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One of the 20th century's greatest racehorses, Lady's Secret is also one of relatively few of her s*x to be voted Horse ...
03/06/2026

One of the 20th century's greatest racehorses, Lady's Secret is also one of relatively few of her s*x to be voted Horse of the Year (1986). A quality filly at 3, she became a veritable monster at age 4, winning 10 of 15 starts (all graded stakes, including 8 Grade 1s). The daughter of Secretariat not only dominated her own s*x, but also beat males on more than one occasion, including in the Whitney Handicap (below).

Secretariat with Ronnie Turcotte, Lucien Lauren, Hollis Chenery & Eddie Sweat right after his record breaking Belmont ru...
03/06/2026

Secretariat with Ronnie Turcotte, Lucien Lauren, Hollis Chenery & Eddie Sweat right after his record breaking Belmont run…

In the 1973 Preakness Stakes, Secretariat broke last, but surged through the pack and made it to the front at the first ...
03/06/2026

In the 1973 Preakness Stakes, Secretariat broke last, but surged through the pack and made it to the front at 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.

One of my favorite sports photos. You the sense of Secretariat’s incredible speed, and I love Ron Turcotte’s expression...
03/06/2026

One of my favorite sports photos. You the sense of Secretariat’s incredible speed, and I love Ron Turcotte’s expression. He’s checking the time, and he’s not believing what he’s seeing.

Riva Ridge and Secretariat in the Marlboro Cup (1973)
03/06/2026

Riva Ridge and Secretariat in the Marlboro Cup (1973)

MAN O’ WAR AND WILL HARBUT, his longtime groom and best friend, on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Sept. 13, 194...
03/06/2026

MAN O’ WAR AND WILL HARBUT, his longtime groom and best friend, on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Sept. 13, 1941. Man o’ War was then 24 years old, and Will Harbut was 56 years old.

WILL HARBUT (1885-1947) lived in Maddoxtown, Kentucky and was considered a fine horseman. He worked as a farmhand for Spendthrift Farm, where he met stallion manager Harry B. Scott, Sr. When Scott left to run the Faraway Farm for Walter Jeffords and Samuel Riddle in 1930, he took Harbut with him to work at the new farm. MAN O’ WAR (1917-1947) AND WILL HARBUT SOON BECAME INSEPARABLE, and their bond over the next 16 years, from the fall of 1930 until the spring of 1946, became renowned. Harbut’s interaction with visitors to Faraway Farm and his recounts of Man o’ War’s greatest moments quickly became famous. Their popularity earned them a spot on the cover of the most popular newsmagazine of its day, “The Saturday Evening Post.”

ILLNESS FORCED WILL HARBUT into retirement in 1946, but he still visited his favorite charge during his final year. Harbut died in October 1947. In his obituary for “The BloodHorse,” Harbut’s survivors were listed as “his wife, six sons, three daughters, and Man o’ War.” Man o’ War died less than one month later, quietly in his stall, on Nov. 1, 1947. He was 30 years old. National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

On June 9, 1973, Secretariat, the overwhelming favorite, went up against four other horses on the track, including the h...
03/06/2026

On June 9, 1973, Secretariat, the overwhelming favorite, went up against four other horses on the track, including the horse Sham, who was the second place finisher at the other two Triple Crown races, according to the Belmont Stakes website.

During the Belmont Stakes, the horse swept the competition and won by an exceptional 31 lengths. Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner since 1948, when Citation won the title.

Eddie Sweat once told a reporter, I guess a groom gets closer to a horse than anyone. The owner, the trainer, they mayb...
03/06/2026

Eddie Sweat once told a reporter, I guess a groom gets closer to a horse than anyone. The owner, the trainer, they maybe see him once a day. But I lived with him worked with him.
While the world was elated with the 9th Triple Crown winner--Secretariat, it was a very sad day for Eddie and Secretariat...it was the day he boarded the plane to Kentucky to start his stud career at Claiborne Farm.
Eddie flew with Secretariat for the last time, shown here, Secretariat nibbles his sleeve and Eddie reassures Secretariat. Charlie Davis also has to be mentioned, as he was exercise rider and so close to Secretariat too!

