What was the greatest finish in horse racing history?

Question

What was the greatest finish in horse racing history?

Answer 1

Everyone has a favorite I was at Santa Anita one day when Sharp Cat was the only horse to run in a race a walkover.The next race ended in a triple dead heat for win.having all three boxed in an exacta it was exciting.my favorite close race was Snow Chief and Ferdinand with Snow Chief holding off the bigger st reach running Ferdinand.They hooked up at the top  of  the st reach and ran nose and nose to the finish.But the finish I remember more than any and to me has to be the greatest was the Hollywood Gold Cup  when Native Diver won for the third year in a row at the age of nine carrying 140 lbs over 1 1/4 miles giving over 20 lbs to his rivals. His jockey Donald Pierce rode him down the middle of the track down the st reach because Native Diver had poor vision in his right eye and would never let a horse pass him if he could see him coming.The Diver held off the challenges and became the first Calbred thoroughbred to win a million dollars in purses and sadly died weeks later of colic.

Answer 2

I would say Secretariat at the Belmont. He won it by 31 lengths! Plus, made a record that is still un-touched by at least 9 seconds and no horse has ever won a TC race by that huge of a margin.

--melissa--

Answer 3

Secretariat, (Belmont) won by 31 lengths or "100" lengths as some people say , Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral (Pimlico Special 1938) by 4 lengths (Seabiscuit won as nobody thought he could do it) Real Quiet and Victory Gallop, (Belmont 1998)Photo Finish (Victory Gallop by a nose ), Canonero II (1971) (18th place in the turn and won by 3 3/4 lengths) and Man o War vs. Hoodwink,(1920) Man o War by "100" lengths!!  I hope I helped you in some way!!!

Answer 4

In the modern era, three come to mind quickly.  Personal Ensign in the Breeder's Cup Distaff (1988), Affirmed and Alydar in the Belmont Stakes (1978) and Victory Gallop/Real Quiet in the Belmont Stakes (1998).   To see it on TV or read about it is one thing, but to be there is something else.  So, my vote is for Victory Gallop in the Belmont. Swiped the Triple Crown AND a $5 million bonus away from Real Quiet in the last stride.  Doesn't get any better in horse racing.

Answer 5

I like close finishes, rather than romps like Secretariat's Belmont.  While that was truly a stupefyingly awesome sight to see, the "greatest finishes" for me are the ones where two or more horses fight it out to the end, nobody giving an inch, and the photo finish camera has to resolve the issue of who "won".

So here are my nominees:

*Affirmed-Alydar, Belmont Stakes, 1978.  It doesn't get any better than this.  These two had duked it out in the Derby and Preakness, with Affirmed prevailing in races that were hard-fought.  In the Belmont, the two hooked up, and were stride for stride from the turn into the stretch to the finish line.  At one point, it looked like Alydar had gotten his nose in front and was going to prevail, but Affirmed did what true champions do:  he dug deeper and fought harder, and it was his nostril that was in front when they hit the wire.  Man oh man, if that race didn't have you standing up, pounding on something and screaming at the top of your lungs, then you must be comatose because racing doesn't get any better than that.

*John Henry and The Bart in the inaugural Arlington Million.  The stands had burned down just a few short days before the race, and Arlington personnel pulled off a miracle in getting the track ready to host this first running of the Arlington Million, in the days when a purse of $1 million was an EVENT.  For some reason, the pundits seemed to discount John Henry's chances in this race.  Well, he was relentless all down the stretch, making up ground inch by inch on The Bart, with the finish line coming up, coming up, coming up....and at the wire, everyone who saw it thought that John just hadn't had enough ground to catch The Bart.  Even using the replays and freeze-frame shots, nobody really thought that John had done it.

But then they posted the photo for win, and by the narrowest of margins, John Henry had prevailed.  A stunning result to a race that itself was a miracle.

*Personal Ensign running down Winning Colors in the Breeder's Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs in 1988.  It was as ugly a day as has ever happened for a Breeder's Cup day:  cold and rainy and windy, with the track sloppy.  A horrible day for racing.  But in the Distaff, Personal Ensign was gong to attempt to retire undefeated, and was facing the Kentucky Derby winner, Winning Colors.

Personal Ensign's being in the race was a miracle in itself;  she had come back from a pastern fracture that required a plate and five screws to stabilize.  99 well-bred, talented fillies out of a 100 who had that kind of injury would have been shuffled off to the farm to become broodmares.  Of the ones who stayed on the track, maybe 1 in 100 would come back in form as good or better than before the injury.

Personal Ensign was that one.  Coming down the stretch in the Distaff on a track she obviously didn't relish, it looked like she'd left herself too much to do to catch Winning Colors.  But champions don't quit and they don't lose, if someone is going to take a race from them, that someone is going to have to beat them by running better, faster, tougher.  Winning Colors was a champion, no doubt about it, but Personal Ensign was a greater champion.  She just wasn't going to be beaten, and with the darkness settling over the track, in the cold and wind, she ran Winning Colors down to win in the last jump.  There is no horse I've ever seen who evinced more courage, determination, talent and sheer grit than Personal Ensign in that race.

*A sentimental favorite for me, since it involved local favorites at Santa Anita:  the 1970 San Juan Capistrano, where local favorites Quicken Tree and Fiddle Isle dead-heated for the win just a nose in front of Horse of the Year Fort Marcy.  After a mile and 3/4 on the turf course at Santa Anita, the top three horses were within a nose of each other.

I love close races.  And these are, I think, the best ever.