And I remember saying to myself I didn’t think he was going to be an outstanding horse.” A Rough Startīut by age two, the young Secretariat had found his legs and, under trainer Lucien Laurin, began to show the world what a powerhouse he was. He was real clumsy and a bit on the wild side, you know. Sweat told Canadian Horseman in 1973, “I didn’t think much of him when we first got him. When Eddie Sweat, who became Secretariat’s long-time, dedicated groom, first met the horse, he was also reportedly unimpressed. As Gentry reported, the young horse was a “Big, strong-made foal with plenty of bone.” In 1969, Penny Chenery decided to breed the stable’s mare, Somethingroyal, to stud Bold Ruler, and the pair’s second breeding resulted in Secretariat.īorn at 12:10 am, March 30, 1970, the foal who became Secretariat first appeared chunky to stud manager Howard Gentry. Chenery’s daughter Penny, however, resisted her siblings’ urging to sell the financially struggling Meadow Farm and instead took charge and guided it back to profitability. Secretariat was born to a Virginia stable that had been nearly sold when the owner, Chris Chenery, became ill. Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery, told author Lawrence Scanlon that Secretariat, “next to having my children, was the most remarkable event in my life.” A ‘Strong-Made’ Foal “Big Red,” as he was known, was a horse that seemed aware of his greatness and reveled in it.

Called the “ Clark Gable of horses” by Vogue, Secretariat consistently blew away the competition: His times in all three Triple Crown races remain the fastest in history.

Secretariat by william nack