America’s beloved Secretariat, the legendary Triple Crown winner whose records still stand today, gets bigger than life honor.

Secretariat, the champion and most beloved thoroughbred racehorse of all time, finally has been honored with a bronze statue worthy of the incredible accomplishments of such a super horse.

A magnificent new statue has been installed in the home of Bluegrass racing, Lexington, Kentucky, to honor the Triple Crown champion of 1973.  Today, forty-six years after the astonishing success of Secretariat, many of the world records Secretariat achieved remain unbroken, a testament of the superiority of the champion.

Renowned sculptor Jocelyn Russell created a larger-than-life monument of Triple Crown racehorse Secretariat.  Known as the “people’s champion” Secretariat completed the most amazing Triple Crown record in history.

   

Nearly 50 years ago he galloped memorably into our lives, muscles pulsing hard beneath a coat of brilliant red, hooves stretching farther forward in a stride longer than any horse before or since. He was a wonder, Secretariat, a vision of the perfect horse who left us all too soon.

Just as Secretariat was red, or chestnut, in real life, his bronze monument bears a red patina. He could not look more lifelike, which was Russell’s concern all along when she accepted this commission 18 months ago.

The artist said many times that she knew her audience would be a tough sell, in the heart of horse country.

Virginia-bred Secretariat’s final home at Claiborne Farm Kentucky just up the road from Lexington in the heart of thoroughbred horse farms, is a revered stop for Kentucky horse fans ever since Secretariat retired from racing in 1973 until his death in 1989 at age 19.

A reprint of an earlier article of the life of Secretariat follows.

Kentucky Derby Countdown - Secretariat 1973 - The Greatest Triple Crown and Thoroughbred Champion of all Time

Secretariat - The People's Champion

It is Kentucky Derby week and once again time to share our top thoroughbred stories of the legends of Horse Racing.  Our next offering is the greatest champion in our history, Secretariat.

I had occasion to see this magnificent horse in Kentucky and to watch the three races along with millions of Americans as Secretariat not only made history but shattered records every time he stepped on a the track at a Triple Crown race.

You should take a few minutes to watch the three videos showing the Triple Crown that year, 1973, when Secretariat became an American legend. Nothing has ever been achieved close to his performance before or since that spring.

Although Seattle Slew and Affirmed both won the Triple Crown the same decade of the 1970's the performance by Secretariat stands alone in the history books.

Enjoy a flashback to the most incredible six minutes in horse racing history.

The Kentucky Derby - 1973



The Preakness Stakes - 1973



The Belmont Stakes - 1973



Secretariat’s Record-Breaking Run, 46 Years Later

(Originally posted 2017)

By Barbara Maranzani

Forty-six years ago Secretariat galloped to victory at the Belmont Stakes, capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown and becoming the first horse in 25 years to achieve one of sport’s most difficult feats. In a career that spanned just 21 races over the course of a year, the 3-year-old thoroughbred captured the hearts and minds of a nation weary from the soon-to-be-ended Vietnam War and ongoing Watergate investigations. Four decades after Secretariat entered the record books, check out eight surprising facts about one of America’s most famous athletes.

1. Secretariat’s fate rested on a coin toss.

In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get a second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare, Somethingroyal. Phipps won the coin toss, but Chenery won for the record books: In March of the following year Somethinroyal gave birth to a red chestnut colt with three distinctive white “socks” on his legs–Secretariat. Chenery went on to fame as the legendary horse’s owner, while the Phipps family, successful breeders for six generations, didn’t win the Kentucky Derby until May of this year, when Orb captured the 139th Race for the Roses.

2. Secretariat was named Horse of the Year twice.

After losing his very first race, at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972, Secretariat lost just once more in his 2-year-old campaign, and even that was due to a controversial disqualification in a race. At the end of that season, he was unanimously voted the winner of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year—the first 2-year-old to be so honored. In fact, only one other 2-year-old has won the award: Favorite Trick, in 1997. He was a shoo-in the following year, when his Triple Crown wins earned him top honors in every major racing award.

