Secretariat (horse)
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Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in twenty-five years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby (1:592⁄5), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24)—records that still stand today.
Secretariat was sired by Bold Ruler out of Somethingroyal, by Princequillo. He was foaled at Meadow Farm in Caroline County, Virginia. Like his famous predecessor Man o' War, Secretariat was a large chestnut colt and was given the same nickname, "Big Red." Secretariat's Grand Sire Nasrullah is also the Great-Great Grand Sire of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.
Owned by Penny Chenery (aka Penny Tweedy), he was trained by Lucien Laurin and mainly ridden by fellow Canadian jockey Ron Turcotte, along with apprentice jockey Paul Feliciano (first two races), and veteran Eddie Maple (last race). He raced in Penny Chenery's Meadow Stable's blue and white checkered colors and his groom was Eddie Sweat. Secretariat stood approximately 16.2 hands (66 inches, 168 cm) tall, and weighed 1,175 pounds (533 kilograms), with a 75 inch girth, in his racing prime.
Background
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The story of Secretariat began with the toss of a coin in 1968 between Christopher Chenery of Meadow Stables and Ogden Phipps of Wheatley Stable. The idea of a coin toss came from Phipps, the owner of Bold Ruler, and Bull Hancock of Claiborne Farms as a way to get the very best mares for Bold Ruler, and when the toss went their way, to add well-bred fillies to their own broodmare band. Bold Ruler was considered one of the important stallions of his time. He had a fine balance between speed and stamina, having had a frontrunning style but the stamina to go 11⁄4 miles; he finished fourth in the 1957 Kentucky Derby[2]. After his racing career, Bold Ruler was retired to Claiborne Farms but still was controlled by the Phipps family. This meant he would be bred to mainly Phipps' mares and not many of his offspring would find their way to the auction ring. Phipps and Hancock agreed to forgo a stud fee for Bold Ruler in exchange for getting to keep one of two foals produced by the mare he bred in successive seasons or two mares he bred in the same season. Who obtained which foal or even received first pick would be decided by a flip of a coin.
In 1968, Chenery sent two mares named Hasty Matelda and Somethingroyal to Bold Ruler, and in 1969, a colt and filly were the result. In 1969, Hasty Matelda was replaced by Cicada, but she did not conceive. Only one foal resulted between Bold Ruler and Somethingroyal. As stated in the original agreement, the winner of the coin toss could pick the foal he wanted but could only take one, while the loser would get the other two. Both parties assumed Somethingroyal would deliver a healthy foal in the spring of 1970. The coin toss between Penny Chenery and Ogden Phipps was held in the fall of 1969 in the office of New York Racing Association Chairman Alfred Vanderbilt II, with Hancock as witness. Phipps won the toss and took the weanling filly out of Somethingroyal, leaving Chenery with the colt out of Hasty Matelda and the unborn foal of Somethingroyal.
On March 30, at 12:10 a.m., Somethingroyal foaled a bright red chestnut colt with three white socks and a star with a narrow blaze. By the time the colt was a yearling, he was still unnamed. Meadow Stables' secretary, Elizabeth Ham, had submitted 10 names to the Jockey Club, all of which were denied for various reasons. Approval finally came with the 11th submission, a name Ham herself picked from a previous career association, Secretariat.
As a 2 year old
On July 4, 1972, Secretariat finished fourth, beaten 11⁄4 lengths, in his first race at Aqueduct Racetrack when he was impeded at the start, forced to take up on the backstretch and then could not make up the ground. After that loss, Secretariat then won 5 races in a row, including three important two-year-old stakes races, the Sanford Stakes and Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, and the Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park. In the Hopeful, he made a huge move, passing 8 horses in 1/4 mile to take the lead and then drawing off to win by 5 lengths. He then ran in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont, where he finished first but was disqualified and placed second for bearing in and interfering with Stop the Music, who was declared the winner.
Secretariat avenged that loss in the Laurel Futurity, winning by 8 lengths over Stop the Music, and completed his season with a win in the Garden State Futurity. Secretariat won the Eclipse Award for American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse, and, in a rare occurrence, two two-year-olds topped the balloting for 1972 American Horse of the Year honors with Secretariat edging out the filly, La Prevoyante. Secretariat received the votes of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America and the Daily Racing Form, while La Prevoyante was chosen by the National Turf Writers Association.[3] Only one horse since then, Favorite Trick in 1997, has won that award as a two-year-old.
Preparing for the Kentucky Derby
Secretariat started off his three-year-old year with an easy win in the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct. In his next start, the Gotham Stakes, Secretariat led wire-to-wire for the first time in his career. He ran the first 3/4 of a mile in 1:083⁄5 and finished the one mile race in 1:332⁄5, equalling the track record. However, in his next start, he finished third in the Wood Memorial to his stablemate Angle Light and Santa Anita Derby winner Sham, in their final prep race for the Kentucky Derby.
