Z – #1(Tie) – Secretariat – horseracing20thcentury99.com

Top Ten Horses Overall Twentieth Century

#1 (Tie)

Secretariat

(1972 - 1973)

Secretariat, with Canadian Ron Turcotte riding, leading Sham to the finish line in a record 1:59 2/5 in the 1973 Kentucky Derby. “Big Red” would go on to break a 25 year drought and become America’s 9th Triple Crown winner.

Photo: Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated

PEDIGREE

Ch H (USA) 1970

OWNER

Meadow table

TRAINER

Lucien Lauren

BREEDER

Meadow Stud

Some Facts

Secretariat was born in Caroline County, Virginia, on March 30, 1970. Although he was bred by Christopher Chenery at his Meadow Stud and raced in the colors of Mr. Chenery’s Meadow Stable, his ownership was decided by a coin toss, a condition stipulated in a foal agreement with Ogden Phipps, who owned North America’s leading sire, Bold Ruler.
In Secretariat’s first four generations, nine of the fifteen stallions are Chef-de-Race stallions, and nine of the fifteen mares are Reine-de-Course
His father, Bold Ruler, the 1957 Horse of the Year, was a son of Nasrullah and was out of Miss Disco, a daughter of Discovery.
Somethingroyal, Secretariat’s dam, was born in 1952 and never won a race nor earned any money. Her value was in the breeding shed, and she was first-rate, having produced eighteen foals, including Sir Gaylord (Turn-to), the 1962 Kentucky Derby favorite who suffered a career-ending injury just before the race; First Family (First Landing), which won the G1 Gulfstream Park Handicap; Syrian Sea (Bold Ruler) winner of the G1 Selima Stakes; and major grade one winner Secretariat.
Secretariat had the build of a genuine racehorse, massive and powerful. Standing 16.2 hands at his withers at three, he was a deep copper-colored chestnut, well-muscled, and was almost twice as wide over his loins and hips as the average racehorse. His enormous size required a custom-made saddle girth for his 76-inch girth. On March 29, 1973, he weighed 1,155 pounds (Northern Dancer weighed less than a thousand). Despite the rigors of his Triple Crown campaign, he weighed a remarkable 1,131 pounds on June 15; his relatively minor weight loss was attributed to his enormous appetite as he wolfed down fifteen quarts of oats daily. This necessitated fast, challenging workouts, which he needed to keep his weight in check and his muscles in shape. He thrived on the heavy workload, which kept his weight almost constant. On October 22, before his final race, the Canadian International Championship, he weighed 1,154 pounds.
He won races at ten different distances: 6F – 6.5F – 7F – 8F – 8.5F – 9F – 9.5F – 10F – 12F – 13F.
Secretariat was unique in that he could run fast at championship speed and carry his speed a distance of ground, often much further than his opponents. Much of this was based on his large heart called the X-Factor, which can be traced back to Eclipse. His enormous girth allowed him to have increased lung capacity and inhale more oxygen than most competitors. He also had an enormous stride, measuring 24 feet, 11 inches. His hind end was well-muscled like a sprinter, and when he was running and needed additional speed, he had a unique ability to draw his find feet further up into his chest area and then push off, which gave him powerful acceleration.
Secretariat made his first start as a two-year-old in a 5.5-F MSW at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972. Sent off as the 3-1 favorite, which would be the longest odds of his career, he faced eleven others but was interfered with and would end up finishing a fast closing fourth, beaten one and one-quarter lengths by Herbull. This would be the only time he didn’t finish first in his nine starts that year. However, in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on October 14, he finished first by two lengths but was subsequently disqualified and placed second to Stop the Music.
Secretariat was the betting favorite in every race he competed in except the 1972 Sanford Stakes when he was the 3-2 second choice to the 3-5 favorite Linda’s Chief, a colt that had won all five of its previous starts, including the Youthful, Tremont and Juvenile Stakes. Secretariat won the Sanford by three lengths over Linda’s Chief, who finished second.
As a two-year-old, Secretariat was also voted Horse of the Year, joining Domino (1893), Commando (1900), Colin (1907), Native Dancer (1952), the filly, Moccasin (1965), and Favorite Trick (1997) as the only two-year-olds to be voted the award.