3. Nerves were on edge when Secretariat lost the run-up to the Derby.

Secretariat easily won the first two races as a 3-year-old, before running a disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, his final tune-up before Churchill Downs. With many in the racing world dismissing his chances at the Derby, Secretariat’s owner and trainers believed that their horse’s showing at the Wood had little to do with his stamina or possible nerves. Just days before the race, an abscess had been discovered on the top of the colt’s mouth, leaving him in severe pain. While some prognosticators now touting another horse, Sham, a half-cousin of Secretariat’s, as the Derby favorite, Secretariat’s team successfully lanced the painful infection and the horse was soon on the mend.

4. Secretariat set records that are still standing today.

As the 1973 Derby began, Secretariat broke out of the gate last, before quickly moving up on the field. Accelerating with each quarter-mile segment, he crossed the finish line at 1:59 2/5th, a new (and still standing) course record. In the 40 years since, only one other horse, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes. Two weeks later at the Preakness he once again raced to catch up with the rest of the field before winning easily. Though his victory was never in doubt, his official time remained a point of controversy for almost 40 years. Members of the Daily Racing Form had clocked him at 1:53 2/5th, a new track record, while officials at Pimlico posted his official time as 1:54 2/5th. It wasn’t until June 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission, using a forensic review of the race, determined that not only had Secretariat set a course record in 1973, he had been even faster than previously believed—1:53 flat.

5. Secretariat was a media superstar.

Secretariat-mania reached a fever pitch as he prepared for the final leg of the Triple Crown: The week before the Belmont, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek magazines featured him on their covers in the same week—an unheard of accomplishment that has never been repeated. After his victory, demand for the thoroughbred’s time grew go great that his owners hired the William Morris Agency to oversee his public appearances, surely making him the rare horse with a Hollywood agent. His fame continued long after his career ended. He was inducted into the Horseracing Hall of Fame just a year after winning the Triple Crown. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Secretariat stamp, making him the first equine to earn the honor; and ESPN named him to their list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.

6. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a jaw-dropping margin.

Racing against only four other horses in New York, Secretariat was considered such a favorite that no third-place “show” bets were accepted on him. As was the case at both the Derby and the Preakness, Secretariat faced off against Sham, but this time his cousin was unable to truly challenge him, finishing last. Secretariat, however, opened an enormous lead on the field that kept growing with every stride. By the time he crossed the finish line in yet another record-setting time of 2:24, he was a full 31 lengths in front of the second-place finisher. Secretariat had become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. Rather than trade in their winning tickets (which would have netted just $.20 in profit), most people who bet on Secretariat decided to keep them as souvenirs instead.

7. Secretariat bailed out his financially beleaguered owners even before he won the Triple Crown.

Helen “Penny” Chenery had inherited her father’s Meadow Stable in Virginia following his death in 1973, but the organization had begun losing money years earlier. Desperate to shore up the family’s shaky finances, Chenery agreed to a “syndicating” agreement with Seth Hancock, the new owner of one of the country’s most prestigious breeding operations, Kentucky Claiborne Farm. In February 1973, four months before his history-making victory at Churchill Downs, it was announced that 32 breeding “shares” had been sold at a record-breaking price of $190,000 a share, netting Claiborne Farms and Meadow Stable more than $6 million—$30 million in today’s money.

8. Secretariat was euthanized at just 19 years old.

Secretariat’s record off the track was not as successful as it had been on it. Put out to stud in late 1973, he sired nearly 600 foals, including one horse that sold for more than $1 million at auction—but nearly all of his male offspring failed miserably at the racetrack. Secretariat’s grandsires fared a bit better, with grandsons A.P. Indy a Horse of the Year winner and great-granddaughter Rags to Riches the 2007 Belmont Stakes champion. In the fall of 1989, the 19-year-old champion developed laminitis, an incurable hoof condition; he was euthanized in October of that year.

