It happened in 1973

[Grand Torino]

June 9, 1973 - In one of the most awesome displays of dominance in sports history, Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, winning the Triple Crown of United States Thoroughbred Racing for the first time since 1948.

Hard to put this into context, but when sports writers put the greatest achievements in sporting history in perspective, somewhere on that list, will likely be a non-human participant, and that participant will be Secretariat. By winning the Belmont Stakes and therefore, the first Triple Crown in twenty-five years, Secretariat became a legend in the horse racing world. But it was in the world in general, when the horse won that race in record time, 2:24 flat for the 1.5 mile race, and won by thirty-one lengths, it was perhaps the most dominant sport achievement in history.

Over fifty-two percent of the television viewing public watched the race, fifteen million viewers. He had been the prohibitive favorite, at 1 to 10 odds in the five horse race with jockey Ron Turcotte at the helm. The time of the race is still, more than forty years later, the Belmont Stakes record, as well as the American record on dirt for one and one half miles.

[Quavodus]

I can't remember watching in live but, have watched the video several times. It was awesome to say the least. I saw a interview with the jockey, and he said I just let him run. Didn't try to get him to go faster or anything.

 

 

[No_0ne]

I watched it live, easily the most impressive performance I ever saw from a racehorse ...