Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (born March 30, 1970; † October 4, 1989) was an American racehorse considered by many to be the best racehorse of all time. On the list of the 100 best American racehorses of the 20th century, compiled by Blood Horse Magazine, he is number 2 after Man o' War. His nickname was "Big Red", after Man o' War, who was also so named. Both were very large horses, while number 3, Citation, was rather small and wiry.
His sire was Bold Ruler, his dam Somethingroyal. Secretariat was born at Meadow Farms Stables in Doswell, Virginia. His owner was Ms. Helen "Penny" Chenery (divorced Tweedy, 1922-2017), his trainer was Canadian Lucien Laurin (1912-2000), and his jockey was Canadian Ron Turcotte. Secretariat won the 1973 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years since Citation won that title in 1948. Many fans already believed this event would never happen again. Secretariat's track records in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes have not been equaled again to this day, and the second is simultaneously still the world record over a mile and a half (2.4 km) on a "dirt track". Secretariat would also hold the official track record for the Preakness Stakes to this day if the timekeeper had not malfunctioned.
Secretariat's strongest rival in the Kentucky Derby was Sham, whose time of 1:59 4/5 would have won any other race at this track both before and after. Third was Our Native, 8 lengths behind Sham.
In the Preakness Stakes race he again had to contend with Sham, who again finished second. Secretariat won by two and a half lengths, while Our Native was third again, 8 lengths behind Sham.
Then came the Belmont Stakes race, with only 4 competitors against Secretariat. Sham was at it again, also holding his own in the beginning, but then fell back and finished last. Secretariat won by 31 lengths in one of the most dramatic horse races ever.
Secretariat was featured on the covers of major magazines this year, Time Magazine, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated.
His athletic ability became especially apparent after it was noticed that he ran each quarter mile of the Kentucky Derby faster than the one before it. Normally, horses slow down during the race.
On a list compiled by ESPN of the 100 greatest athletes of all time, he was No. 35, one of three animals on that list, along with the horses Man o' War and Citation.
Secretariat was twice voted Horse of the Year and was the first horse to receive this award at the age of two. In 1974, Secretariat was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.
After the 1973 racing season, Secretariat switched to breeding and moved into his sire Bold Ruler's stall at Claiborne Farm. The expectation that he could succeed him in breeding was not fulfilled. Nevertheless, he sired a respectable number of winners, such as the 1986 Horse of the Year Lady's Secret and the 1988 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Risen Star. But he left his strongest mark in breeding as the sire of the dams of Storm Cat (1983-2013) and A.P. Indy (1989-2020), who were much better sires than he was. A.P. Indy was also the great-great-grandson of Bold Ruler in the male line through his sire, Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (1974-2002), and revitalized the latter's stallion line into the second most important in the United States. Thus Secretariat has at least indirectly contributed to the preservation of his sire's stallion line.
In the fall of 1989, Secretariat developed laminitis, a painful hoof disease, and was euthanized on October 4. He is buried at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, receiving the highest honor for a horse. In fact, he was buried whole, whereas traditionally only the head, heart and hooves are buried in racehorses.
Before he was buried, an autopsy took place at the University of Kentucky, where it was determined that Secretariat literally had a big heart. Normally horses have a heart weighing about 3.2 kg, his weighed 9.6 kg.
On October 16, 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp bearing his likeness.
In 2010, Secretariat's life was made into a film with the German title "Secretariat - Ein Pferd wird zur Legende" by Walt Disney, starring Diane Lane as owner Penny Chenery and John Malkovich as Secretariat's trainer Lucien Laurin. In the 2014 adult animated series BoJack Horseman, the protagonist Bojack, a washed-up actor, aspires to and eventually gets the role of his childhood idol Secretariat, who has already died in the series. Secretariat - a horse person like Bojack - appears in the series in several flashbacks as a famous runner who eventually jumps off a bridge and commits suicide because of a betting scandal.
