Marlboro Cup of Champions

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Mike Sekulic — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 02:17:46 GMT

The NYRA posted this video of the 1973 Marlboro Cup to Youtube.com on November 8, 2013:

www.youtube.com/watch

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

rocky wills — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 14:53:49 GMT

Wish the sport could get back to this

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Chris Aplin — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 15:07:07 GMT

Thanks Mike for the back story of the origins of the Marlboro Cup. I found it very interesting and part of racing history that I never knew. You brought the race to life by your article. Fantastic!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Mike Sekulic — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:26:11 GMT

While I do think the 1973 version of the Marlboro Cup was the best one, because of the high-quality field, the race did attract all the top horses during its brief run. For example, the field in the 1975 running, featurning WAJIMA, FOREGO, ANCIENT TITLE, FOOLISH PLEASURE, STEP NICELY, AVATAR and ROYAL GLINT, was fantastic.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

GunBow — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 20:08:33 GMT

An excellent piece that deftly combines passion, knoweldge, and literary flair.

And Mr. Sekulic chose an event worthy of his writing talents. The Marloboro Cup, particularly the 73' running, was the Breeder's Cup Classic before the Breeder's Cup. Except, unlike any Breeder's Cup Classic, the 73' Marlboro Cup featured 3 no-doubt Hall of Famers, a trio that made what were otherwise outstanding runners like Key to the Mint and Kennedy Road appear to be afterthoughts.

In my opinion, Secretariat was the greatest thoroughbred racehorse of all-time. His best was simply better than any other horse's best. And while Secretariat didn't always reproduce his best, his off-days could have simply been the result of the fact that his team campaigned him in such a way that they weren't afraid to lose every once in while. They wanted to push Secretariat so that he could prove the extent of his talents, and they embraced the concept of a prep race(and that one could have a productive loss).

Riva Ridge was arguably a sloppy Pimlico track from being a champion at 2,3, and 4. Riva Ridge lost the 3 year old title to Key to the Mint in part because Lucien and Penny continued to try and win big races late in the year even though the horse had started to tail off.

The fact Cougar II wasn't in the Bloodhorse Top 100 was the single greatest oversight of the rankings. Had the races Cougar won in 1971 and 1972 carried with them the same grade status they did in 1973(the first year of the grading system), Cougar would have had a career total of 10 North American grade 1 victories, not including the dubious 71' Woodward dq. He would have won grade 1s from 8.5 furlongs on dirt to 14 furlongs on turf. And he was remarkably consistent, placing in 44 of 50 career starts, and his final 20(almost all at the grade 1 or grade 1 equivalent level).

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Limey — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 14:20:07 GMT

mike has captured a moment in time and shared a memory for many people.

In this day when million dollar winning horses are common, this article reminds you of just how different and difficult it was in this industry.

Mike you have a passion for this business and the photos you take are magnificent.

Keep it going............Andy

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

GinaR — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 13:41:59 GMT

What an incredible field in this race! Very much in the spirit of what Breeders' Cup does today. Fantastic article!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Saratoga AJ — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 14:33:36 GMT

Secretariat was one of the greats, but certainly not the best of all time. He would throw in his clunkers. Onion beat him at equal weights in the 1973 Whitney, and Prove Out absolutely trounced him by almost 5 lengths in the 1973 Woodward. And Prove out carried seven more pounds!

To be the greatest you have to prove you can carry weight. Sec never did.

