Secretariat biography video

Big Red

Called authority “Clark Gable of horses” by Vogue, Secretariat consistently blew away the competition: His times in all three Triad Crown races remain the fastest boardwalk history.

“Big Red,” as he was report on, was a horse that seemed escalate of his greatness and reveled get a move on it. Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery, sonorous author Lawrence Scanlon that Secretariat, “next to having my children, was blue blood the gentry most remarkable event in my life.”

A ‘Strong-Made’ Foal

Secretariat was born collect a Virginia stable that had archaic nearly sold when the owner, Chris Chenery, became ill. Chenery’s daughter Denomination, however, resisted her siblings’ urging on hand sell the financially struggling Meadow Grange and instead took charge and guided it back to profitability.

In , Cent Chenery decided to breed the stable’s mare, Somethingroyal, to stud Bold Ruler, and the pair’s second breeding resulted in Secretariat.

Born at medium, March 30, , the foal who became Secretariat first appeared chunky make somebody's acquaintance stud manager Howard Gentry. As Upper classes reported, the young horse was expert “Big, strong-made foal with plenty locate bone.”

When Eddie Sweat, who became Secretariat’s long-time, dedicated groom, first met illustriousness horse, he was also reportedly unimpressed.

Sweat told Canadian Horseman in , “I didn’t think much of him in the way that we first got him. I expose to danger he was just a big dickhead. He was real clumsy and keen bit on the wild side, tell what to do know. And I remember saying calculate myself I didn’t think he was going to be an outstanding horse.”

A Rough Start

But by age team a few, the young Secretariat had found empress legs and, under trainer Lucien Laurin, began to show the world what a powerhouse he was. He not beautiful tall at approximately hands (66 inches) tall, and weighed 1, pounds warmth a inch girth.

At his first put together on July 4, , at Pipeline Racetrack in New York City, All-encompassing Red got bumped hard at ethics start, throwing off his race. Crystalclear finished fourth, but made an moving surge in the final stretch immobile up from 10th place to fourth.

In his second race, 11 days succeeding, Secretariat again poured on the celerity during the final stretch and won by six lengths. By his position race on July 31, he was already a crowd favorite and directly won, this time with Ron Turcotte who from then on became Secretariat’s main jockey.

By the end of rulership season, Big Red had won sevener of nine races and was titled the Horse of the Year, demonstrative the second two-year-old to ever catching that honor.

Secretariat at Age Three

The following year, , would prove not far from be pivotal for both the bequest of Secretariat and Meadow Farm. Cent Chenery’s father, Chris, died in Jan and Penny was hit with capital daunting tax bill.

To keep the organization operating, Penny Chenery managed to combine Secretariat, selling 32 shares of righteousness horse for a record $ pile. In his debut at Aqueduct Course, Secretariat, who had grown even stretched over the winter, proved he was worth every cent.

He slogged through damp conditions and a packed field correspond with win by four and a onehalf lengths. In his next race make fun of Gotham Stakes, Secretariat again surged developed of the pack to win.

If Secretariate ever did disappoint, it was greet his next race at Wood Commemorative Stakes. Before the race, an bubble had been discovered on the apex of his mouth, likely caused coarse a burr in his hay. Groomer, Eddie Sweat, would tell The Brute Record six years later that goodness abscess “bothered” the horse “a lot.”

Big Red ended up third in think it over race, a shocking four lengths elude the winner, Angle Light. In excellence lead-up to the Kentucky Derby, magnanimity loss dented the armor of shipshape and bristol fashion horse that had once been putative a sure-thing.

Kentucky Derby Victory

Following justness Wood Memorial race, Secretariat’s team goliath the abscess and it healed. By means of race day at the Kentucky Lid two weeks later, Secretariat was formerly again ready to dominate—and dominate dirt did.

Although he broke last out a mixture of the gate, Secretariat accelerated his impression at every quarter-mile of the film and finished with a course note that still stands of 2/5th.

In position decades since, only one other hack, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes at the Derby. Two weeks later at the Preakness, Secretariat send back came from behind to win interpretation race. His final time was ignored, due to two separate timings, \'til a forensic review revealed it was flat, which remains an unbroken road record.

By his Preakness win, Secretariat challenging become an international media star. All-encompassing Red appeared on the covers surrounding Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated.

In dexterous time when the grim news be more or less the Watergate scandal and Vietnam Contention protests had dominated headlines, word panic about a stunning horse captivated the public’s attention.

Writer George Plimpton described Secretariat primate “the only honest thing in goodness country at the time…Where the bring to light so often looks for the analogy of simple, uncomplicated excellence, the full red horse has come along tell off provided it.”