The Triple Crown
The Kentucky Derby
Churchill Downs bettors made the entry of Secretariat and Angle Light the 3–2 favorite in the 1973 Kentucky Derby. (Sham was next at 5—2.) Secretariat broke last but gradually moved up on the field in the backstretch, then overtook Sham at the top of the stretch, pulling away to win the Derby by 21⁄2 lengths. Our Native finished third.
On his way to a still-standing track record (1:592⁄5), Secretariat ran each quarter-mile segment faster than the one before it. The successive quarter-mile times were 251⁄5, 24, 234⁄5, 232⁄5, and 23. This means he was still accelerating as of the final quarter-mile of the race. It was 28 years before any other horse won the Derby in less than 2 minutes (Monarchos in 2001).
The Preakness Stakes
In the Preakness Stakes, Secretariat broke last but then made a huge, last-to-first move on the first turn. After reaching the lead with 51⁄2 furlongs to go, he was never challenged and won by 2½ lengths, again with Sham finishing second and Our Native third.
The time of the race was controversial. The infield teletimer displayed a time of 1:55. The track's electronic timer had malfunctioned because of damage caused by members of the crowd crossing the track to reach the infield. The Pimlico Race Course clocker, E.T. McLean Jr., announced a hand time of 1:542⁄5. However, two Daily Racing Form clockers claimed the time was 1:532⁄5, which would have broken the track record (1:54 by Cañonero II). Tapes of Secretariat and Cañonero II were played side by side by CBS, and Secretariat got to the finish line first on tape, though this is not a reliable method of timing a horse race. The Maryland Jockey Club, which managed the Pimlico racetrack and is responsible for maintaining Preakness records, discarded both the electronic and Daily Racing Form times and recognized 1:542⁄5 as the official time. However, the Daily Racing Form, for the first time in history, printed its own clocking of 1:532⁄5 next to the official time in the chart of the race.
Subsequently, Tank's Prospect (1985) and Louis Quatorze (1996) have run 1:532⁄5, equaling the time attributed to Secretariat by the Daily Racing Form. Farma Way won the 1991 Pimlico Special in 1:522⁄5, setting the current track record.
As Secretariat prepared for the Belmont Stakes, he appeared on the covers of three national magazines: Time Magazine, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated. He had become a national celebrity.
The Belmont Stakes
Only four horses competed against Secretariat for the June 9, 1973, running of the Belmont Stakes, including Sham, who had finished second in both the Derby and Preakness, along with three other horses thought to have little chance by the bettors: Twice A Prince, My Gallant, and Private Smiles. With so few horses in the race, and with Secretariat expected to win, no "show" bets were taken. Secretariat was sent off as a 1–10 favorite to win as a $2.20 payout on a $2 ticket and paid at 20 cents more – $2.40 – to place.[4] Before a crowd of 67,605, Secretariat and Sham set a fast early pace, opening ten lengths on the rest of the field. After the 6-furlong mark, Sham began to tire, ultimately finishing last. Secretariat astonished spectators by continuing the fast pace and opening up a larger and larger margin on the field. Viewers heard the wonder in CBS Television announcer Chic Anderson's voice as he described the horse's pace: "Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a tremendous machine!"
In the stretch, Secretariat opened a 1/16 mile lead on the rest of the field. At the finish, he won by 31 lengths (breaking the margin-of-victory record set by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1943, who won by 25 lengths) and ran the fastest 1½ miles on dirt in history, 2:24 flat, which broke the Stakes' record by more than 2 seconds. [5] This works out to a speed of 37.5 mph for his entire performance. Secretariat's world record still stands, and in fact, no other horse has ever broken 2:25 for 1½ miles on dirt. If the Beyer Speed Figure calculation had been developed during that time, Andrew Beyer calculated that Secretariat would have earned a figure of 139, the highest figure he has ever assigned.[6] Many bettors holding 5,617 winning parimutuel tickets on Secretariat never redeemed them, presumably keeping them as souvenirs (and because they paid only $2.20 on a $2 bet).
Secretariat became the ninth Triple Crown winner in history, and the first in 25 years.
After the Triple Crown
Secretariat continued to prove himself as one of the top Thoroughbreds of all time. He shipped to Chicago just 3 weeks after the Belmont Stakes and easily won the Arlington Invitational at Arlington Park. He went to Saratoga, long known as the "graveyard of favorites," and succumbed to the jinx, losing the Whitney Stakes to the Allen "the giant killer" Jerkens-trained Onion by a length. He then won the inaugural Marlboro Cup against a field that included Secretariat's stablemate, the 1972 Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Riva Ridge, top California stakes winner Cougar II, Canadian champion Kennedy Road, Onion, Travers winner Annihilate 'Em, and the 1972 American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse Key to the Mint. Secretariat ran 1:452⁄5 for 11⁄8 miles, then a world record for the distance.
