop, 175 mares, that horse is going to be getting more tail than Wilt Chamberlain.