# Only 5 Horses in 1973 Belmont Stakes **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 7, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855 "2015-06-07T02:34:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/1 "2015-06-07T02:34:02Z")
Watching on Youtube Secretariat’s incredible performance in the 1973 Belmont Stakes is thrilling (always helped by a good announcing job: "Secretariat’s all ALONE!!! “…he’s like a TREMENDOUS machine!!!”). But why were there only four other horses in that race? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/2 "2015-06-07T02:44:53Z")
Well if [the Wikipedia article is to be trusted](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Belmont_Stakes), Affirmed won his triple crown in 1978 with a five horse field too. I heard somewhere (sorry no more authoritative quotes) that the reason Belmont fields tend to be on the the light side is the mile-and-a-half length. That’s not a length three year olds often run, so many racers don’t bother with it unless they have a strong chance to win. ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/3 "2015-06-07T14:31:26Z")
Thank you, InstallLSC. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/4 "2015-06-07T17:06:01Z")
Since this is about sports, let’s move it to the Game Room. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/5 "2015-06-08T17:02:17Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Well if [the Wikipedia article is to be trusted](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Belmont_Stakes), Affirmed won his triple crown in 1978 with a five horse field too. I heard somewhere (sorry no more authoritative quotes) that the reason Belmont fields tend to be on the the light side is the mile-and-a-half length. That’s not a length three year olds often run, so many racers don’t bother with it unless they have a strong chance to win. Wikipedia is correct; my cite is the program from that day hanging on my wall. Back then, 1 1/2 miles was not considered the rarity it is today. The field was five horses because Affirmed and Alydar had proven over many races their superiority over everyone else. They raced against each other nine times, and in all nine Affirmed and Alydar finished first and second - Affirmed winning six and Alydar taking three (one via disqualification of Affirmed). Also, back then horsemen and owners didn’t always fill up the Triple Crown events with entries. Only 11 raced in the Derby that year (which will never happen these days); Secretariat’s Derby had 13 in 1973, Spectacular Bid’s 1979 Derby win was in a 10 horse field, and the 1976 Derby was a nine-horse field. But it went both ways; the 1974 Derby, perhaps because it was the 100th running, attracted a field of 23! Nowadays the Derby field is capped at 20. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/6 "2015-06-08T17:31:43Z")
I’d read that owners pulled their horses from that race as it was fairly obvious that Secretariat was going to dominate the race. So why be embarrassed and put the wear and tear on a horse that has no chance? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/7 "2015-06-08T17:50:39Z")
In a Belmont field featuring the 11 Triple Crown winners running their Belmont-winning times, Secretariat would have led the other horses by [the following distances:](http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/american-pharoahs-a-superhorse-but-hes-no-secretariat/) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/8 "2015-06-08T17:58:27Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I’d read that owners pulled their horses from that race as it was fairly obvious that Secretariat was going to dominate the race. So why be embarrassed and put the wear and tear on a horse that has no chance? That’s my recollection from the time: Secretariat by that time was regarded as so dominant that few owners wanted to race their horse against him. It’s been decades since I’ve paid attention to horse racing, but IIRC this was on top of the Belmont’s fields tending to not be very large anyway back in the 1970s - maybe 8-10 horses in a typical year is my recollection. (I’m sure there’s a way to look this up, but I’m busy today.) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/9 "2015-06-08T18:01:51Z")
Wasn’t there also something in the past about some owners didn’t want to race in Belmont because NY didn’t allow the use of Lasix? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/10 "2015-06-08T18:13:39Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > That’s my recollection from the time: Secretariat by that time was regarded as so dominant that few owners wanted to race their horse against him. My recollection as well. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that Secretariat would take the Triple Crown. That year of racing got me interested in the sport again. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/11 "2015-06-08T20:16:00Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Wasn’t there also something in the past about some owners didn’t want to race in Belmont because NY didn’t allow the use of Lasix? This was the case for several years. It’s believed to be the cause of Unbridled’s poor performance in the 1990 Belmont (among other horses with poor efforts). New York [finally allowed it in time](http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/01/sports/horse-racing-belmont-gets-under-way-with-lasix-in-the-spotlight.html) to host the 1995 Breeders’ Cup. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-5-horses-in-1973-belmont-stakes/721855/12 "2015-06-08T20:31:28Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > That’s my recollection from the time: Secretariat by that time was regarded as so dominant that few owners wanted to race their horse against him. > > It’s been decades since I’ve paid attention to horse racing, but IIRC this was on top of the Belmont’s fields tending to not be very large anyway back in the 1970s - maybe 8-10 horses in a typical year is my recollection. (I’m sure there’s a way to look this up, but I’m busy today.) I have a book with past performances of major horses. Here’s what I was able to find: 1970: Not available. Not much on line either. 1971: 13 horses (South American horse Canonero II was trying for the Triple Crown, and the skeptical local trainers lined up to oppose him. They were right; he finished 4th). 1972: 10 horses. 1973: 5 horses including Secretariat. 1974: 9 horses. 1975: 9 horses. 1976: 10 horses. 1977: 8 horses including Seattle Slew. 1978: 5 horses including Affirmed and Alydar. 1979: 8 horses including Spectacular Bid, who failed to complete the Triple Crown. 1980: 10 horses. It looks like the two years under discussion were the exception, not the rule. Your recollection is spot on.