Most horses in most races are SLOWING DOWN the last furlong. When they pass one another its usually because they are not slowing down as rapidly as the others.

The way Hurricane run won that race was as hard as it gets. He did find a bit of luck that Electrocutionist started to push out a bit on Hearts Cry while the rabbit died in the appropriate spot. But that was it. The horse was completely bottled up and had enough left. It was an amazing race by anyones standards.