- Joined
- Aug 30, 2014
- Messages
- 1,586
- Reaction score
- 408
- Location
- Delaware
- My Car
- Stock 1973 Mustang Convertible with a 351C 2v and C6
Modified 1970 Mach 1 M-Code with a 351C 4v Manual
My Mustang Convertible turns 50 years old today. Built on June 8, 1973, at the Dearborn Plant, ordered by a Ford Executive, it remained at the Dearborn Plant that weekend. On Monday, June 11, 1973, with the paperwork completed, the car was "sold" to the Ford Marketing Division, loaded onto Rail Car #41 bound for Ford Preparation Center in Newark N.J., where it was prep'd and then delivered to that Ford Executive, "H. Hartman" at the Ford Delaware Valey PDC, in Pennsauken, New Jersey. His name and Employee Number are on the invoice.
Like our 1971-73 models, a three-year body style, and the last of the first generation cars, there was a three-year-old thoroughbred called Secretariat, and like the last of the first generation Pony Cars, he was the last of truly great racehorses.
What does my Mustang celebrating it 50th year have to do with a horse called Secretariat, you ask?
On the next day, June 9. 1973, a Saturday 50 years ago the greatest individual performance in sports history took place. I was Fourteen watching it on TV, it was something I will never forget. On Saturday, June 9, 1973, a chestnut brown three-year-old thoroughbred, also known as Big Red, won the Belmont Stakes and the triple crown, but the real story is how Secretariat won the Triple Crown and the last of the three races, the mile-and-a-half long Belmont race that made him greatest racehorse EVER!...
The quest for the triple crown started a month earlier, on May 5, Secretariat, met Sham (his closest rival, another great horse) at the Churchill Downs track in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. Secretariat broke from almost last at the start of the race, to go on to win the 1 1/4-mile race in a record 1 minute and 59.4 seconds. He was the horse first to run the Derby in less than two minutes and his record still stands today.
Secretariat's record-breaking 1973 Kentucky Derby run:
Two weeks later, on May 19th at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, the second event of the Triple Crown, Secretariat won the Preakness Stakes by about 2 ½ lengths, again ahead of his closest rival, Sham who was second. Again Secretariat was last at the start of the race, but when he makes a move on the outside, he passes the pack with tremendous speed. During the race, the official clock malfunctioned, but hand-recorded timers had him running the 1 3/16-mile race in record time. Secretariat maintained the top spot the entire race while setting a record time at the Pimlico Race Course at 1:53.00. However, for decades, the official record set by Secretariat remained miscalculated at 1:54 2/5. In 2012, the record was officially corrected after a forensic review of the tapes discovered that the race clocker had failed to properly keep track of the time.
Secretariat wins the 1973 Preakness Stakes:
On Saturday, June 9, 1973, Secretariat gave the finest performance of his career and won the Belmont Stakes and the triple crown, setting the track record with a time of 2:24, knocking nearly three seconds off the track record set by Gallant Man in 1957, a record that still stands today! Secretariat won the race pulling away from the pack to the very end by 31 lengths over the second-place horse. He covered the first mile and a quarter in 1 minute 59 seconds faster than his recording-setting Derby-winning time. In the last half of the race, the horse was no longer racing the others, he was racing only himself and history. My Gallant's jockey Angel Cordero Jr. said Secretariat was "just like a car." Hands down, the greatest individual performance in sports history (well in my opinion anyway), and a mile-and-a-half track time record that may last forever!
If you have never seen a replay of Secretariat’s incredible win in the Belmont by 31 lengths, click here:
and then there is a short documentary that provides a historical perspective:
A bit of Trivia...
How many athletes have 363 Roads in the U.S. named after them, or U.S Postal Stamp in their honor?
Ranked second and the only non-human on ESPN's 2005 list of the greatest sports performances, and thirteen on Sports Illustrated's 2016 list of 100 greatest moments in sports history.
Bettors at the Belmont Stakes holding 5,617 winning parimutuel tickets on Secretariat never redeemed them, presumably keeping them as souvenirs and also because the $2 ticket was only worth $2.20
Finally, You have to feel for Sham, who was a really great horse and may have been a triple-crown winner in any other year, but only gets a footnote.
Original Invoice...
Like our 1971-73 models, a three-year body style, and the last of the first generation cars, there was a three-year-old thoroughbred called Secretariat, and like the last of the first generation Pony Cars, he was the last of truly great racehorses.
What does my Mustang celebrating it 50th year have to do with a horse called Secretariat, you ask?
On the next day, June 9. 1973, a Saturday 50 years ago the greatest individual performance in sports history took place. I was Fourteen watching it on TV, it was something I will never forget. On Saturday, June 9, 1973, a chestnut brown three-year-old thoroughbred, also known as Big Red, won the Belmont Stakes and the triple crown, but the real story is how Secretariat won the Triple Crown and the last of the three races, the mile-and-a-half long Belmont race that made him greatest racehorse EVER!...
The quest for the triple crown started a month earlier, on May 5, Secretariat, met Sham (his closest rival, another great horse) at the Churchill Downs track in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. Secretariat broke from almost last at the start of the race, to go on to win the 1 1/4-mile race in a record 1 minute and 59.4 seconds. He was the horse first to run the Derby in less than two minutes and his record still stands today.
Secretariat's record-breaking 1973 Kentucky Derby run:
Two weeks later, on May 19th at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, the second event of the Triple Crown, Secretariat won the Preakness Stakes by about 2 ½ lengths, again ahead of his closest rival, Sham who was second. Again Secretariat was last at the start of the race, but when he makes a move on the outside, he passes the pack with tremendous speed. During the race, the official clock malfunctioned, but hand-recorded timers had him running the 1 3/16-mile race in record time. Secretariat maintained the top spot the entire race while setting a record time at the Pimlico Race Course at 1:53.00. However, for decades, the official record set by Secretariat remained miscalculated at 1:54 2/5. In 2012, the record was officially corrected after a forensic review of the tapes discovered that the race clocker had failed to properly keep track of the time.
Secretariat wins the 1973 Preakness Stakes:
On Saturday, June 9, 1973, Secretariat gave the finest performance of his career and won the Belmont Stakes and the triple crown, setting the track record with a time of 2:24, knocking nearly three seconds off the track record set by Gallant Man in 1957, a record that still stands today! Secretariat won the race pulling away from the pack to the very end by 31 lengths over the second-place horse. He covered the first mile and a quarter in 1 minute 59 seconds faster than his recording-setting Derby-winning time. In the last half of the race, the horse was no longer racing the others, he was racing only himself and history. My Gallant's jockey Angel Cordero Jr. said Secretariat was "just like a car." Hands down, the greatest individual performance in sports history (well in my opinion anyway), and a mile-and-a-half track time record that may last forever!
If you have never seen a replay of Secretariat’s incredible win in the Belmont by 31 lengths, click here:
and then there is a short documentary that provides a historical perspective:
A bit of Trivia...
How many athletes have 363 Roads in the U.S. named after them, or U.S Postal Stamp in their honor?
Ranked second and the only non-human on ESPN's 2005 list of the greatest sports performances, and thirteen on Sports Illustrated's 2016 list of 100 greatest moments in sports history.
Bettors at the Belmont Stakes holding 5,617 winning parimutuel tickets on Secretariat never redeemed them, presumably keeping them as souvenirs and also because the $2 ticket was only worth $2.20
Finally, You have to feel for Sham, who was a really great horse and may have been a triple-crown winner in any other year, but only gets a footnote.
Original Invoice...
Last edited:
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