In 1973, Big Red beat 12 horses in the Derby. He beat 6 horses in the Preakness, of which only 2 were in the Derby, and he beat 4 horses in the Belmont of which only one was in both the Derby and the Preakness and two were in the Preakness. What I see as the big difference is that California Chrome had to compete in the Belmont against 10 other horses versus the 4 other horses that Big Red had to beat. Of course, had he been able to run the Belmont in 2:24 it wouldn't have mattered how many horses were racing against him.
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