Sham (horse)

Sham (April 9, 1970 – April 3, 1993), an American thoroughbred race horse, was one of the leading racehorses of the 20th century but was overshadowed by his more famous peer, Secretariat. Sham was a dark seal brown in color. While racing, he wore green and yellow blinkers. His preferred running style was that of a closer, stalking from behind to make a late rally.

Sham was a large horse at 16.2hh.^[1] He also had a very large heart, about twice the size of the average horse's, according to Dr. Thomas Swerczek, a University of Kentucky veterinary scientist.^[1]

Kentucky Derby preparation

Sham, who along with Linda's Chief were campaigning at Santa Anita Park, were considered the principal candidates from the West to contest 1972 Two Year Old champion and Horse of the Year Secretariat for the 1973 Kentucky Derby. On February 17 Sham earned his fourth consecutive win and first stakes win in the Santa Catalina Stakes at 1 ¹⁄₁₆ miles. On March 1 Linda's Chief, trained by Robert Frankel, had established himself credibly with a track record time of 1:33 4/5 in winning the mile San Jacinto Stakes. These two would subsequently meet for the first time March 17 in the 1 ¹⁄₁₆ mile San Felipe Handicap, with Linda's Chief taking the win and Sham, the slight favorite, finishing fourth.

These two would meet again two weeks later March 31 in the 1 ¹⁄₈ mile Santa Anita Derby. Linda's Chief, with Braulio Baeza up, was assigned post 5 and was sent off 1:2 favorite. The Frank Martin entry of Sham, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., and the lesser regarded stablemate, California Juvenile stakes winner Knightly Dawn, was the post time 5:2 second choice. Jorge Tejeira, a leading rider at the time, had originally been assigned the mount on Knightly Dawn, but on the morning of the race Tejeira was removed and Ismael Valenzuela, years past his top form as a highly regarded jockey (including regular rider of Kelso) was assigned the mount. The start was good, but Knightly Dawn, from post 6, angled in and sawed off Linda's Chief 40 yards leaving the gate.^[2] Linda's Chief, a typical pacesetter, and Baeza found themselves 4 lengths back going into the first turn. Sham who would go on to win the race equaling the stakes record of 1:47 established in 1965 by Lucky Debonair, with Linda's Chief in second place 2 ¹⁄₂ lengths back. Baeza would file a claim of foul with the stewards over the start, as any claim upheld against Knightly Dawn would also result in Sham's disqualification due to their mutuel coupling, and would move Linda's Chief up to first placing. The stewards ruled there would be no change in the order of finish. (Ancient Title came out of his box and hit Linda's Chief). This would be Linda's Chief last encounter with Sham, with Linda's Chief going on to win the California Derby, while Sham would move forward to the Wood Memorial Stakes in New York.

The Wood Memorial, contested April 21 and the final New York prep to the Kentucky Derby, established Sham as a formidable rival to Secretariat. Although Secretariat's stable mate Angle Light would set the pace and go on to win the race, Sham lost by a head and out finished Secretariat by 4 lengths. Secretariat and Sham, at odds of 3:2 and 5:2, respectively, clearly established themselves as the betting favorite and second choice for the Kentucky Derby to be contested May 5, the first Saturday of May.

1973 Triple Crown chase

99th running of the Kentucky Derby, May 5, 1973

Before 134,476 fans, the largest crowd to see a horse race in the United States to that date, Sham ripped two teeth out on the starting gate at the Kentucky Derby. Although bleeding from the start, Sham finished second behind Secretariat, who came away with a 2 ¹⁄₂ length victory running 1:59 2/5 for the 1 ¹⁄₄ miles, the first horse to break two minutes in the Kentucky Derby. (The previous record was 2:00, set by Northern Dancer in 1964.) When asked about the effect of Sham's start, Laffit Pincay said, "It's difficult to see how he could have run much better than almost 1:59 4/5, and yet, logically, hitting his head on the gate and losing the teeth couldn't have helped him." By running 2 ¹⁄₂ lengths behind Secretariat, Sham ran the distance in either 1:59 ⁴⁄₅ to 2:00 1/5. As races were not timed to 1/100th of a second at the time, and non-winning times were not taken, no exact time is available.

It wasn't until 2001 that another horse won the Derby with a time under two minutes. Monarchos won it in 2001 in an electronically timed 1:59.97, which is by convention converted to 1:59 ⁴⁄₅. No other horse, through the 2015 running of the Kentucky Derby, has ever been below two minutes. Sham's Derby time was thus no worse than the fourth fastest time in history (behind Secretariat, Monarchos, and Northern Dancer), and may have been the second fastest time in history, with the only faster time run by another horse in the same race.

Sham's individual time of 23 ³⁄₅s in the closing quarter of the race puts him into company with an elite group of horses that closed under 24 seconds: Whirlaway whose closing time of 23 ³⁄₅s stood for 32 years; and Secretariat, who closed it in 23 seconds flat. Whirlaway won the Triple Crown in 1941.

The 98th running of the Preakness Stakes, May 19, 1973

With a Maryland racing record audience of 61,653 looking on, Secretariat defeated Sham for the second time in two weeks in the 98th running of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. In a field of six horses, Sham finished second to Secretariat by 2 ¹⁄₂ lengths again. Before the race, Sham was given only bottled water to drink. Sham's time of 1:53 3/5 is tied for the fifth fastest in Preakness history.

The 105th running of the Belmont Stakes, June 9, 1973

Sham was uncharacteristically nervous before the Belmont Stakes and was sweating heavily during the post parade. Under orders, Pincay was to keep Sham with Secretariat from the start. Sham was on the outside throughout, which cost an insignificant amount of endurance more than Secretariat on the rail. This strategy worked through the first turn and into the backstretch as Secretariat and Sham led the field and then pulled away by a half-dozen lengths with Sham taking a brief lead at several points early in the race. After about three-quarters of a mile, a third of the way through the race, Secretariat increased his pace and pulled ahead rapidly as Sham began to tire. With Pincay easing back to protect the horse, Sham ultimately finished last as Secretariat pulled away to a win recorded at 31 lengths. The time of 2:24 flat remains a world record for 1 ¹⁄₂ miles on a dirt track.^[3]

Stud career

While Sham did not race again after the Belmont Stakes, he was not retired until July 1973 when he pulled up lame after a workout. The cause was a fractured right cannon bone, which was surgically repaired with three screws.^[3] "Sham broke a cannonbone," trainer Frank Martin said. "I knew when he run so bad, I knew something was wrong with him," and with that his racing career officially ended. Sham was first sent to stud duty at Spendthrift Farm and later to Walmac International near Lexington, Kentucky. His progeny included stakes winners Arewehavingfunyet (f), Jaazeiro, and Safe Play, the dam of stakes winner Defensive Play.

Sham died of a heart attack on April 3, 1993, at the age 23. At the necropsy, his heart weighed in at 18 pounds, about twice the size of the average thoroughbred heart. He is buried on the Walmac farm.

References

External links

• Santa Anita Notes
• Sham in the Derby
• Official Racing Chart and Replay Kentucky Derby 1973
• Sham's Pedigree
• X-factor with Sham's heart weight
• Sham: Great Was Second Best
• Left in Shambles : Everyone Remembers Secretariat's Great 1973, but What About That Horse He Kept Beating?