In my opinion you have to consider five time HOTY Kelso as perhaps the best, since he carried in excess of 130 pounds numerous times while beating more great or very good horses than any other thoroughbred in history. He took on all comers year after year, spotting them weight most of the time. Some of the champions he beat included the likes of Carry Back, Gun Bow, Bald Eagle, Tompion, Never Bend, Beau Purple, Quadrangle, Roman Brother, Crimson Satan, Jaipur, Ridan and Pia Star.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

sogoodjazzie — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 23:03:42 GMT

Bravo Mike! I watched the broadcast on tv and you couldn't have told a better story. Felt like I was re-living it again. Thanks for the great memories and keep it up with more stories in the future. If Blood-Horse had a brain, they'd commission you as a part of their team - their loss if they don't!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

steve from st louis — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 19:23:31 GMT

A world's record without Turcotte even drawing his stick, a pure hand ride.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

cin — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 04:50:22 GMT

Pretty good article but you have it wrong, Man O' War is the greatest horse of all time. And, for the record, Spectacular Bid ran just a second and a fifth off of this alleged "greatest horse ever" pretty good for a horse that didn't win the Triple Crown!!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Ryan Stillman — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 01:37:39 GMT

Awesome article. This was very well researched Masterfully written.. I look forward to more from this writer

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

derbylin — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 22:05:51 GMT

Loved this story. Anytime a story involves Big Red, it catches my eye. I agree with you, chucky, about the state of todays racehorses.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

MargieRose — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 20:30:27 GMT

Awesome article, Mike! Author and photograher EXTRAORDINAIRE, for sure!!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

mz — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 17:21:24 GMT

Thank you for remembering the great Kennedy Road. Different level from Secretariat but still beloved.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Love 'em all — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 14:33:43 GMT

Loved this story. Spent an hour or two searching out more info on Cougar II who really sparked my interest in this story. What a horse!

Wow. You lucky folks who actually saw the '73 Marlboro Cup in person. Here's a list of all the MC winners ... '73 through '87.

en.wikipedia.org/.../Marlboro_Cup_Invitational_Handicap

Thanks so much for sharing, Mr. Sekulic.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

scpalohorselvr — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 00:44:02 GMT

This is a wonderful article that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Each paragraph brought back memories of a very special time in horse racing history. Loved it!!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Ellen F — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:17:47 GMT

Oh Mike,

Your article gave me the shivers… The race is so well described. You have captured the incredible drama of the day. And I am printing it out for my children. I was there. I was at the Marlboro Cup.

Bless you,

Ellen

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

chucky — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 17:38:50 GMT

Just like the great thoroughbreds mentioned in this article, great prestigious races like the Marlboro cup are long gone and will never come back. The breeding for frail, short career sprinters and milers have overtaken this once great racing industry.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

OTTBsRock — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 16:04:33 GMT

Terrific article - thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The athletic feat of Secretariat and the other contenders was amazing. The splits of 1:09 1/5, 1:33 for a mile, and 1:45 2/5 are awe-inspiring. What a tremendous racehorse Secretariat was - truly the best there ever. Wish he could have raced as a 4 year old.

Thank you again for the revisit to the 1973 Marlboro Cup!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

OTTBsRock — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 15:59:31 GMT

Thank you again for the revisit to the 1973 Marlboro Cup!

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

JMJ — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 15:45:48 GMT

Excellent article. Very informative and well written. I'm a huge fan of Secretariat and Mike really brought back some memories. I've never been much of a reader of the blood horse but this piece really sparked my interest. Thanks for publishing it :)

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Pedigree Ann — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 13:20:50 GMT

Thank you for acknowledging the trouble that His Felinity, My Own True Love Cougar II encountered in this race. And that his DQ in the Woodward was bogus. Even though the Marlboro Cup distance of 9f was a bit on the short side for him - his wins in the Californian were due to insane paces that set it up for his awesome charge from behind - he acquitted himself well.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

Himawarikazushi — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 11:37:30 GMT

CougarⅡ was an unique and impressive horse!

His great-grandchild,Biwa Hayahide by Sharrood(his broodmare is CougarⅡ),was very active in Japan.

re: Marlboro Cup of Champions

cjwigg — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 09:51:25 GMT

Great article by Mike Sekulic who certainly knows his stuff. A noted authority on past superstars of the racing world and a fine photographer to boot.