SECRETARIAT The only start in his career in which he wasn't the favoriteSecretariat paid $2.80 to win in the only allowa...
03/06/2026

SECRETARIAT
The only start in his career in which he wasn't the favorite

Secretariat paid $2.80 to win in the only allowance race of his career. Every following start would be in stakes. His first was the Sanford at Saratoga, August 16, 1972. It was the only start in his career in which he wasn't the favorite. That role was taken by Linda's Chief, owned locally by Neil Hellman, a prominent businessman and philanthropist in Albany, 27 miles south. Linda's Chief had won all five starts and went off 3-5. Secretariat was 3-2. There were only three other starters, prompting the New York Racing Association to ban show wagering in fear of a negative pool-that's when the track has to dip into its own share of the handle (money bet) to pay the minimum $2.10.

Turcotte allowed Secretariat to settle in stride, dropping to last in the small field: It took him a little farther to get his feet under him. He always broke with his field and dropped back. I allowed him to get himself together. I didn't change tactics.”

When Secretariat suddenly accelerated, Turcotte was in trouble, stuck on the inside. He didn't want to go wide around the whole field, but at the three-sixteenths pole he was blocked: I had plenty of horse under me, but no place to go.”

The competition provided a solution. Trevose and Northstar Dancer, tight against each other while dueling for the lead in the stretch, drifted apart. Secretariat shot through the opening and quickly took command, winning easily by three lengths. Linda's Chief was second, six lengths in front of Northstar Dancer. As the Racing Form chart duly noted, Linda's Chief was no match for the winner.

And, Turcotte pointed out, I didn't hit him, either. Secretariat had devastated the field by racing successive quarter-miles of :23 3/5, :23 1/5, and :23 1/5. In just about every race, the last quarter is usually the slowest. Not for Big Red.

But Secretariat was only warming up, saving his virtuoso per formance for the Hopeful Stakes 10 days later.

From~
The WILL to WIN
RON TURCOTTE'S RIDE TO GLORY
by:
BILL HELLER with RON TURCOTTE

The nation’s most decorated and exciting athlete arrived in Chicago 50 years ago .He wasn’t, however, a baseball, basket...
03/06/2026

The nation’s most decorated and exciting athlete arrived in Chicago 50 years ago .

He wasn’t, however, a baseball, basketball or football player. He was a horse — 16 hands-1 1/2 inches tall and weighing more than 1,550 pounds.

Nicknamed “Big Red” for the color of his hair, Secretariat became the first thoroughbred in 25 years — and ninth in American history — to claim the Triple Crown when he won the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes in a record time of 2:24 and by an unprecedented 31 lengths. That record still stands. Some have called it the best performance ever in horse racing. (Secretariat also finished with record times at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 1973.)

The three-year-old’s dominance was unexpected considering his ownership was determined after his March 30, 1970, birth by a coin toss that both parties reportedly wanted to lose. When the cost of upkeep on Meadow Stables — his Virginia home — became too great, his owner Penny Chenery (then Penny Tweedy) sold stud shares in the horse totaling $6 million.

Secretariat’s trip to Chicago was seen as bold and potentially disastrous, but Chenery considered it a victory lap not just for the horse — but for anyone in the Midwest who had become its admirer and a supporter of the sport.

“I received a lot of criticism for bringing him to Chicago. People said he might be hurt. They asked, ‘Why do it? What more can he prove?’ I don’t feel that way,” she told the Tribune. “So far we must have sent out 1,000 free pictures of Secretariat. We get requests from kids who are crazy about horses and think this horse is beautiful. We get letters from widows and from old race trackers. I think that every kid who gets a picture now may come to the track when she’s 16. At this stage we get some 200 letters a day. Now Secretariat’s secretary has a secretary.”

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