Kentucky Derby Countdown - Secretariat 1973 - The Greatest Triple Crown and Thoroughbred Champion of all Time

Secretariat - The People's Champion

It is Kentucky Derby week and once again time to share our top thoroughbred stories of the legends of Horse Racing.  Our next offering is the greatest champion in our history, Secretariat.

I had occasion to see this magnificent horse in Kentucky and to watch the three races along with millions of Americans as Secretariat not only made history but shattered records every time he stepped on a the track at a Triple Crown race.

You should take a few minutes to watch the three videos showing the Triple Crown that year, 1973, when Secretariat became an American legend. Nothing has ever been achieved close to his performance before or since that spring.

Although Seattle Slew and Affirmed both won the Triple Crown the same decade of the 1970's the performance by Secretariat stands alone in the history books.

Enjoy a flashback to the most incredible six minutes in horse racing history.

The Kentucky Derby - 1973



The Preakness Stakes - 1973



The Belmont Stakes - 1973



Secretariat’s Record-Breaking Run, 46 Years Later

(Originally posted 2017)

By Barbara Maranzani

Forty-six years ago Secretariat galloped to victory at the Belmont Stakes, capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown and becoming the first horse in 25 years to achieve one of sport’s most difficult feats. In a career that spanned just 21 races over the course of a year, the 3-year-old thoroughbred captured the hearts and minds of a nation weary from the soon-to-be-ended Vietnam War and ongoing Watergate investigations. Four decades after Secretariat entered the record books, check out eight surprising facts about one of America’s most famous athletes.

1. Secretariat’s fate rested on a coin toss.

In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get a second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare, Somethingroyal. Phipps won the coin toss, but Chenery won for the record books: In March of the following year Somethinroyal gave birth to a red chestnut colt with three distinctive white “socks” on his legs–Secretariat. Chenery went on to fame as the legendary horse’s owner, while the Phipps family, successful breeders for six generations, didn’t win the Kentucky Derby until May of this year, when Orb captured the 139th Race for the Roses.

2. Secretariat was named Horse of the Year twice.
After losing his very first race, at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972, Secretariat lost just once more in his 2-year-old campaign, and even that was due to a controversial disqualification in a race. At the end of that season, he was unanimously voted the winner of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year—the first 2-year-old to be so honored. In fact, only one other 2-year-old has won the award: Favorite Trick, in 1997. He was a shoo-in the following year, when his Triple Crown wins earned him top honors in every major racing award.

3. Nerves were on edge when Secretariat lost the run-up to the Derby.
Secretariat easily won the first two races as a 3-year-old, before running a disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, his final tune-up before Churchill Downs. With many in the racing world dismissing his chances at the Derby, Secretariat’s owner and trainers believed that their horse’s showing at the Wood had little to do with his stamina or possible nerves. Just days before the race, an abscess had been discovered on the top of the colt’s mouth, leaving him in severe pain. While some prognosticators now touting another horse, Sham, a half-cousin of Secretariat’s, as the Derby favorite, Secretariat’s team successfully lanced the painful infection and the horse was soon on the mend.

4. Secretariat set records that are still standing today.
As the 1973 Derby began, Secretariat broke out of the gate last, before quickly moving up on the field. Accelerating with each quarter-mile segment, he crossed the finish line at 1:59 2/5th, a new (and still standing) course record. In the 40 years since, only one other horse, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes. Two weeks later at the Preakness he once again raced to catch up with the rest of the field before winning easily. Though his victory was never in doubt, his official time remained a point of controversy for almost 40 years. Members of the Daily Racing Form had clocked him at 1:53 2/5th, a new track record, while officials at Pimlico posted his official time as 1:54 2/5th. It wasn’t until June 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission, using a forensic review of the race, determined that not only had Secretariat set a course record in 1973, he had been even faster than previously believed—1:53 flat.

