# What made Secretariat so fast? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 20, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-secretariat-so-fast/684138 "2014-03-20T05:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-secretariat-so-fast/684138/1 "2014-03-20T05:04:55Z")
Was it having a long stride ange that crossed the ground faster than other horses? I know his stride angle was around 105 degrees while Man O’ War’s was 88 degrees. But Man O’ War had a longer bound so Secretariat didn’t “float” as much. Also, Secretariat had strange proportions; like he had an unusually long body for a horse. Any scientific info dealing with this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-secretariat-so-fast/684138/2 "2014-03-20T06:10:05Z")
Secretariat’s speed and stamina were most likely due to his heart. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretariat_%28horse%29): > [@](#): > > A necropsy revealed his heart was significantly larger than that of an ordinary horse… > > At the time of Secretariat’s death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat’s heart, but stated, “We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn’t believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine.” Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham’s heart, and it was 18 pounds (8.2 kg). Based on Sham’s measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated Secretariat’s heart probably weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg), or about two-and-three-quarters times as large as that of the average horse. “This huge engine” about sums it up. It was if Secretariat was powered by a big V-8, while his opponents had little four-cylinder engines that just couldn’t keep up. But it wasn’t just speed; it was stamina too. Thanks to his huge heart, Secretariat had energy and power to spare when closing on the finish, while other horses were spent just trying to keep up. Recall that he won the Belmont by 31 lengths, and he was going away at the time; all after racing one-and-a-half miles. In short, it wasn’t his stride or his conformation. It was his heart. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-secretariat-so-fast/684138/3 "2014-03-20T06:17:19Z")
Well that makes sense, considering his winning margins always started towards the final stretch. At the finish line he looks like he’s still accelerating while the horses far behind all look tired. Thanks. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-secretariat-so-fast/684138/4 "2014-03-20T06:26:45Z")
Interestingly, Secretariat was only able to pass the large-heart gene down through his daughters. More than you’d ever want to know about this: [http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/hippology/xfactor.html](http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/hippology/xfactor.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-secretariat-so-fast/684138/5 "2014-03-20T06:34:28Z")
In the KY Derby, recall that Secretariat ran each quarter-mile segment faster than the one before it. The successive quarter-mile times were 25-1⁄5, 24, 23-4⁄5, 23-2⁄5, and 23. This means he was still accelerating as of the final quarter-mile of the race. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-made-secretariat-so-fast/684138/6 "2014-03-20T11:57:12Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Interestingly, Secretariat was only able to pass the large-heart gene down through his daughters. > > More than you’d ever want to know about this: > [http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/hippology/xfactor.html](http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/hippology/xfactor.html) An interesting article, about the X-Factor. Lots of info there. I mostly skimmed it. Thanks.