JC / Railbird

No Comparison

Mike Watchmaker:

One thing that does bother me a little is how some folks have drawn an analogy between Uncle Mo losing in the Wood at 1-10, and Secretariat losing in the Wood at 1-5 in 1973. While Uncle Mo was the divisional champion at 2, Secretariat was not only divisional champion at 2, he was the first ever to be Horse of the Year at 2. Before he lost the Wood, Secretariat turned in scintillating victories in the Bay Shore and Gotham, running a mile in the latter in 1:33 2/5. And really, the only way Uncle Mo’s loss in the Wood could ever be analogous to Secretariat’s is if Uncle Mo goes on to sweep the Triple Crown, beats a superstar field of older horses in an invitational race in the fall, and then closes his campaign with two awesome romps in major turf stakes going 12 and 13 furlongs. Otherwise, it’s fantasy.

In other words, Mo wasn’t Secretariat before, and he’s not Secretariat now.


3 Comments

I used some of the same language in a post that I wrote last night, that’s scheduled to publish at 9 am. Hadn’t seen what Watchmaker wrote, but I spent a lot of yesterday reviewing news reports from the 1973 Wood.

Unsurprisingly, I came to the same conclusion that you and Watchmaker did.

Posted by Teresa on April 11, 2011 @ 7:42 am

Uncle Mo, I knew Secretariat, I served with Secretariat, Secretariat was a friend of mine. Uncle Mo, you’re no Secretariat.

Posted by Goberry on April 11, 2011 @ 12:09 pm

Slam dunk! I was surprised to hear Durkin evoke the name in his race call. The only comparison: both were big upsets, not much beyond that.

Posted by Kevin on April 11, 2011 @ 9:00 pm