Who were the fastest racehorses in history?
Among the fastest racehorses to have ever lived are famous names like Secretariat, Man o’ War, Seabiscuit, Black Caviar, Valiant Pete and Winning Brew.
The highest race speed in recorded history, recorded over two furlongs, is 70.76km/h. This was achieved by Winning Brew in May 2008 at the Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pennsylvania, USA. Trainer Francis Vitale took much of the credit for helping Winning Brew become so exceptionally fast.
American Thoroughbred racehorse, Secretariat, on the other hand, still holds the record for the fastest recorded time achieved on dirt. In 1973, he was the first winner of the Triple Crown in 25 years and his victory in the Belmont Stakes is widely considered one of the best races of all time.
Seabiscuit, who was immortalised by a Hollywood film starring Tobey Maguire, was a champion racehorse in the USA known for his outstanding top speeds and, in 1938, he was voted American Horse of the Year for his achievements.
In Britain, the five-furlong handicap sprint, the Epsom Dash run at The Jockey Club’s Epsom Downs racecourse, is one of the fastest races in the sport. The lack of obstacles on the Flat mean that runners, aged three years or more in a maximum field of 20, can reach astounding speeds – in fact, the current official Guinness World Record for the fastest racehorse over five furlongs was set in the Dash by Stone of Folca in 2012.