Lucien Laurin

It was 50 years ago, a Wednesday in late October and Eddie Maple was spending his day riding at Aqueduct. It was supposed to be just another routine day at the track. But then the seventh race happened. The stewards disqualified Ron Turcotte's mount and handed him a five-day suspension for careless riding. In those days, there were no appeals, no dragging things through court. The suspension started immediately, which meant that Secretariat would need a rider for what would be his final career race, the 1973 GII Canadian International...

On that June afternoon nearly 50 years ago, Dave Johnson was there to witness one of the most memorable moments in the history of horse racing. As the NYRA track announcer, he called Secretariat's win in the GI Belmont S., an event he, and anyone who was there that day, will never forget. To share his memories, Johnson joined the team for this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Johnson was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. He recalled that Secretariat came around at the perfect...

As the 42,329 fans that attended the races at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972 made their way to the exits and to the parking lot and the A train after the day's last race, it's doubtful that anyone among them realized they had just witnessed the debut of one of the greatest horses who ever raced. For Secretariat, it began 50 years ago from today with a bad trip and a fourth-place finish in a maiden special weight race with an $8,000 purse. It would turn out to be the...