Not since Citation turned the trick in 1948 had a thoroughbred been so heavily favored to win racing's Triple Crown. The wonder horse called Secretariat had won impressive victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
Still, going into the $150,200 Belmont Stakes, the last and longest (1½ miles) of the three classics, the strapping chestnut colt was bucking the very formidable odds of history.
In the quarter-century since Citation's victory, six other three-year-olds had entered the grueling Belmont with a chance of copping the crown. All, however, faltered in the race for what...
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