Dave Johnson Joins TDN Writers’ Room, Talks Secretariat

On that June afternoon nearly 50 years ago, Dave Johnson was there to witness one of the most memorable moments in the history of horse racing. As the NYRA track announcer, he called Secretariat's win in the GI Belmont S., an event he, and anyone who was there that day, will never forget. To share his memories, Johnson joined the team for this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Johnson was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

He recalled that Secretariat came around at the perfect time, that the country was looking for a hero and a heroic story after the struggles of the late sixties and early seventies.

“There was Watergate and Vietnam, and this was before people scratched off lottery tickets and before sports books and casinos,” he said. “Racing was the great place to go and make a legal bet. And then along comes this great horse with a great crew. You had Lucien Laurin training and Ronnie Turcotte riding and Mrs. Tweedy was a great cheerleader. She just she captured the audience. When you'd see her on television rooting for a horse, you wanted her to win. So it was all of those things that came together with this magnificent animal. Secretariat just came at the right time and with the right people and at a time where the sport didn't have the problems it has now. People loved Secretariat and loved the story, and it was a hell of a story.”

In that era, announcers were not allowed to call the finish of a race because that was seen as a violation of the Wire Act of 1938, which was meant to discourage bookmaking. But he did his best to let his audience know that something special was taking place.

“I called Secretariat in front by 25 lengths at the sixteenth-pole,” he said. “I had never called a horse in a race other than a steeplechase race in front by that much. So I called him in front by 25 lengths at the sixteenth pole and then I shut the mic off at the 70-yard mark saying Secretariat wins the Triple Crown or something like that. I don't think NYRA has the call. But that's what I remember, how gigantic the margin of victory was. It seems like yesterday. It doesn't seem like 50 years ago.”

Johnson has called hundreds of major races, including a slew of Triple Crown events while working for ABC. But nothing, he said, will ever top the 1973 Belmont.

“It was the greatest spectacle in my lifetime of watching horse races,” Johnson said. “If you brought any horse in the world to the Belmont that afternoon at a mile-and-a-half, Secretariat would have beat them. It was it was just spectacular. It was the greatest moment for me in horse racing. I don't think you'll ever match it.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/  the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders1/st Racing, WinStar Farm, XBTV, Lane's End and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Bill Finley, Zoe Cadman and Randy Moss discussed the news surrounding the National Thoroughbred League, the new racing initiative that hopes to bring the team aspect that is at the core of other sports to racing. There was some skepticism that it will succeed and Moss pointed out just how expensive it will be purchase the 36 horses that will be needed to form the racing teams. But there was agreement that the league deserves a chance and they applauded its founders for trying something new and different that could bring new fans to the sport. The rash of fatalities at Churchill Downs took up much of the podcast. As is the case with just about everyone in the industry, the team doesn't see there being any magic bullets but was in agreement that the situation is a terrible problem for a sport holding on dearly to its social license to operate. And how will Rich Strike (Keen Ice) do now that he has been turned over to Bill Mott? The consensus was that Mott will have his work cut out for him but that if anybody can get last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner back to top form it is his new trainer.

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50 Years Ago Today, I Was At Secretariat’s Derby

It hit me hard the other night how old I have become. My brain was slowly processing that it was 50 years ago I saw Secretariat win the Kentucky Derby.

I exaggerate. A lot.

I caught a brief glimpse of Secretariat as he flew by my strained vantage point.

After insistent begging, my older sister and her friends relented and took me with them to my first Derby.

It was May 5, 1973 and we were in the infield.

Frankly, at age 14, my day was already complete way before post time for the Derby rolled around.

I was allowed to stay up all night, since we had to get in the infield queue around midnight. On top of that, by noon on Derby day, I had witnessed more infield debauchery than I could wrap my young head around–alcohol, drugs, nudity.

Remember it was the '70s.

How could the day get better?

The day could get better by having seen Secretariat, the horse who would captivate America by winning the Triple Crown and chart the course of my future by hooking me on Thoroughbred racing and breeding.

Why was I processing that it had been 50 years since that magical day?

Because I just moved into a new home I built and was unpacking boxes.

I unpeeled the bubble wrap from my framed photo of Secretariat, bought to commemorate another anniversary, upon which his owner wrote: “To Dan, A Real Expert, Penny Tweedy, 1993.”
In a nearby box were other framed items: Secretariat's four-cross pedigree; his past performances as they appeared in Daily Racing Form on Derby day 1973; a copy of the first page of his syndication agreement; and a limited edition head shot, taken in 1973 by Tony Leonard.

Another box contained my four envelopes sealed in plastic when the Secretariat Stamp was unveiled–two from Keeneland dated Oct. 16, 1999; the other pair from Churchill Downs dated Nov. 20, 1999.

A plastic bin had my cache of bobbleheads of horses, trainers, and jockeys, among them a Secretariat model, wearing his trademark blinkers and saddle cloth 1A. In the same treasure trove I found my mini Secretariat Louisville slugger bat.

Among the more than 200 Derby, Preakness, Belmont and Breeders' Cup glasses that had been packed away were the glass from the year Secretariat won the Derby, the year after when his name first appeared as a a winner of the race; and two glasses issued on the 25th anniversary of his Derby win.

In a small box, carefully wrapped in tissue paper, a pair of jockey goggles purchased at auction last year. Inscribed on the goggles: “Ron Turcotte, TC 73.”

A Lifetime of Secretariat Memorabilia | Dan Liebman photo

There is a new addition to the collection of memories, just acquired; a 2023 Woodford Reserve Secretariat bottle. On the front stands a beautifully painted picture of Secretariat in the Churchill Downs winner's circle. It will fit neatly alongside my numbered 2003 Maker's Mark bottle, signed at Keeneland by Penny, then track president Nick Nicholson, and then Maker's president Bill Samuels Jr.

From that day in the infield I charted a course that saw me work for The Frankfort State-Journal (twice), Daily Racing Form, The Racing Times, and The Blood-Horse.

Of course I have watched, and handicapped, every Derby since Secretariat set the track record of 1:59 2/5 for the 10 furlongs. Here's hoping that record stands forever.

I've attended many Derbies along the way as well, both as a spectator and member of the press.

Never seen a horse as good as Secretariat. Never expect to. Maybe never want to.

As good as his Derby win was for this Kentucky-bred, Secretariat's move in the Preakness and domination in the Belmont were even more spectacular.

It is not so bad being 64 years old, knowing 50 years ago you saw the greatest racehorse run the fastest time in the history of the world's most well-known horse race.

It is what put Secretariat atop my horse pedestal.

I wish I had taken a Kodak to the Churchill Downs infield that day in 1973.

Alas, I have no photo of that day, but I do have a lifetime of cherished memories, and memorabilia collected ever since that reminds me every day of how special that day–and that horse–was.

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