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Friday, March 22, 2013

Secretariat: Arlington Invitational

Secretariat's road to victory did not end with Belmont.  On June 30, he moved on to the Arlington Invitational, held in the suburbs northeast of Chicago. Only three horses were raced against him for the prize of $125,000: My Gallant, Our Native(both raced against him in the Triple Crown) and Blue Chip Dan. Though the field was small, 41,223 fans flocked to see Secretariat run.

 Anyone you ask will say that the Arlington Invitational was an easy win for Secretariat. Right out of the gate, he maneuvered around his three opponents and took the lead before he was even around the first turn. Then he ran quickly down the backstretch. After the final bend, with only an eighth of a mile remaining, there was no chance that any of the horses could beat him.

 Secretariat won by nine lengths with a time of 1:47, 1/5 of a second slower than the track record, held by Damascus.

 The betting format of this race was far different than that of other races. Instead of being able to bet on any one horse, a person could either bet on Secretariat or the other three horses as a whole. Of course, everyone bet on Secretariat, who was at that time a legend because of his famous Triple Crown win.

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