I'm unbelievably busy with the Derby seminar and shouldn't even get involved in this stuff, but:

1- Secretariat's Belmont went in 2:24, he went the first six furlongs in around 1:10. It's possible each quarter was faster in his Derby, but what difference does it make-- he ran the final time he did, and there is no evidence the pace affected it.

2- Easy Goer, on figures, was much the better horse. Whittingham, that time, was much the better trainer. EG ran his eyeballs out in the Gotham and again on two weeks rest in the Wood, then came back AGAIN on two weeks in the Derby (in the slop), bounced, and AGAIN on two weeks in the Preakness, moving back towards his top-- that's 4 races in 6 weeks. When he finally got 3 weeks before the Belmont he won by a pole. All this racing took it's toll, and by most accounts he spent the later part of his career racing with an ankle the size of a softball.

SS, on the other hand, always went into his races with EG fresh, which was Wittingham's strength, and at the top of his game.



TGJB