Man O War was said to have won the Lawrence Realization by 100 lengths. How is this possible?

Question

How long was the track? Was the other horse standing still? How many lengths in the average track? This seems totally incredible to me, but I have not seen any questioning of this statement of Man O War's achievements.

Answer 1

HE WAS KICKING ****!!!!

Answer 2

secretariat won by many , many, lengths also...most ovals are over a mile and stretch runs over 1000 feet.

Answer 3

There was only one other horse in the race.  If you look at the finish of the 1973 Belmont (Secretariat) you'll see what 30 lengths looks like... multiply that by 3 and you'll get an idea of what 100 lengths is.  The other horse must have still been on the backstretch.  I don't think the other horse was standing still but he was probably pulled up into a workout-speed gallop and crossed the line in a high canter... probably when they started around the turn and realized that Man O War was already in front by 50 lengths they gave up and gave their horse a rest.  I don't know how it was possible, but Man O War was amazing.  The only video of him racing was the match race with Sir Barton... when they pass the first time, they're pretty even... when the horses come around again, Man O War has the lead by 5.  He had an absolutely huge stride so the other horses had to work extra hard to keep up.  It's hard for us to understand how he could win by 100 lengths since we've never seen any horse win by so much and we never will... but I have to believe that it must be true... if anyone could do it, Man O War could.

Answer 4

It means that the machine gun somehow missed him.