Secretariat - Racing Legends

In what will hopefully be the first of a regular series it’s time to take a look at a Racing Legend and where better to start than with Big Red himself Secretariat.

A legend in American racing Secretariat won the coveted US Triple Crown back in 1973 and in doing so turned in some of the most unbelievable performances ever seen on a race course.

Secretariat was foaled in 1970 out of Somethingroyal, he was sired by Bold Ruler who himself has also won the second leg of the Triple Crown The Preakness back in 1957.

Owned by Penny Chenery, who also had a hand in his breeding, Secretariat followed hot on the heels of Riva Ridge, who one year earlier had won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes for the same breeder/owner operation. Like his predecessor, Secretariat was also trained by Lucien Laurin, a multiple-classic winning trainer.

Secretariat was a lovely looking horse – a bright-red chestnut colt, with three white socks and a star with a narrow blaze.

Secretariat’s career started off in rather low-key circumstances for a horse that would go on to capture the hearts and minds of people across the globe. His debut race at Aqueduct in New York saw him finish fourth after he was badly hampered at the start under the guidance of apprentice jockey Paul Feliciano, he did run on eye-catchingly that day but ultimately had too much ground to make up.

Big Red would soon find himself in the winner’s enclosure though winning his next start, again at Aqueduct under Feliciano. This would be the last time the young apprentice would ride the horse though, being replaced by the vastly experienced Ron Turcotte for all but one of his other nineteen starts; Turcotte had also ridden Riva Ridge to classic glory.

Secretariat would win five races on the bounce throughout the summer of 1972, including the Sandford Stakes and the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga as well as the Futurity Stakes at Belmont. His win in the Hopeful was particularly impressive, going from last to first in a quarter mile to go on and win easily by five lengths.

It was the Champagne Stakes at Belmont next and although he once again crossed the line in front, he lost the race in the steward’s room after it was adjudged that he’d interfered with second placed Stop The Music after bumping him inside the final 3/16; Stop The Music was subsequently awarded the race with Secretariat bumped down to second.

He gained revenge for the Champagne Stakes in his next start though, beating Stop The Music with ease by eight lengths in the Laurel Futurity. Secretariat’s two-year-old campaign ended with another comfortable win in the Garden State Futurity.

After such an impressive debut campaign Big Red was named American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse and American Horse of the Year – a feat achieved by a two-year-old only once since.

Of course as a three-year-old all roads led to the Triple Crown for the horse that was rapidly becoming a household name from coast to coast, his Kentucky Derby prep included easy wins in the G3 Bay Shore Stakes over seven furlongs and the G2 Gotham Stakes in which he equaled the track record making all for the first time in his race career.

His final prep race for the ‘run for the roses’ was the G1 Wood Memorial in which he hung wide and ended up finishing third behind stable mate Angle Light and a horse that would become his great rival over the next few months Sham.

It was suggested after the race that an abscess found inside Secretariat’s mouth could have caused him serious pain, which may have explained his poor run but many were speculating that horses by Bold Ruler couldn’t handle classic race distances at three.

Secretariat would soon prove that theory to be utter rubbish though as he went on to land the Kentucky Derby in a track record time with each quarter quicker than the last meaning that rather than tiring as you would expect close to home, he was actually accelerating even further!

Sham took second in the Derby and he would fill that spot once again two weeks later in the Preakness. Secretariat’s win in the second leg of the American Triple Crown was just as impressive as his Derby win but for different reasons. The footage of this race is just incredible as Secretariat makes an early bid for the lead going from last to first on the turn in a matter of strides so as not to allow a pace that would leave Sham and the rest with plenty in the tank for the run in.

There was no stopping Secretariat as he went on to score by 2 ½ lengths giving the US public the hope that he could land the first Triple Crown for twenty-five years.

As we saw with I’ll Have Another this year the buzz around a potential Triple Crown winner in the States is incredible and as a result Secretariat became a national celebrity in the build-up to the race.

By now there was no one doubting Secretariat and he was duly sent off the 1-10 favourite as he bid to make history in the Belmont, but I don’t think anyone could have quite been prepared for what they saw as he powered clear of the field and showed no signs of stopping, eventually crossing the line 31 lengths in front of his nearest rival, one of the widest winning margins in the history of American racing.

Secretariat and Sham had set a blistering pace, going some ten lengths clear of the other three runners and as Sham started to tire after six furlongs Secretariat just kept going, maintaining this incredible speed.

