It was fifty years ago when the greatest race horse of all time, Secretariat, won the Kentucky Derby in record time. “Big Red” would go on to set more speed records as he captured the 1973 Triple Crown of Horse Racing. Here’s the dramatic video footage from that race.
This time of year always reminds me of my Dad. He loved playing the horses. He was a restauranteur in New York City’s Greenwich Village, where he co-owned and managed a classy steak house. It was a very stressful job, and he liked to relax on either Monday or Tuesday, by placing some bets on the ponies at Aqueduct Raceway or Belmont Park.
He loved the horse races so much, we even had to vacation near horse tracks up and down the east coast. Every summer, we would rent a cottage for the entire family in Pownal, Vermont. The place we stayed was just a couple of miles away from Green Mountain Race Track. We would play in the pool during the day, and then go to the race track at night. As kids, my sisters and I were not allowed to place bets, but we always loved cheering on my Dad’s picks.
I was 13 years old, and it was the late spring of 1973. My family and I were back in Vermont for our annual vacation in June. Horse racing was still one of the most popular spectator sports in America back in those days. It seemed like the entire country was tuning in to see if Secretariat would win the Triple Crown. It had been 25 years since Citation won the Triple Crown in 1948. Could “Big Red” hold off Sham to claim the crown?
He not only won the race and the Triple Crown, he accomplished it by blowing away the old speed record for the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown Races. Watch this amazing race horse basically sprint for a full mile-and-a-half by CLICKING HERE.
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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.
A Fun Way To Bet On The Kentucky Derby
If you are not a horse racing aficionado, and you are looking for a fun way to bet on this year’s Kentucky Derby, then try this out.
There are usually 20 horses in the field for this classic horse race. That’s a lot of horses to fit on the track. All sorts of bumping goes on at the start of the race. The speed horses go to the front of the pack. The horses that prefer to charge down the stretch to catch the leaders as they come down to the wire hang back at the beginning of the race. There is a great deal of strategy utilized by each trainer, jockey, and horse.
But then sometimes, it all comes down to luck and which horse loves running on the track at Churchill Downs. Most of the horses are shipped in from other race tracks around the country. You just never know how the favorites will perform, or which of the long shots will shock the world. Since I don’t have time to handicap horses or races, I like to bet on the long shots. If you pick the winner, there is usually a big payout.
Now, I certainly do NOT guarantee that my method will work, or that you will win money. This is gambling. And, if you asked an expert handicapper, they would tell you to NEVER throw your money away on bets like the ones I am about to suggest. But I have hit some big paydays on Kentucky Derby day in the past by betting on long shots, and outside post positions. I’ve also lost a bunch of cash too. This year, I’m gonna bet $2 dollars to win on each long shot, post positions 10 through 20.
I did a little research for this article and found that since the year 2000, 13 Kentucky Derby winners have come from the outside, double-digit, post positions (10-20). They haven’t all been longshots, but it seems that although those outside positions mean the horses have to run a little further than the horses hugging the inside rail, they seem to have less traffic in front of them to navigate around. Last year’s winner, Rich Strike, came from post position #21 to win the Derby and paid $163.60 on a $2.00 dollar win wager!
Whether you choose to bet on the race or not, enjoy the most exciting two minutes in sports when watching the 2023 Kentucky Derby this Saturday, May 6th.
Scroll down to watch videos of some of my favorite long shot winners from those outside posts in past years from NBC Sports and TwinSpires.com.
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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.