5. Secretariat was a media superstar.
Secretariat-mania reached a fever pitch as he prepared for the final leg of the Triple Crown: The week before the Belmont, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek magazines featured him on their covers in the same week—an unheard of accomplishment that has never been repeated. After his victory, demand for the thoroughbred’s time grew go great that his owners hired the William Morris Agency to oversee his public appearances, surely making him the rare horse with a Hollywood agent. His fame continued long after his career ended. He was inducted into the Horseracing Hall of Fame just a year after winning the Triple Crown. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Secretariat stamp, making him the first equine to earn the honor; and ESPN named him to their list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.

6. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a jaw-dropping margin.
Racing against only four other horses in New York, Secretariat was considered such a favorite that no third-place “show” bets were accepted on him. As was the case at both the Derby and the Preakness, Secretariat faced off against Sham, but this time his cousin was unable to truly challenge him, finishing last. Secretariat, however, opened an enormous lead on the field that kept growing with every stride. By the time he crossed the finish line in yet another record-setting time of 2:24, he was a full 31 lengths in front of the second-place finisher. Secretariat had become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. Rather than trade in their winning tickets (which would have netted just $.20 in profit), most people who bet on Secretariat decided to keep them as souvenirs instead.

7. Secretariat bailed out his financially beleaguered owners even before he won the Triple Crown.
Helen “Penny” Chenery had inherited her father’s Meadow Stable in Virginia following his death in 1973, but the organization had begun losing money years earlier. Desperate to shore up the family’s shaky finances, Chenery agreed to a “syndicating” agreement with Seth Hancock, the new owner of one of the country’s most prestigious breeding operations, Kentucky Claiborne Farm. In February 1973, four months before his history-making victory at Churchill Downs, it was announced that 32 breeding “shares” had been sold at a record-breaking price of $190,000 a share, netting Claiborne Farms and Meadow Stable more than $6 million—$30 million in today’s money.

8. Secretariat was euthanized at just 19 years old.

Secretariat’s record off the track was not as successful as it had been on it. Put out to stud in late 1973, he sired nearly 600 foals, including one horse that sold for more than $1 million at auction—but nearly all of his male offspring failed miserably at the racetrack. Secretariat’s grandsires fared a bit better, with grandsons A.P. Indy a Horse of the Year winner and great-granddaughter Rags to Riches the 2007 Belmont Stakes champion. In the fall of 1989, the 19-year-old champion developed laminitis, an incurable hoof condition; he was euthanized in October of that year.
.

Kentucky Derby News - Secretariat The Greatest Thoroughbred Champion of all Time

Secretariat - The People's Champion

It is Kentucky Derby week and once again time to share our top thoroughbred stories of the legends of Horse Racing.  Our first offering is the greatest champion in our history, Secretariat.

I had occasion to see this magnificent horse in Kentucky and to watch the three races along with millions of Americans as Secretariat not only made history but shattered records every time he stepped on a the track at a Triple Crown race.

You should take a few minutes to watch the three videos showing the Triple Crown that year, 1973, when Secretariat became an American legend. Nothing has ever been achieved close to his performance before or since that spring.

Although Seattle Slew and Affirmed both won the Triple Crown the same decade of the 1970's the performance by Secretariat stands alone in the history books.

Enjoy a flashback to the most incredible six minutes in horse racing history.

The Kentucky Derby - 1973



The Preakness Stakes - 1973



The Belmont Stakes - 1973



Secretariat’s Record-Breaking Run, 44 Years Later

(Originally posted 2017)

By Barbara Maranzani

Forty-four years ago Secretariat galloped to victory at the Belmont Stakes, capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown and becoming the first horse in 25 years to achieve one of sport’s most difficult feats. In a career that spanned just 21 races over the course of a year, the 3-year-old thoroughbred captured the hearts and minds of a nation weary from the soon-to-be-ended Vietnam War and ongoing Watergate investigations. Four decades after Secretariat entered the record books, check out eight surprising facts about one of America’s most famous athletes.

