I'm a big horse racing fan and I have been a fan of Bob Baffert for years. I have several autographed pictures of his horses (Silver Charm and Real Quiet). I was beginning to think that we would never see another Triple Crown winner because the feat is so hard to pull off and today's horses are not the iron horses of decades ago. American Pharaoh proved he is a special horse and is clearly in another league from his competition.
With regards to Secretariat, it's really not fair to compare any horse to him. Secretariat was a freak of nature and was born with an over-sized heart which gave him an advantage over every other horse that dared to race against him. Go back and watch the Belmont race that sealed the Triple Crown for Secretariat and tell me that race resembles American Pharaoh's race yesterday. Secretariat won the Belmont by an astonishing 31 lengths and grown men wept at what they had just witnessed. Secretariat set track records for the KY Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont that have never been broken and I doubt they ever will. Secretariat set fractions in the Belmont that you would normally see in a 6 furlong sprint race. Who runs 6 furlongs in 1:09 at the Belmont and still wins the race? Answer: Only Secretariat could ever pull off something this astonishing.
I have been to Claiborne Farm and I stood at Secretariat's grave. We were told there are always fresh flowers on Secretariat's grave and people send them from around the world. There was certainly lots of fresh flowers on Secretariat's grave on the day we visited. Secretariat is also one of the few horses that was buried whole. Horses are so big that normally they are buried with with head, heart, and hooves.