Secretariat, Pat Day - August 4th

Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day announced his retirement. Day retired with 8,803 career wins (fourth-best all-time) and record purse earnings of $297,941,812. ~2005

 

In his first race against older horses, 1-10 favorite Secretariat was defeated in the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga by Allen Jerkens' four-year-old trainee Onion, who beat him by a length. Secretariat was subsequently found to be suffering from a virus. ~1973