1. Secretariat’s fate rested on a coin toss.

In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get a second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare, Somethingroyal. Phipps won the coin toss, but Chenery won for the record books: In March of the following year Somethinroyal gave birth to a red chestnut colt with three distinctive white “socks” on his legs–Secretariat. Chenery went on to fame as the legendary horse’s owner, while the Phipps family, successful breeders for six generations, didn’t win the Kentucky Derby until May of this year, when Orb captured the 139th Race for the Roses.

2. Secretariat was named Horse of the Year twice.
After losing his very first race, at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972, Secretariat lost just once more in his 2-year-old campaign, and even that was due to a controversial disqualification in a race. At the end of that season, he was unanimously voted the winner of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year—the first 2-year-old to be so honored. In fact, only one other 2-year-old has won the award: Favorite Trick, in 1997. He was a shoo-in the following year, when his Triple Crown wins earned him top honors in every major racing award.

3. Nerves were on edge when Secretariat lost the run-up to the Derby.
Secretariat easily won the first two races as a 3-year-old, before running a disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, his final tune-up before Churchill Downs. With many in the racing world dismissing his chances at the Derby, Secretariat’s owner and trainers believed that their horse’s showing at the Wood had little to do with his stamina or possible nerves. Just days before the race, an abscess had been discovered on the top of the colt’s mouth, leaving him in severe pain. While some prognosticators now touting another horse, Sham, a half-cousin of Secretariat’s, as the Derby favorite, Secretariat’s team successfully lanced the painful infection and the horse was soon on the mend.

5. Secretariat set records that are still standing today.
As the 1973 Derby began, Secretariat broke out of the gate last, before quickly moving up on the field. Accelerating with each quarter-mile segment, he crossed the finish line at 1:59 2/5th, a new (and still standing) course record. In the 40 years since, only one other horse, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes. Two weeks later at the Preakness he once again raced to catch up with the rest of the field before winning easily. Though his victory was never in doubt, his official time remained a point of controversy for almost 40 years. Members of the Daily Racing Form had clocked him at 1:53 2/5th, a new track record, while officials at Pimlico posted his official time as 1:54 2/5th. It wasn’t until June 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission, using a forensic review of the race, determined that not only had Secretariat set a course record in 1973, he had been even faster than previously believed—1:53 flat.

4. Secretariat was a media superstar.
Secretariat-mania reached a fever pitch as he prepared for the final leg of the Triple Crown: The week before the Belmont, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek magazines featured him on their covers in the same week—an unheard of accomplishment that has never been repeated. After his victory, demand for the thoroughbred’s time grew go great that his owners hired the William Morris Agency to oversee his public appearances, surely making him the rare horse with a Hollywood agent. His fame continued long after his career ended. He was inducted into the Horseracing Hall of Fame just a year after winning the Triple Crown. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Secretariat stamp, making him the first equine to earn the honor; and ESPN named him to their list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.

6. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a jaw-dropping margin.
Racing against only four other horses in New York, Secretariat was considered such a favorite that no third-place “show” bets were accepted on him. As was the case at both the Derby and the Preakness, Secretariat faced off against Sham, but this time his cousin was unable to truly challenge him, finishing last. Secretariat, however, opened an enormous lead on the field that kept growing with every stride. By the time he crossed the finish line in yet another record-setting time of 2:24, he was a full 31 lengths in front of the second-place finisher. Secretariat had become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. Rather than trade in their winning tickets (which would have netted just $.20 in profit), most people who bet on Secretariat decided to keep them as souvenirs instead.

7. Secretariat bailed out his financially beleaguered owners even before he won the Triple Crown.
Helen “Penny” Chenery had inherited her father’s Meadow Stable in Virginia following his death in 1973, but the organization had begun losing money years earlier. Desperate to shore up the family’s shaky finances, Chenery agreed to a “syndicating” agreement with Seth Hancock, the new owner of one of the country’s most prestigious breeding operations, Kentucky Claiborne Farm. In February 1973, four months before his history-making victory at Churchill Downs, it was announced that 32 breeding “shares” had been sold at a record-breaking price of $190,000 a share, netting Claiborne Farms and Meadow Stable more than $6 million—$30 million in today’s money.