When Mr. Chenery died on January 3, 1973, this set Secretariat’s early season training and planned Florida campaign back. When he was ready to return to the track, the mile and one-eighth Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah was considered too long for the colt’s first start of the season. Instead, he was shipped to New York to run in the seven-furlong Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct on March 17.
Secretariat’s Triple Crown was the first since Citation’s in 1948, a span of 25 years. The brilliant colt set track records in all three Triple Crown victories. His Kentucky Derby time of 1:59 2/5 is still the race and Churchill Downs track record. His Preakness time, at first credited as being 1:54 2/5, was disputed because of a timer malfunction and, in 2012, was officially changed to 1:53, which is still the Preakness record and, at the time, was the track record. His Belmont Stakes time of 2:24 is still the Belmont Stakes, Belmont track, and world record.
Secretariat ran each quarter in the Kentucky Derby faster than the previous quarter. His splits were: :25 1/5; :24; :23 4/5; :23 2/5; :23. He set four track and two world records. In his world record Belmont Stakes performance, his fractions were: 23 3/5; :46 1/5; 1:09 4/5; 1:34 1/5; 1:59; and 2:24. His time of 1:59 for the ten-furlongs was a fifth of a second faster than Damascus’s track record 1:59 1/5 set in the 1968 Brooklyn Handicap.
Onion’s upset win over Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney Stakes, at the time, was one of the three greatest upsets in major stake races in Saratoga history, the others being Upset’s victory over Man o’ War in the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes and Jim Dandy’s win at odds of 100-1 over the 1-2 favorite Gallant Fox in 1930 Travers Stakes. The Whitney was Onion’s only stakes victory in fifty-four career starts, some of which were in claiming races.
If there was one thing that Secretariat didn’t prove, it was an ability to carry high weights. The heaviest weight he ever carried when winning a race (or was even assigned in a race) was 126 pounds. He is the only horse in my top ten overall that had never carried at least 130 pounds.
The Marlboro Invitation was initially intended to be a match race between Secretariat and his stablemate, the four-year-old Riva Ridge. However, because both colts lost races in August (Secretariat in the Whitney Stakes and River Ridge in an allowance race on turf), interest in the match race waned. To rekindle interest , it was renamed an invitational handicap with the following grade one winners invited to compete: Cougar II, Kennedy Road, Onion, Annihilate ‘Em, and Key to the Mint.
Secretariat is renowned for his ability to win distance races on both dirt and turf in record time. However, he also could have been a champion miler and champion sprinter. His world record nine-furlong Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park, timed in 1:45 2/5, was 4/5ths of a second faster than Canonero II’s track and world record time of 1:46 1/5. During the race, he flashed past the one-mile marker in 1:33, which was three-fifths of a second faster than the track record set earlier that year by Stop the Music and later equaled by Everton II. In addition to his mile split in the Marlboro Cup, he also won the one-mile Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct in 1:33 2/5, tying Plucky Pan’s five-year-old track record. In the Gotham, he ran the first six furlongs in 1:08 3/5, equal to Tap the Tree’s track record set earlier on the card.
Secretariat was voted two awards after his 1972 season: two-year-old champion colt and Horse of the Year. In 1973, he was voted three awards: the three-year-old colt champion, top turf horse three years old and up, and Horse of the Year. His Belmont Stakes is listed as #4 in the BloodHorse’s “Horse Racing’s TOP 100 Moments” in the 20^th”
Secretariat was syndicated for a record $6.08M. He was not considered a top stallion, though he did get fifty-four stake winners from 663 registered foals (8%). His four most outstanding progeny on the race track were Lady’s Secret, Horse of the Year in 1986; General Assembly, which won the 1979 Travers Stakes in a track record 2:00; Tinner’s Way a two-time winner of the Pacific Classic, and Risen Star, the Preakness winner, who then went on to win the Belmont Stakes in his final career start by 14 3/4 lengths in 2:26 2/5, at the time the second-fastest Belmont behind his father’s, and still currently the 4th fastest. The third fastest Belmont winner, A.P. Indy (2:26 1/5), is a son of the mare Weekend Surprise, who Secretariat sired.
Secretariat also sired Terlingua, who when bred to Storm Bird produced the leading sire Storm Cat.
Secretariat was euthanized on October 4, 1989, while suffering the painful effects of laminitis. He was just 19 years old.