In what is widely considered as one of the greatest Derby performances of all time, Secretariat beat the entire field of the Derby starting out as dead last.

Amazingly Secretariat ran every quarter of the race faster than the previous one and was still accelarating when crossing the finish line. This was unheard of until then in horse racing (usually the horses get slower the further they get into the race)

Another amazing fact: The finishing time of the second placed Sham was 1:59 4/5, a time which would have won every other race on that track, before and after this race.

ESPN listed Secretariat 35th of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century, one of three non-humans on the list.

After Secretariat died in 1989, an autopsy revealed his heart to have been 21 pound in weight, as opposed to the normal heartsize of 8 1/2 pounds for a thoroughbred.

Wikipedia entry for Secretariat

Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths (Video)

Secretariat coming from behind to win the Preakness Stakes (Video)

Secretariats 1973 Kentucky win without the music