8. Secretariat was euthanized at just 19 years old.

Secretariat’s record off the track was not as successful as it had been on it. Put out to stud in late 1973, he sired nearly 600 foals, including one horse that sold for more than $1 million at auction—but nearly all of his male offspring failed miserably at the racetrack. Secretariat’s grandsires fared a bit better, with grandsons A.P. Indy a Horse of the Year winner and great-granddaughter Rags to Riches the 2007 Belmont Stakes champion. In the fall of 1989, the 19-year-old champion developed laminitis, an incurable hoof condition; he was euthanized in October of that year.
.

Kentucky Derby News - Secretariat The Greatest Thoroughbred Champion of all Time

.



Secretariat - The People's Champion

It is Kentucky Derby week and once again time to share our top thoroughbred stories of the legends of Horse Racing.  Our first offering is the greatest champion in our history, Secretariat.

I had occasion to see this magnificent horse in Kentucky and to watch the three races along with millions of Americans as Secretariat not only made history but shattered records every time he stepped on a the track at a Triple Crown race.

You should take a few minutes to watch the three videos showing the Triple Crown that year, 1973, when Secretariat became an American legend. Nothing has ever been achieved close to his performance before or since that spring.

Although Seattle Slew and Affirmed both won the Triple Crown the same decade of the 1970's the performance by Secretariat stands alone in the history books.

Enjoy a flashback to the most incredible six minutes in horse racing history.

The Kentucky Derby - 1973



The Preakness Stakes - 1973



The Belmont Stakes - 1973

Secretariat’s Record-Breaking Run, 44 Years Later

By Barbara Maranzani

Forty-four years ago Secretariat galloped to victory at the Belmont Stakes, capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown and becoming the first horse in 25 years to achieve one of sport’s most difficult feats. In a career that spanned just 21 races over the course of a year, the 3-year-old thoroughbred captured the hearts and minds of a nation weary from the soon-to-be-ended Vietnam War and ongoing Watergate investigations. Four decades after Secretariat entered the record books, check out eight surprising facts about one of America’s most famous athletes.

1. Secretariat’s fate rested on a coin toss.

In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get a second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare, Somethingroyal. Phipps won the coin toss, but Chenery won for the record books: In March of the following year Somethinroyal gave birth to a red chestnut colt with three distinctive white “socks” on his legs–Secretariat. Chenery went on to fame as the legendary horse’s owner, while the Phipps family, successful breeders for six generations, didn’t win the Kentucky Derby until May of this year, when Orb captured the 139th Race for the Roses.

2. Secretariat was named Horse of the Year twice.
After losing his very first race, at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972, Secretariat lost just once more in his 2-year-old campaign, and even that was due to a controversial disqualification in a race. At the end of that season, he was unanimously voted the winner of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year—the first 2-year-old to be so honored. In fact, only one other 2-year-old has won the award: Favorite Trick, in 1997. He was a shoo-in the following year, when his Triple Crown wins earned him top honors in every major racing award.

3. Nerves were on edge when Secretariat lost the run-up to the Derby.
Secretariat easily won the first two races as a 3-year-old, before running a disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, his final tune-up before Churchill Downs. With many in the racing world dismissing his chances at the Derby, Secretariat’s owner and trainers believed that their horse’s showing at the Wood had little to do with his stamina or possible nerves. Just days before the race, an abscess had been discovered on the top of the colt’s mouth, leaving him in severe pain. While some prognosticators now touting another horse, Sham, a half-cousin of Secretariat’s, as the Derby favorite, Secretariat’s team successfully lanced the painful infection and the horse was soon on the mend.

