Page "Secretariat (horse)" Paragraph 18

In the stretch, Secretariat opened a 1 / 16 mile lead on the rest of the field.

At the finish, he won by 31 lengths ( breaking the margin-of-victory record set by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1943, who won by 25 lengths ), and ran the fastest 1½ miles on dirt in history, 2: 24 flat, which broke the stakes record by more than two seconds.

This works out to a speed of 37. 5 mph for his entire performance.

Secretariat's record still stands ; no other horse has ever broken 2: 25 for 1½ miles on dirt.

If the Beyer Speed Figure calculation had been developed during that time, Andrew Beyer calculated that Secretariat would have earned a figure of 139, the highest he has ever assigned.

Bettors holding 5, 617 winning parimutuel tickets on Secretariat never redeemed them, presumably keeping them as souvenirs ( and because they paid only $ 2. 20 on a $ 2 bet ).