Secretariat suffered another loss to an Allen Jerkens trainee, Prove Out, by 41⁄2 lengths in the 11⁄2 mile Woodward Stakes in his next start. Secretariat was then moved to the turf to crush his opposition in both the Man O' War Stakes (11⁄2 miles) by 5 lengths Tentam, setting a still standing track record time of 2:244⁄5.
Secretariat's owner entered into a syndication deal that precluded the horse racing past age three. Accordingly, Secretariat's last race[7][8] was against older horses in the Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada on October 28, 1973. It was the second time in his career that he raced on grass and the first time he was asked to go one and five-eighths miles (just a furlong farther than he'd already run twice that year). Secretariat won with another impressive performance. With Ron Turcotte out with a five-day suspension, Eddie Maple rode Secretariat to victory by 61⁄2 lengths.
Altogether, Secretariat won 16 of his 21 career races, with three seconds and one third, for in-the-money finishes in 20 of 21 starts, and total earnings of $1,316,808.
At age three, Secretariat was again named Horse of the Year, as well as winning Eclipse Awards as the American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and the American Champion Male Turf Horse.
Honors and retirement
As part of his first crop at stud, Secretariat sired Canadian Bound, who was the first Thoroughbred yearling racehorse ever sold for more than US$1 million. At the 1976 Keeneland July sale, the auction bidding for Canadian Bound not only broke the $1 million barrier, but the colt ended up being sold for $1.5 million.[9] Canadian Bound was a complete failure in racing and for several years, the value of Secretariat's offspring declined considerably. However, he eventually sired a number of major stakes winners, including 1986 Horse of the Year Lady's Secret, 1988 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Risen Star, 1991 Melbourne Cup winner Kingston Rule, who broke the course record in Australia's richest race, and the 1994, 1995 winner of the G1 Pacific Classic, Tinners Way, born in 1990 to Secretariat's last crop.
He also sired General Assembly, who won the 1979 Travers Stakes at Saratoga while setting a still-standing race record of 2:00 flat. Andrew Beyer has said that General Assembly's speed figure in that race was one of the fastest in history. Like Secretariat in the Belmont, General Assembly never duplicated that performance in another race.
Ultimately, Secretariat sired as many as 600 foals. There has been some criticism of Secretariat as a stallion, due in part to his perceived inability to produce male offspring of his same caliber. However, he turned out to be a noted broodmare sire, being the maternal grandsire (aka "damsire") of 1992 Horse of the Year and successful sire A.P. Indy, Secretariat's grandson through his daughter Weekend Surprise, and sired by another Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew. AP Indy is the sire of 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, the first filly to win at Belmont since 1905. Secretariat is also the damsire of the great stallions Storm Cat (by Storm Bird), through his daughter Terlingua, herself an excellent racemare, and of Gone West, through his daughter Secrettame. Secretariat is also the great-grandsire of Giant's Causeway through his grandson Storm Cat and daughter Terlingua. Secretariat's genetic legacy may be linked in part to the likelihood that he carried the "x-factor", a trait linked to a large heart, carried only on the x-chromosome, and thus, a trait that Secretariat could only pass on via his daughters.[10]
Death
In the fall of 1989, Secretariat was afflicted with laminitis, a painful and often incurable hoof condition. When his condition failed to improve after a month of treatment, he was euthanized on October 4 at the age of 19.[11] Popular both as a Triple Crown champion and in retirement, Secretariat was mourned by millions and buried at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, given the rare honor of being buried whole; usually only the head, heart, and hooves of a winning race horse are buried, and the rest of the body is cremated.[12]
A necropsy revealed that his heart was significantly larger than that of an ordinary horse.[13] An extremely large heart is a trait that occasionally occurs in Thoroughbreds, linked to a genetic condition passed down via the dam line, known as the "x-factor."[10][14][15][16] The x-factor can be traced to the historic racehorse Eclipse, who was necropsied after his death in 1789. Because Eclipse's heart appeared to be much larger than other horses, it was weighed, and found to be 14 pounds (6.4 kg), over twice the normal weight. It is believed Eclipse passed the trait on via his daughters, and pedigree research verified that Secretariat traces in his dam line to a daughter of Eclipse.[13] In the 20th century, the heart of Phar Lap was weighed and also documented to be 6.35 kilograms (14.0 lb),[17] or essentially the same size as that of Eclipse.
At the time of Secretariat's death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat's heart, but stated, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn’t believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine."[11] Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham's heart, and it was 18 pounds (8.2 kg). Based on Sham's measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated that Secretariat's heart probably weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg),[13] or about two-and-a-half times as large as that of the average horse.