5. Secretariat set records that are still standing today.
As the 1973 Derby began, Secretariat broke out of the gate last, before quickly moving up on the field. Accelerating with each quarter-mile segment, he crossed the finish line at 1:59 2/5th, a new (and still standing) course record. In the 40 years since, only one other horse, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes. Two weeks later at the Preakness he once again raced to catch up with the rest of the field before winning easily. Though his victory was never in doubt, his official time remained a point of controversy for almost 40 years. Members of the Daily Racing Form had clocked him at 1:53 2/5th, a new track record, while officials at Pimlico posted his official time as 1:54 2/5th. It wasn’t until June 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission, using a forensic review of the race, determined that not only had Secretariat set a course record in 1973, he had been even faster than previously believed—1:53 flat.

4. Secretariat was a media superstar.
Secretariat-mania reached a fever pitch as he prepared for the final leg of the Triple Crown: The week before the Belmont, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek magazines featured him on their covers in the same week—an unheard of accomplishment that has never been repeated. After his victory, demand for the thoroughbred’s time grew go great that his owners hired the William Morris Agency to oversee his public appearances, surely making him the rare horse with a Hollywood agent. His fame continued long after his career ended. He was inducted into the Horseracing Hall of Fame just a year after winning the Triple Crown. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Secretariat stamp, making him the first equine to earn the honor; and ESPN named him to their list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.

6. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a jaw-dropping margin.
Racing against only four other horses in New York, Secretariat was considered such a favorite that no third-place “show” bets were accepted on him. As was the case at both the Derby and the Preakness, Secretariat faced off against Sham, but this time his cousin was unable to truly challenge him, finishing last. Secretariat, however, opened an enormous lead on the field that kept growing with every stride. By the time he crossed the finish line in yet another record-setting time of 2:24, he was a full 31 lengths in front of the second-place finisher. Secretariat had become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. Rather than trade in their winning tickets (which would have netted just $.20 in profit), most people who bet on Secretariat decided to keep them as souvenirs instead.

7. Secretariat bailed out his financially beleaguered owners even before he won the Triple Crown.
Helen “Penny” Chenery had inherited her father’s Meadow Stable in Virginia following his death in 1973, but the organization had begun losing money years earlier. Desperate to shore up the family’s shaky finances, Chenery agreed to a “syndicating” agreement with Seth Hancock, the new owner of one of the country’s most prestigious breeding operations, Kentucky Claiborne Farm. In February 1973, four months before his history-making victory at Churchill Downs, it was announced that 32 breeding “shares” had been sold at a record-breaking price of $190,000 a share, netting Claiborne Farms and Meadow Stable more than $6 million—$30 million in today’s money.

8. Secretariat was euthanized at just 19 years old.

Secretariat’s record off the track was not as successful as it had been on it. Put out to stud in late 1973, he sired nearly 600 foals, including one horse that sold for more than $1 million at auction—but nearly all of his male offspring failed miserably at the racetrack. Secretariat’s grandsires fared a bit better, with grandsons A.P. Indy a Horse of the Year winner and great-granddaughter Rags to Riches the 2007 Belmont Stakes champion. In the fall of 1989, the 19-year-old champion developed laminitis, an incurable hoof condition; he was euthanized in October of that year.
.

140th Kentucky Derby - And they're off!! The Millionaires Romp

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 We are coming up on the first weekend in May and that means it is time for the Greatest two Minutes in Sports, the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky.

This year is the 140th Kentucky Derby, which means it started about 9 years after the end of the Civil War and when President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

This first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing brought to you from the home of thoroughbreds, the Bluegrass region of Lexington and Paris Kentucky, is simply the greatest horse race in the world.

If you have not been to the Derby you may not know that it is a celebration that lasts a week and every aspect of Southern hospitality, wealth and opulence you ever read or saw from Gone with the Wind to Secretariat is alive and well and preserved for all time in Bluegrass country.

One horse is going to leave the Derby a millionaire with a shot at the triple crown, a feat that may rank as the hardest in sports history to achieve.  If a horse wins the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness in Maryland and Belmont in New York they win the triple crown.

