ALMOST A GREAT MOMENT.

Byline: Art Wilson

Laffit Pincay Jr., who in the near future figures to supplant Bill Shoemaker as the all-time winningest jockey, has ridden more than his share of great thoroughbreds.

Pincay won the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup aboard Affirmed and guided Swale to the winner's circle in the 1984 Kentucky Derby. The 52-year-old rider also won aboard the likes of Cougar II, John Henry, Perrault, Ancient Title, Bayakoa and Susan's Girl.

During a career that spans almost 35 years, Pincay has won the Belmont Stakes, the Arlington Million, the Florida Derby, the Super Derby, the Travers Stakes and the Whitney and Woodward handicaps.

But along with the thrills there have also been disappointments, perhaps none bigger than the 1973 Kentucky Derby, when Pincay had victory snatched from his grasp by the great Secretariat.

On that first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, Pincay was aboard Santa Anita Derby winner Sham, who went postward as the 5-2 second choice. Secretariat, coupled in the wagering with stablemate Angle Light, was the 3-2 favorite.

Pincay remembers leading in the stretch. He also remembers how confident he felt as the 13-horse field neared the finish.

``Coming down through the stretch, Sham was giving everything he had, and I didn't think nobody could come and beat this horse, the way he was trying,'' Pincay said. ``Sure enough, Secretariat came, and (jockey Ron) Turcotte was just hand-riding him. It surprised the heck out of me.''

Secretariat not only collared Sham, but put the Pretense colt away by 2-1/2 lengths in what is still the Kentucky Derby record time of 1:59 2/5. What most racing fans don't know is that Sham ran the second-fastest Derby ever. Third-place finisher Our Native was eight lengths back. Forego, who later became one of racing's all-time champions, finished fourth.

Some talented horses will run Saturday in the 62nd Santa Anita Derby, but a strong case can be made that Sham was the best horse ever to win the race. Certainly, he's the best Santa Anita Derby winner that never won a Triple Crown race.

Sham, no worse than second in 10 of 13 lifetime starts, had the misfortune of coming along the same year as Secretariat, who won the Triple Crown and is considered by many as the best race horse ever.

``Sham was a great horse,'' Pincay said recently in the Santa Anita jockeys' room. ``Without Secretariat in there, he probably would have won the Triple Crown.

``If you ask me for the best horse I ever rode, I would tell you it was Affirmed. But Sham is definitely one of the best.''

Secretariat defeated Sham again in the Preakness Stakes two weeks later by 2-1/2 lengths, then became the first Triple Crown champion in 25 years with an awe-inspiring 31-length victory in the Belmont.

Sham broke down in the Belmont, after dueling for the early lead with Secretariat through scorching early fractions, and never raced again. He was retired to stud.

``They were going awfully fast,'' Pincay said of the 1:09 4/5 opening six furlongs. ``I was just following instructions to keep Secretariat in sight. I don't know if he would have lasted, but I sensed something was wrong and I started easing him off.''

Frank Martin, Sham's trainer, was upset with Pincay after the race. But the Hall of Fame jockey said Martin called him a couple of days later when X-rays disclosed a bad fracture.

``He thanked me for saving his horse,'' Pincay said. ``I didn't know for sure, but I just had a feeling something wasn't right. I just started taking a hold of him, and some horses when you take a hold of them, they still want to try. But as soon as I took a hold of Sham, he gave up.''

In his book, ``Secretariat: The Making of a Champion,'' author William Nack writes about Sham:

``But at least one major question had arisen in the last several weeks, one major threat to Secretariat's dominance of the spring classics . . .

``Out West in California, a big horse had emerged in full scale, growing up and filling out that winter in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at Santa Anita Park. He was Sham, and he had classic dimensions to him.''

Sham still holds the record with Lucky Debonair (1965) and Indian Charlie ('98) for the fastest Santa Anita Derby, negotiating the 1-1/8-mile distance in 1:47. He also won the Santa Catalina Stakes that winter at Santa Anita.

But the colt's brief career will forever be overshadowed by Secretariat.

``Secretariat was just an awesome powerhouse of horse flesh,'' said jockey Chris McCarron, who was on the backstretch at Pimlico the day ``Big Red'' won the Preakness. ``He was incredible. Every time I watch the Belmont, I get goose bumps.''

Pincay knows all about it.