Well,

why NOT show--again--the 1973 Kentucky Derby, still the fastest Derby ever run, still the track record for a mile and a quarter, and still the most impressive in racing history because Secretariat accomplished the unheard of feat of running each successive quarter faster than the previous one:




A horse literally speeding it up in a race of that length is almost unprecedented. The Churchill Downs track was actually a slower track than the one Northern Dancer ran when he set the track record in 1964 that Secretariat broke.




Secretariat (pictured on right with his groom in 1989) would finish ahead of second-place Sham by 2 1/2 lengths. Until Monarchos ran the Derby in under two minutes in 2001, Sham was the only other horse to do so.






Sham (left, in 1989) broke two teeth at the starting gate and bled throughout the race. He had an excuse for his finish, but I doubt any horse could have ever beaten Secretariat when he was in top form.