But with each progressive race longer than the last and all three within the grueling time period of about 6 weeks it is one of the rarest feats in sports.  In the past 139 years 3,889 horses have competed in the races, 274 races were won, but only 11 horses won all three and just 50 won two of the three.

In fact the last time any horse won the triple crown was in 1978, 36 years ago, before Reagan was president.

The following are the top 30 of 38 qualifiers for the 2014 Kentucky Derby.  As we get closer to race day the field will be reduced to the starters.  Note how much money these three year olds have already won leading into the triple crown million dollar purses. 

  
• California Chrome
Steve and Carolyn Coburn & Perry and Denise Martin 
Rank 1
Earnings 782250
Pts 150

• Vicar's In Trouble
Ken and Sarah Ramsey
Rank 2
Earnings 760000
Pts 120

• Dance With Fate
S. Alesia, Bran Jam Stable & Ciaglia Racing, LLC
Rank 3
Earnings 600000
Pts 108

• Wicked Strong Centennial Farms
Rank 4
Earnings 640000
Pts 102

• Samraat
My Meadowview Farm
Rank 5
Earnings 650000
Pts 100

• Danza Eclipse
Thoroughbred Partners
Rank 6
Earnings 620000
Pts 100

• Constitution
WinStar Farm LLC and Twin Creeks Racing
Rank 7
Earnings 600000
Pts 100

• Hoppertunity
Karl Watson, Mike Pegram & Paul Weitman
Rank 8
Earnings 576000
Pts 95

• Intense Holiday
Starlight Racing
Rank 9
Earnings 527500
Pts 93

• Wildcat
Red Honors Stable Corp.
Rank 10
Earnings 665000
Pts 90

• We Miss Artie
Ken and Sarah Ramsey
Rank 11
Earnings 544000
Pts 60

Ride On Curlin
Daniel J. Dougherty
Rank 12
Earnings 354387
Pts 55

• Chitu
Tanma Corporation
Rank 13
Earnings 440000
Pts 54

• Tapiture
Winchell Thoroughbreds
Rank 14
Earnings 470738
Pts 52

• Midnight Hawk
Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. (John Sikura), Mike Kitchen, Mike Pegram, Mike Tice & Joel Quenneville
Rank 15
Earnings 320000
Pts 52

• Ring Weekend
St. Elias Stable & West Point Thoroughbreds
Rank 16
Earnings 260000
Pts 50

• General A Rod
J. Armando Rodriguez
Rank 17
Earnings 240000
Pts 40

• Medal Count
Spendthrift Farm
Rank 18
Earnings 226500
Pts 40

• Candy Boy
C R K Stable LLC
Rank 19
Earnings 380000
Pts 30

• Cairo Prince
Godolphin Racing, LLC, Terrance Murray, Paul Braverman, Harvey A. Clarke & W. Craig Robertson III
Rank 20
Earnings 520000
Pts 24

• Uncle Sigh
Wounded Warrior Stables & Anthony C. Robertson
Rank 21
Earnings 180000
Pts 24

• Vinceremos
WinStar Farm LLC and Twin Creeks Racing
Rank 22
Earnings 191666
Pts 20

• Harry's Holiday
Skychai Racing LLC, Terry Raymond & Jana Wagner
Rank 23
Earnings 152622
Pts 20

• Commanding Curve
West Point Thoroughbreds
Rank 24
Earnings 104000
Pts 20

• Pablo Del Monte
Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor & Wesley Ward
Rank 25
Earnings 102000
Pts 20

• Bayern 
Kaleem Shah
Rank 26
Earnings 100000
Pts 20

• Social Inclusion
Rontos Racing Stable Corp. (Ron Sanchez)
Rank 27
Earnings 100000
Pts 20

• Big Bazinga
Derby Dreamers Racing Stable
Rank 28
Earnings 92149
Pts 14

• Coastline
John C. Oxley
Rank 29
Earnings 131346
Pts 13

• Strong Mandate
Robert C. Baker & William L. Mack
Rank 30
Earnings 479166
Pts 11

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