Posthumous recognition
On October 16, 1999, in the winner's circle at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, the U.S. Postal Service honored Secretariat, unveiling a 33-cent postage stamp with his image. ESPN listed him 35th of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century, the highest of three non-humans on the list (the other two were also racehorses: Man o' War at 84th and Citation at 97th ). Secretariat was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974, the year following his Triple Crown. In 2005, he appeared in ESPN Classic's show Who's No. 1?. In the list of "Greatest Sports Performances" (by individual athletes), the horse was the only non-human on the list, with his run at Belmont ranking second behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game. On May 2, 2007, Secretariat was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, marking the first time an animal received this honor. Secretariat, a Disney live-action film written by Mike Rich and directed by Randall Wallace, was released on October 8, 2010.[18] A new award created in 2011 titled "Secretariat Vox Populi" (voice of the people) was presented by Penny Chenery to the first honoree, the 2010 Horse of the Year, Zenyatta. This annual award will acknowledge the horse who brings the most excitement and attraction to the sport.[citation needed]
Race record at age 2
- Second
- Champagne Stakes (disqualified for interference)
Race record at age 3
- Wins
- Kentucky Derby (stakes record of 1:59.2, still standing)
- Preakness Stakes (Daily Racing Form clockers claimed he established a new track record, but a malfunctioning official timer did not, and the clockers' time has not been officially recognized)
- Belmont Stakes (track record of 2:24, still stands fastest time over 1.5 miles in history on a dirt track)
- Bay Shore Stakes
- Gotham Stakes (tied track record)
- Arlington Invitational
- Marlboro Cup (new world record)
- Man o' War Stakes (new course record)
- Canadian International Stakes
- Second
- Third
Pedigree
| Sire Bold Ruler dkb/br. 1954 |
Nasrullah b. 1940 |
Nearco b. 1932 |
Pharos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nogara | |||
| Mumtaz Begum | Blenheim II | ||
| Mumtaz Mahal | |||
| Miss Disco b. 1944 |
Discovery | Display | |
| Ariadne | |||
| Outdone | Pompey | ||
| Sweep Out | |||
| Dam Somethingroyal b. 1952 |
Princequillo b. 1940 |
Prince Rose | Rose Prince |
| Indolence | |||
| Cosquilla | Papyrus | ||
| Quick Thought | |||
| Imperatrice dkb/br. 1938 |
Caruso | Polymelian | |
| Sweet Music | |||
| Cinquepace | Brown Bud | ||
| Assignation (F-No.2-S) |
References
- ^ Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century
- ^ "The Bold Ruler Handicap". New York Racing Association. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
- ^ New York Times
- ^ The News-Journal, Mansfield, OH, June 10, 1973 page 13
- ^ http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016464.html
- ^ Beyer Race Figures - Daily Race Form
- ^ www.secretariat.com
- ^ Sports Illustrated 1974
- ^ A Memorable Date: First Seven-Figure Yearling Sold - Bloodhorse.com
- ^ a b Marianna Haun. The X Factor: A matter of heart. Accessed July 2007.
- ^ a b Nack, William (June 4, 1990). "Pure Heart". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Animalographies - Famous Race Horses on Biography.com
- ^ a b c Haun. The X Factor: The Heart of the Matter. Accessed October 2010.
- ^ Davidge, D. William (2005) "Is the X Factor the Answer?" Pedigree Post, accessed October 10 2010
- ^ Haun, Marianna. (1997) The X Factor: What It Is & How to Find It: The Relationship Between Inherited Heart Size and Racing Performance Russell Meerdink Company ISBN 978-0929346465
- ^ St. Petersburg Times Retrieved 2010-9-16
- ^ National Museum of Australia page on Phar Lap's Heart. Accessed October 2010
- ^ Secretariat at IMDb
External links
- The official Secretariat website
- Secretariat Wins Third Leg of The Triple Crown in 1973
- Woolfe Jr., Raymond G. Secretariat (2001) The Derrydale Press ISBN 1-58667-067-0
- ESPN Sports Century – # 35 – Secretariat
- Kentucky Derby.com – Secretariat – 1973
- ESPN Classic – ESPN Classic story on 1973 Belmont – 19-Nov-2003
- USPS.com – 1999 U.S. postage stamp – Secretariat
- Secretariat at Find a Grave
- 1970 racehorse births
- 1989 racehorse deaths
- Thoroughbred racehorses
- Racehorses bred in Virginia
- Racehorses trained in the United States
- American racehorses
- United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees
- Kentucky Derby winners
- Preakness Stakes winners
- Belmont Stakes winners
- Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winners
- Eclipse Award winners
- American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year
- Animal monuments
- United States Champion Thoroughbred Sires
- American Grade 1 Stakes winners