Secretariat pulled ahead of Citation in the final stretch of the Kentucky Derby Saturday — and if you’re wondering what year it is … don’t worry, it’s still 2020.
This weekend would’ve marked the opening day of the 146th annual horse racing event down at Churchill Downs over in Louisville — which was postponed for the first time ever since WWII — and while they couldn’t get real thoroughbreds on the track, the crafty minds working the event created a virtual simulation race instead with Triple Crown Winners past.
Watch it again! The 13 Triple Crown winners face off in a virtual race under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.
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— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 2, 2020
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That included legendary horses like Secretariat, Citation, War Admiral, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Assault, Sir Barton, Whirlaway, Omaha, Count Fleet and more recent racers like American Pharaoh and Justify. All spanning different decades dating back to the early 1900s.
The way it works is that programmers entered each horse’s stats into a computer system — which took into account their odds as well — and then it spits out a random number to assign to each horse. So, while Secretariat was the 7-2 favorite to win … it didn’t necessarily mean he WAS going to, even though he actually did in the end. Go figure!
It was a fun experiment, but it also proved why the proverbial G.O.A.T. of horse-racing is the king. BTW, if you’re wondering why lil’ Seabiscuit (who defeated War Admiral once upon a time) wasn’t included — it’s ’cause he never competed in any Triple Crown races.
He probably could’ve held his own though … at least we think so, anyway.
