Secretariat - The Superhorse

Secretariat was foaled ten minutes after midnight, on the morning of March 30, 1970, at Chris T. Chenery's Meadow Farm in Doswell, Virginia. His sire was Bold Ruler, his dam Somethingroyal. From the very beginning he was independent and confident.

He was bright red with a strong, muscular physique, had a white star and strip on his face, and white "stockings" on all legs but one.

Secretariat's first race was on July 4, 1972, in a 5-1/2 furlong maiden race at Aqueduct (each furlong is an eighth of a mile). He was pinched back coming out of the starting gate, nearly went down, and there were more traffic problems on the turn for home, but he came charging at the leaders down the stretch to finish fourth.

He next won his maiden and an allowance race. Trainer Lucien Laurin moved the colt up in class, running him in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga on August 16, where he finished strong to win by three lengths (each length the approximate length of a horse from nose to tail, about eight feet). By year's end Secretariat won the Hopeful Stakes, Belmont Futurity, Laurel Futurity, and Garden State Stakes. His only loss as a 2 year old was through disqualification in the Champagne Stakes because he ducked in at midstretch, bothering another horse.

At two-years old Secretariat had nine starts and seven wins, had won $456,404, and became only the third two-year-old to be named Horse of the Year, after Native Dancer in 1952 and the filly Moccasin in 1965. He was the only two-year-old to be voted Horse of the Year unanimously.

As a three-year old Secretariat won his first two starts easily at the Bay Shore and Gotham Stakes. He was found to have an abcess on his gums just before the Wood Memorial Stakes on April 20, but trainer Lucien Laurin, decided to run him anyway. Angle Light got off to a nice, easy lead and went on to narrowly beat Sham, while Secretariat came in third. Nominated to the Triple Crown, his next race would be the first jewel, the Kentucky Derby.

Secretariat entered the Kentucky Derby as the 3-to-2 favorite (in an entry with Angle Light), but the third place Wood Memorial finish raised second thoughts. His sire Bold Ruler's foals had speed, but their best distances were one mile or under, leaving doubts that Secretariat could succeed at the Kentucky Derby's one and a quarter mile distance.

He came out of the gate near the back of the pack, settling in dead-last, then began passing horses on the first turn, catching a tough adversary, Sham, at the top of the stretch. Secretariat won going away by 2-1/2-lengths, running the first and only Derby in less than two minutes, 1:59-2/5 for one and a quarter miles. Sham would follow to take the second best finishing time in history; in spite of knocking out two front teeth on the starting gate and bleeding the entire length of the race, Sham was 8 lengths in front of Our Native who took third.

Secretariat's quarter-mile times for the Derby were astounding, he ran each quarter faster than the one before: :25 1/5, :24, :23 4/5, :23 2/5 and :23. No horse had ever accomplished this in a race at a mile and a quarter.

In the Preakness Stakes, jockey Ron Turcotte (who rode him in all but two of his races) encouraged the big colt to take the lead earlier, Secreatariat lunged forward, moving to the front as the six-horse field entered the backstretch. Secretariat led the rest of the race, winning by 2-1/2 lengths over Sham.

Pimlico's electric timer read 1:55 for 1-3/16 miles, a second slower than the track record set by Cononero II in 1971. Clockers for the Daily Racing Form, however, clocked the race in 1:53-2/5. CBS television offered to allow officials to time the race on a video-tape replay. The network showed fans side-by-side replays of Secretariat's Preakness and Canonero's Preakness, with Secretariat beating Cononero.

Several days after the race, Pimlico officials changed the time of the race to 1:54-2/5, saying that was the time clocker E. T. McLean Jr. had hand-recorded. The time of this race is still controversial, and many feel that Pimlico should credit Secretariat with the record-setting time.

Winning the first two jewels of the Triple Crown, Secretariat now only had to capture the third at the "Test of Champions", the mile and a half Belmont Stakes. It was a feat so difficult for a horse to accomplish no horse had won the crown in 25 years.

Secretariat had made the covers of Newsweek, Time, and Sports Illustrated -- all in the same week. Recognizing the colt's greatness, he had electrified a world in anticipation of witnessing his next feat as he raced for the Triple Crown.

The morning of the Belmont, Secretariat was enthusiastic, rearing and bucking in the walking ring, rolling his eyes and ready to run. Only four horses were entered in the race to challenge him.

Secretariat and Sham both went after the lead at the start of the race and engaged in a six-furlong duel, clocked in 1:09-4/5, the fastest such time in Belmont history. The speed duel finished Sham, who came in last, was injured, and never raced gain.

With nothing left to challenge him but the longest dirt track in America, Secretariat ran like lightning, going the mile in 1:34 1/5 and the mile and a quarter in 1:59 flat, faster than his Derby time. And all this without urging from his jockey, Ron Turcotte, who said if he had used the whip, Secretariat would have kept running until next Friday. Secretariat won the race by setting an all-time record: he was 31 lengths in front of the challengers. For running the 1-1/2 miles in 2:24, he beat the track record by 2-3/5 seconds.

Heroically, Secretariat had won the Triple Crown, and raced into history one of the greatest champions of all time.

The Superhorse was such a heavy favorite at his next race, Arlington International, his odds only paid 1 for every 20 bet on him. He won that race by 9 lengths.
Secretariat raced five more times. His major losses were to Onion and Prove Out, both trained by Allen Jerkens (ever after known as the Giant Killer). Onion defeated him in the Whitney Stakes, when Secretariat was fighting off a virus, and Prove Out beat him in his last race on dirt, the Woodward Stakes, which was run on a sloppy track that Secretariat couldn't get hold of.

Lucien Laurin convinced Penny Tweedy that Secretariat could be even better on grass than he had been on the dirt. His turf debut in the Man o'War Stakes resulted in a new course record at Belmont Park. For his final race, Secretariat would get the services of jockey Eddie Maple as Turcotte was serving a suspension. The swansong came in the Canadian International Championship Stakes at Woodbine, Ontario. The weather was miserable, foggy, wet and cold. But Secretariat let no one down. He was an easy 6 1/2 length winner. This victory brought his earnings to a then-record of $1,316,808.

Secretariat retired to stud at Claiborne Farm, moving into his daddy Bold Ruler's stall. He sired 41 stakes winners, and became a noted broodmare sire.

In 1989 at age 19, Secretariat came down with laminitis, a painful condition of the hooves. Everything possible was done for him, but the pain and his overall condition worsened; he became skinny and showed no appetite. With no signs that his health would improve it became intolerable to let him suffer. He was humanely euthanized by injection.

Dr. Thomas Swerczek, a professor of veterinary science at the University of Kentucky, performed a necropsy of his body. All of the horse's vital organs were normal in size except for the heart. The heart had been healthy and showed no signs of disease. Without removing it, he estimated it to be at least twice as big as normal, and perhaps three times as big. It's believed the extra size of the heart helped contribute to Secretariat's stamina.

Secretariat was bestowed the ultimate honor for a race horse, being buried whole rather than the traditional "head, heart, and hooves" to symbolize intelligence, strength, and power. He was laid to rest in an oak coffin lined in his stable's orange silk at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky.

www.secretariat.com
Official website with photos, career stats, merchandise, and fan club.

Sports Illustrated -Secretariat's Triple Crown
June 18, 1973 issue - 105th Belmont.

A Racing Champion is Put to Rest
Sports coumnist's elegy.

Claiborne Farm
The Thoroughbreds are still making history.

Find A Grave - Secretariat
Leave a tribute online.

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