People there that day have stated that he crossed the line in a blur, whether that’s emotions getting the better of them on a historic day or a genuine evaluation of just how fast this horse was going we’ll never truly know, but this was a performance that will likely never been emulated – he ran the fastest 1½ miles on dirt in history in 2:24 flat, a record that still stands today.

Following his immortal performance at Belmont the eyes of the racing world, and the world in general, were on Secretariat for his next start, and he headed to Arlington Park for the Arlington Invitational just three weeks on from his devastating performance to win the Triple Crown.

The $125,000 event was targeted by connections as a way of bringing this superstar of a horse to more of his fans, as due to a syndication dealer his owner Penny Chenery had made prior to his Triple Crown heroics he would be retired to stud at the end of his three-year-old campaign.

Secretariat once again proved to be a fantastic champion at the Chicago track, winning by nine lengths but he was far from in top gear and still almost broke the track record.

Next it was back to Saratoga for a race called the Whitney Stakes, and although Secretariat was now the most dominant force in American Racing, Saratoga’s nickname ‘the graveyard of champions’ would prove very apt this day as the beloved Triple Crown winner was beaten into second by a horse called Onion, leaving tears in the eyes of his many fans.

There were no excuses offered up for the giant-killing, other than that Onion, a speed horse, had got too soft of a lead and retained enough energy to last out as Secretariat rallied to no avail, weakening in the closing stages after having so much to do.

Secretariat would soon be back to winning ways though landing the first ever running of the Marlboro Cup at the site of his greatest ever performance Belmont.

The $250,000 race invented to try and pit Secretariat against his all-conquering stable mate Riva Ridge who remained in training as a four-year-old, featured a starry cast in addition to the two horses the race was originally planned as a match for.

Onion once again broke at a breakneck pace, with Riva Ridge hot on his heels, as they rounded the far turn Riva Ridge hit the front with Secretariat in hot pursuit and it suddenly appeared that the match race originally dreamed of would come to fruition.

That was until Secretariat easily went by his stable companion to win by 3 ½ lengths setting a world record time for 1 1/8 miles on dirt in the process.

Shockingly another defeat followed as Secretariat was beaten in to second at Belmont on a sloppy track in the Woodward by a horse ironically trained by the same man who had sent Onion to upset Big Red Allen Jerkens.

This time Secretariat’s conqueror was a horse called Prove Out who had gone off in front but been passed by Secretariat in the backstretch before coming back to pass the champion again and score by 4 ½ lengths.

These two were well clear of the others so it was by no means a poor performance it was just that people expected so much of Secretariat by this point that for many defeat was inconceivable.

He would soon be back to winning ways though as he returned to Belmont for the Man O’ War only this time he would be running on turf for the first time.

The new surface would prove no problem to Secretariat though as he made all and won easily by five lengths, showcasing just how versatile this great horse was.

The Man O’ War would be Secretariat’s penultimate start of his racing career, with his final race coming in another country – Canada.

Secretariat’s last race came at Woodbine in Toronto for the Canadian International. The media circus around him proved no distraction as he once again won with ease this time under new jockey Eddie Maple with regular rider Ron Turcotte suspended.

The eventual winning distance was 12 lengths and it was a fitting end to the Racing career of one of the greatest race horses the world has ever seen.

Secretariat finished his Racing Career with 16 wins from 21 starts and a staggering $1.3 million of prize money to his name. He was perhaps somewhat disappointing at stud, but undoubtedly expectations would have been sky-high.

In late 1989 Secretariat, aged 19, came down with laminitis a terrible hoof condition that is very painful and often incurable, when he didn’t improve after treatment he was put down in the October of 1989.

Secretariat was believed to have possessed a genetic condition known as the ‘x-factor’, when the vet performed the necropsy on Secretariat after his death he guessed that Secretariat’s heart weighed around 10kg around 2 ¾ larger than that of your average horse.

Since his death Secretariat’s popularity has not dwindled and he has been included on countless lists of the greatest of all time, and not just lists limited to equine superstars; there is also a fantastic movie from Disney out there that tells the Secretariat story.

The footage of Secretariat’s greatest triumphs may not be in the glorious high definition we get to enjoy Frankel’s exploits in today but they leave you no less astounded when you watch them back.

We’re all lucky enough to be able to bask in Frankel’s greatness first hand but there have been horses who were able to enchant and capture the imaginations of people outside the racing world before now, and in the 1970s that horse was Secretariat, one of the greatest race horses to ever live and without a shadow of a doubt a true Racing Legend.