Remembering Secretariat

Today, on June 9th, 1973, 48 years ago, Secretariat wins  the Triple Crown, which consists of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. So rare is a Triple Crown win, in the history of the Triple Crown, only 13 horses have won all three races: Sir Barton - 1919, Gallant Fox - 1930, Omaha - 1935, War Admiral - 1937,  Whirlaway - 1941, Count Fleet - 1943, Assault - 1946, Citation - 1948, Secretariat - 1973, Seattle Slew - 1977, Affirmed - 1978, American Pharoah - 2015, and Justify - 2018.

While not a fan at all of horse racing, because (in my opinion) the stress of training two year old's to run as three years is just too great for horses not yet fully grown, I can still marvel at these horses. Their speed, stamina and heart just captures our imagination. Surely we should marvel at all horses for their ability to put up with and forgive humans, but Secretariat, who was known as Big Red, was something special. He hit the ground on March 30th, 1970 being sired by another famous horse, Bold Ruler. Big Red grew quickly, over 16 hands high at just over two years old. And despite 48 years passing, some his track records still stand.

Secretariat was euthanized in 1989. An autopsy showed that his heart was two and a half times larger than that of the average horse, which certainly contributed to his extraordinary stamina and speed. If you want to see a good movie, in fact likely you'll watch it several times as I have, look for the movie "Secretariat", starring Diane Lane as Penny Chenery who believed in Secretariat as nobody else could....until he proved them wrong.