1973 Kentucky Derby starting gate. This forced Brumfield to dismount and adjust the saddle, delaying the Derby's start. Despite this, Brumfield stated he did not "want to make excuses, everything considered, my horse did fine." Betting on the ten races held that day at Churchill Downs totaled to $7,627,965, breaking the previous single-day record for American horse racing events of $7,164,717. Off-track betting on the Kentucky Derby reached $3,050,194, which was included in the previous record total. Secretariat went on to participate in the Preakness Stakes two weeks later, where he finished in first. Sham was second, again, by a margin of lengths.
Kentucky Derby changed to the first Saturday in May to allow for a specific schedule for the Triple Crown races. Since 1931, the order of Triple Crown races has been the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes. Prior to 1931, eleven times the Preakness was run before the Derby. On May 12, 1917 and again on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day. On eleven occasions the Belmont Stakes was run before the Preakness Stakes. On May 16, 1925, the first live radio broadcast of the Kentucky Derby