Something to Prove

NEW YORK - September 17, 1973

A match race was proposed in the summer of 1973, that The Sports Time Traveler™ believes was unprecedented, pitting Secretariat, the incomparable triple crown winner of 1973, against Riva Ridge, the winner of both the 1972 Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.

Naturally I had to travel back in time virtually to experience this race, which I don’t remember from when I was 10 years old in mid-September, 1973.

Riva Ridge might have had the same fanfare as Secretariat but for bad weather in Pimlico, Maryland on the day of the 1972 Preakness. In that fateful run, Riva Ridge was the enormous 1 to 5 favorite to win the race. But he was upset and finished 4th as the sloppy track foiled his bid. Jockey Ron Turcotte said that Riva Ridge “would never feel secure on an off track.”

Riva Ridge was running strong however in the summer of 1973 and had set the world record for 1 and 3/16 miles at 1:52.4 in the Brooklyn Stakes on July 4th, beating the record set by Fleet Bird in 1953. That time was also 0.6 seconds faster than Secretariat’s winning time in the same distance at the Preakness in May.

Secretariat vs. Riva Ridge was shaping up to be the race of the decade, until both horses lost their last event prior to the Marlboro Cup.

Now they both had an extra incentive to be victorious in this dream match.

What makes it even more intriguing is that both horses are run out of the same stable. And jockey Ron Turcotte rode both of them to their Kentucky Derby triumphs.

But for this race, Turcotte will be onboard Secretariat for the 1 and 1/8 mile race, while Eddie Maple will ride Riva Ridge.

Two more items make the Marlboro Cup a tantalizing event for horse racing fans. Onion, the horse that beat Secretariat last month is also in the 7 horse field.

And, in a bit of further pre-race excitement, 30 minutes prior to the Marlboro Cup, Desert Vixen broke the world record for the 1 and 1/8 mile distance in a time of 1:46.2. The track however was described officially as “good”, not “fast”, as there was heavy rain yesterday.

Let’s watch the 1973 Marlboro Cup. When watching note that both Secretariat and Riva Ridge have the #2. This is because they are paired together in the betting since they are from the same stable.

Secretariat starts out slow and is in 5th place at the 1/4 pole. Onion, #4, has the early lead through both the 1/4 and 1/2 mile poles with Riva Ridge, #2, running 2nd.

On the turn Secretariat slowly moves up on the outside and at the top of the straight it’s the 2 #2’s in the lead, with Secretariat on the outside and Riva Ridge on the inside.

The match race has become a duel as the 2 great horses run neck and neck down the stretch.

Then Secretariat drives ahead and wins the cup by 3.5 lengths.

The winning time was an astonishing new world record of 1:45.4, cutting nearly a second off the record just set 30 minutes prior on the same track.

Riva Ridge, finishing 2nd, was also inside the old world record.

What would these horses have done if the track was actually rated as fast!

Ron Turcotte told the New York Times after the race, “The colt was ready and I let him run his race… when we straightened out, I wasn’t about to let him (Riva Ridge) beat me. I asked my horse to go leaving the 1/4 pole and he did. He was the Secretariat of old.”

By “Secretariat of old”, Turcotte literally meant from just 3 months ago in June, when Secretariat had obliterated the field on this same track in the Belmont Stakes.

POSTCRIPT From The Sports Time Traveler™ -

Secretariat’s world record at 1 and 1/8 miles stood for 15 years. Simply Majestic beat Secretariat’s record, running 1:45 flat, in 1988. That mark still stands as the World Record for 1 and 1/8 miles.

Riva Ridge still holds the world record for 1 and 3/16 as of 2023, 50 years later.

BONUS COVERAGE

And now a couple of more stories about an athlete and a team with something to prove.

TOMMIE AGEE

Tommie Agee, a hero of the 1969 Miracle Mets, was shamefully discarded by the Mets brass last December, 1972 in a story I reported on previously:

Agee was traded to the Houston Astros where he played lackluster ball all summer. But the St. Louis Cardinals, desperate for veteran help in their division title battle, picked up Tommie Agee in mid-August and gave him a chance.

Over the weekend, Agee came to bat as a pinch hitter with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th of a 3 - 3 tie game against the Pirates.

Agee socked a home run that changed the complexion of the game. The Cards scored 3 more insurance runs in the 8th and won it 7 - 3. A few more moments like that and Tommie Agee might become one of the heroes of 1973 for the Cards. The Cardinals are still very much in the thick of the 5 team battle for the NL East.

THE MONTREAL EXPOS

Another team that is in the thick of that NL East battle is the Montreal Expos.

Going into their game on Sunday, September 16th they sat at .500 with a 73 - 73 record, good for 2nd place and just 1/2 game behind the division leading Pirates.

On Sunday, they set a franchise record by winning their 74th game. They did it with an 8th inning come from behind rally, scoring 3 runs to turn a 2 - 1 deficit into a 4 - 2 lead and ultimately the victory. The win gave the Expos a tie in the win column with the Pirates.

Never before have the Expos been above .500 after the month of May.

NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler™ -

I have fallen a day behind in covering sports in 1973 due to a break over the weekend. I will catch up with the 1973 New York Mets in an article tomorrow.

For die hard Mets fans, I am still trying to post daily updates on the 1973 METS on my website at this page: https://thesportstimetraveler.com/1973-mets-updates-part-2

Thanks for reading!