From Mary Lou to Tom; Jim Dandy to Fourstardave; Siro’s to backyard tailgating; and morning workouts to give aways; Saratoga has a cast of heroes, customs, and institutions which make it, in our opinion, the most unique sporting venue on Earth. Over the next 40 Days, we will profile 40 of these legends and traditions, adding our own memories and experiences from 30 plus years of summering at the Spa. It’s our Salute to Saratoga. We hope you enjoy following along.
The Graveyard of Favorites. The legend of Saratoga as a stumbling block for champions is well celebrated, and likely is in the back of trainer Bob Baffert’s mind as he mulls the decision of whether to send Triple Crown champ American Pharoah to Upstate New York. At the Spa, monumental upsets are celebrated and memorialized. Man O’ War’s defeat to a horse named Upset has been attributed, albeit incorrectly, to coining the term. Jim Dandy defeated Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox in the Travers and has a stakes and clubhouse bar named after him.
But not all upsets are treated equally—look at the celebrated Miracle on Ice versus the quickly dismissed win by James Buster Douglas. It’s in that latter category, where perhaps the greatest giant slayer to grace the front side of Saratoga, Onion, falls. There is no graded Onion Stakes at Saratoga. No bar, statue, or even a staircase, dedicated in his honor. Instead of a courageous or historic upset, Onion’s 1973 Whitney victory over Secretariat has been labeled a fluke—the lowest designation an upset can receive. Even Onion’s own rider, Jacinto Vasquez, admitted the win was a complete fluke–”I probably caught him on a bad day. Onion wasn’t the same caliber. It’s just that he loved Saratoga and had a good day.”
Of course, Vasquez is right. Onion is not Secretariat—not even close. And he did catch the champ on a bad day. Secretariat had a low grade fever on Whitney Day. And Big Red was stuck on a dead rail. However, quickly casting aside Onion as another Buster Douglas overlooks the brilliance of Onion’s connections– Vasquez, and primarily the Giant Killer himself, H. Allen Jerkens.
The story of Onion’s historic upset starts four days prior to the Whitney. The four year old gelding, largely relegated to low level stakes and claiming and allowance company, fired a masterpiece at Saratoga, winning an allowance race in spectacular fashion; setting a track record for six furlongs in the process. The horse was thriving. But the Whitney, in just four days? Against the greatest horse ever? The horse who won the Triple Crown by a combined 31 lengths and showed no signs of slowing down, winning his next start at Arlington by nine lengths? Crazy.
Instead of placing the flowered blanket on Big Red, Jerkens did his homework. He watched Secretariat train in the morning and noted the horse looked flat. He then started paying attention to potential starters. There wasn’t a lot of speed in the race. With Onion thriving, Secretariat potentially gassed for his first attempt against older horses, and a favorable race set up, the Chief took his shot. “Just get me a check” was his final instruction to Vasquez. The public made Onion the second choice, slightly below 5-1, in the six horse field.
On race day, after noticing the rail was completely dead, Jerkens instructed Vasquez to keep Secretariat inside of him—a place Big Red was not accustomed to being. As a cool aside, these prerace instructions occurred in the Saratoga infield as track officials decided to forgo the paddock and instead allow the fans to enjoy a more public saddling. In fact, Jerkens watched the race from the infield, and couldn’t even see his horse for a 1/16th of a mile down the stretch as they disappeared behind the tote board.
To Jerkens surprise, when the pack emerged from behind the tote board, the front running Onion still had the lead, and Secretariat was struggling inside on the dead rail. Following Jerkens instructions, Vasquez invited Secretariat to pass him on the inside. As Big Red pulled closer, Vasquez pinned him against the rail. Secretariat had no answer. The upset Jerkens had envisioned, was a reality.
In the days that followed, it became public that Secretariat had a low grade fever and the connections considered scratching him, but thought he still had enough to defeat the six horse field. Stories would surface as to the degree of Secretariat’s illness, including that the horse had nine bouts with diarrhea on the walk from the barn to the front side.
Secretariat would later avenge his defeat to Onion, crushing the horse at Belmont that fall and cementing Onion’s legacy as a fluke. Secretariat of course would continue to run into immortality and Onion was relegated to the claiming ranks and a footnote.
In the end, Onion’s Whitney victory was the result of a perfect storm, but a fluke? That’s not fair to the brilliant ride by Vasquez nor to the effort and gamble of the Chief. So NYRA, can we at least get a Giant Killer “Onion” Ring stand at Toga next year? It’s time to properly celebrate this legendary Spa upset.