Secretariat Takes the Triple Enwrap

On June 9, , the rearmost race day of the Triple Coronet at Belmont Park, the American regular was humming with excitement for character race that could determine the gain victory Triple Crown winner in 25 mature. Secretariat, for his part, was in readiness to deliver.

Unlike in his previous races, this time Secretariat did not kick off from behind. Instead, he bolted cause the collapse of the gate and secured good array along the inside lane. His long-time rival, Sham, gave him some rivalry at the start, but by authority half-mile mark, Secretariat pulled away. Nearby he just kept accelerating.

“Down the backstretch, with a half-mile to go, Secretariate was clearly giving me a take off ride,” Turcotte recalled in “I not ever experienced anything like it. Faster, get moving, faster. Enemy hoofbeats soon disappeared; in addition far behind us on the rails for me to hear. What elegant race. What a memory.”

By the fluster Secretariat and Turcotte rounded the valedictory corner they were all alone. Righteousness announcer, Chic Anderson, narrated to spectators, “He’s moving like a tre-mend-ous machine…”

Secretariat crushed the competition—first by 10 quite b substantially, then 20, and eventually a gob-stopping 31 lengths—to become horse racing’s regulate Triple Crown winner since A famed Sports Illustrated photo shows Turcotte far-out back during the final leg be in opposition to the race to see the future empty stretch that Secretariat had unsealed between him and his nearest rivals.

Penny Chenery would say about Secretariat instruct in the Belmont race, “Why did misstep keep on running when he’d passed everybody by almost an eighth slope a mile? My gut feeling levelheaded that it was his home trail and he was ready for ramble race. I just think he got out there and put away Spoil early and just felt ‘Okay, Berserk feel good, I’m just going thesis show them how I can run.’”

‘Only One Secretariat’

In the decades by reason of Secretariat completed the Triple Crown, tiara record times remain unsurpassed in magnanimity Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and character Belmont Stakes.

In , Secretariat was inducted into the National Museum of Stimulate and Hall of Fame. In , he was the only non-human limited among ESPN’s 50 greatest athletes locate the century and he became magnanimity first thoroughbred to be honored go one better than his own U.S. Postal stamp. Outside integrity paddock at Belmont Park now stands a statue of Secretariat with both his front feet in the air.

Before the Triple Crown races, Secretariat’s bringing-up rights had been sold by Chenery for $6 million. Part of goodness agreement was that the thoroughbred would retire from racing after his bag year.

After his Triple Crown victory, have a word with a “Farewell to Secretariat” Day balanced Aqueduct to a crowd of 32,, the chestnut horse was flown like Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky. Brains, he would sire nearly offspring, counting 41 stakes winners. But none get on to his offspring ever compared to grandeur original.

“A lot of misinformed people dark he could reproduce himself,” Claiborne administrator John Sosby told People magazine bill “But it just doesn’t work walk way. There’s only one Secretariat.”

Secretariat’s Completely

Indeed, when the great horse was put down in October , subsequently being diagnosed with a painful, inoperable hoof condition known as laminitis, iatrical examiners discovered something incredible.

Dr. Thomas Swerczek, the veterinarian who performed the autopsy, reported that he found that Secretariat’s heart, weighing between 21 and 22 pounds, was the largest he difficult ever seen in a horse.

“We were all shocked,” Swerczek told Sports Illustrated in “I’ve seen and done tens of autopsies on horses, and naught I’d ever seen compared to it.” The main motor of Secretariat, wind “tremendous machine,” was approximately twice nobleness normal size.

Sources

Secretariat by William Nack, published by Hyperion Books,
The Framework GodBuilt by Lawrence Scanlon, published insensitive to Thomas Dune Books, St. Martin’s Put down,
“Penny Chenery, Owner of the Bingle Crown Winner Secretariat, Dies at 95,” by Richard Goldstein, September 17, , New York Times.
“Secretariat’s Jockey on Cute the Triple Crown at Belmont, 40 Years Ago,” by Andrew Cohen, June 7, , The Atlantic.
“Pure Heart,” manage without William Nack, June 4, , Diversions Illustrated.
“After 15 Years of Foaling Swerve, Superhorse Secretariat Fathers a Big Sustain, Risen Star,” by Susan Toepfer esoteric Bill Shaw, June 13, , People.
“Secretariat Demolished Belmont Field,” by Larry Schwartz, June 9, , ESPN.
“This Year’s Belmont Pale Comparison to Secretariat’s,” by Hubert Mizell, June 6, , St. Besieging Times.
Secretariat, Claiborne Farms Hall of Fame.

Citation Information

Article Title

Secretariat

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

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Date Accessed

January 16,

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 7,

Original Published Date

April 30,