He was Southern California's top Kentucky Derby hope in 1973. He was also a stakes winner and one who almost always showed up in the money. And he could be considered one of the best horses to have never won the Triple Crown.

Despite not attaining racing's most elusive prize, this bay colt was worthy of the honor. The only problem was another colt from that same crop proved to be better. And like Alydar later in that decade, this Thoroughbred would find himself playing second fiddle to a horse destined to become one of the sport's immortals during the annual spring classics.

Still, that in no way diminishes the distinguished career of Sham.

Although his time in the Golden State is well documented, Sham actually spent his entire juvenile season in the East. The campaign largely took place at Belmont Park, where Sham racked up minor awards. It was not until his fourth and final start of 1972, which happened to be at Aqueduct, that Sham graduated. He did so at a mile, and that proved to be a foreshadowing. When all was said and done, every one of Sham's victories would come at a route.

When the 1973 season rolled around, trainer Frank "Pancho" Martin sent Sham to Santa Anita for the winter. Despite not having set foot in California prior to that time, Sham had ties to the region within him. He was a son of Pretense, who scored several stakes wins between Del Mar, Hollywood Park and Santa Anita during the 1960s. Like his father before him, Sham would make his mark on the circuit.

Sent along the Kentucky Derby trail, Sham proved to be almost impossible to defeat. In five starts at Santa Anita, all with Laffit Pincay, Jr. in the saddle, he was victorious on four occasions. Able to run from off the pace or stay near the front, Sham put up wins a pair of allowances before taking the Santa Catalina Stakes. After finishing fourth in the San Felipe, Sham rebounded in the Santa Anita Derby to cast himself as California's primary Kentucky Derby runner. But another race awaited him before the first Saturday in May.

Returning to Aqueduct two weeks before the Derby, Sham was entered in the Wood Memorial. Jorge Velasquez took the mount for this occasion (Pincay would ride him in every start afterwards). He took second in his final Derby prep behind Angle Light (who beat Sham in the latter's debut race), but the attention focused on the fact that Secretariat finished third. This was the first meeting between Sham and the horse called Big Red, who was the reigning two-year-old champion and Horse of the Year. But like Swaps and Nashua nearly two decades earlier, and Affirmed and Alydar later on, the two colts were meant to be linked in the Thoroughbred racing timeline.

They met up again at Churchill Downs for the Derby on May 5, and they were ahead of everyone else at the top of the stretch. Secretariat got the better of Sham that day, and has since been recognized as having the fastest final time in the Kentucky Derby, doing so in under two minutes. Sham was just a couple of lengths behind, and he has been credited with running the race in under two minutes as well. Though he did not get the trophy, the Santa Anita Derby winner managed to take a piece of history for himself under the Twin Spires.

The next installment in the Secretariat-Sham saga came a fortnight later at Pimlico. The two were again the class of the field in the Preakness, but the Derby finishing order was unaltered after the mile and three-sixteenth event. After making his legendary move around the first turn, Secretariat headed into Belmont with a shot at the Triple Crown while Sham was again the runner-up.

One more meeting was in store for the top two colts from the 1970 crop. For Sham, he was back where it all started at Belmont Park. All eyes were of course on Secretariat, who was bidding to become the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. As a result, Sham was inevitably cast in the part of spoiler due to the magnitude of the event. Would the third time be the charm?

It did not take long for the duo to hook up after the bell rang. Already battling before they reached the first turn, Secretariat and Sham battled down the backstretch before Big Red engineered his defining performance. Sham, a proven competitior, gave it everything he had. But Secretariat was on another planet that day, and Sham had nothing left as he faded. For only the second time in his career, Sham finished off the board.

Sham never raced again following the Belmont. After it was discovered he sustained a fractured cannon bone, Sham underwent successful surgery, and he retired as one of the best of his crop. Finishing with five wins, five seconds and a third in thirteen starts, Sham went on to stud duty, and he was not without success in that venture. Among his progeny are Jaazeiro, winner of the 1978 Irish 2,000 Guineas and St. James's Palace Stakes, and Arewehavingfunyet, who captured multiple stakes in Southern California during the 1985 season. Like her sire, Arewehavingfunyet became a Grade I winner when she beat her rivals in the the Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet that autumn.

Sham lived to the age of twenty-three, but he is still very much a part of the local racing scene. Starting in 2001, the Sham Stakes has been the traditional opener for the West's Kentucky Derby prep season. And in fitting fashion, the race has produced future Santa Anita Derby winners like Colonel John (2008), Goldencents (2013), and Gormley (2017). Once more, Sham is linked with the contest that gave him the biggest victory of his career.

In terms of Triple Crown history, Sham will always be considered the second best three-year-old of the 1973 season. But then again, there is no disgrace in that fact given how Secretariat was the top horse in that division. But Sham did more than that. He won stakes at Santa Anita, and was the top colt in the West that year. He also won at different routes, and his overall record highlights his class. To be third or better in almost all of his starts shows he approached the races with a true competitive nature. He deserves his status as one of the best of his crop.

The word sham is actually a synonym for pretense. Therefore, the colt's name was derived from his sire's name in a unique way. But some irony is mixed in with the moniker, too.

Sham was anything but a sham. He was a very real racehorse.

Sources:

sustained a fractured cannon bone and successful surgery... Haskin, Steve. "Memories of Sham Rekindled With New Book." The BloodHorse, November 16, 2016. http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2016/11/16/memories-of-sham-rekindled-with-new-book.aspx