Sports fans love nothing more than a pointless historical debate as to what player, team or, in this case, horse was better or would emerge victorious in a hypothetical present-day matchup. We waited 37 long years to see the 12th horse capture the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and while most are still celebrating the accomplishment of American Pharaoh, others are wondering if he could compete with past Triple Crown winners.
There is no definitive answer to that question, as the sport and elements surrounding the sport have changed dramatically since Sir Barton became the first Triple Crown winner in 1919 until Victor Espinoza led American Pharaoh to a win in the Belmont Stakes last weekend. However, it’s still awesome to watch a side-by-side comparison of the most recent winner and arguably the most famous, Secretariat in 1973. The Wall Street Journal plopped both Triple Crown-clinching Belmont races together to give us an idea of just how dominant Secretariat was 42 years ago:
