Secretariat, Heart of Gold

A son of Bold Ruler out of Somethingroyal, by *Princequillo, Secretariat was a colt that no one thought could run the Kentucky Derby distance, a mile and a quarter, let alone the Belmont's mile and a half. Bold Ruler's foals grew up with a lot of speed, but their best distances were one mile or under.

He was a good looking colt, bright red with a thick neck, deep shoulders, wide sprung ribs with plenty of room for lungs and heart, and a powerful rear end. He was well balanced over all, and his legs were straight. You couldn't fault his conformation. He had a white star and strip on his face, and three white stockings to make him extra handsome. Given that his father was a premier sire and his mother, Somethingroyal, was the dam of more than one stakes winner, including Sir Gaylord, perhaps this plus his near perfect conformation should have foretold his future.

Secretariat's first race was on July 4, 1972, in a 5-1/2 furlong maiden race at Aqueduct. He was pinched back coming out of the starting gate, and nearly went down. There were more traffic problems on the turn for home, but he came charging at the leaders down the stretch to finish fourth. Not bad for a first start with bad racing luck.

He then won a maiden race and an allowance race. Trainer Lucien Laurin then moved the colt up in class, running him in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga on August 16, which he won by three lengths, coming on strong at the end.

Secretariat finished the year by winning the Hopeful Stakes, Belmont Futurity, Laurel Futurity, and Garden State Stakes. He only lost one other race as a 2 year old, a disqualification in the Champagne Stakes because he ducked in at midstretch, bothering another horse. He had nine starts and seven wins, had won $456,404, and became only the third two-year-old to be named Horse of the Year, after Native Dancer in 1952 and the filly Moccasin in 1965. He was the only two-year-old to be voted Horse of the Year unanimously.

Secretariat won his first two starts as a three-year old: the Bay Shore and Gotham Stakes, both easily. But he was found to have an abcess on his gums just before the Wood Memorial Stakes on April 20. His trainer, Lucien Laurin, decided to run him anyway. Angle Light got off to a nice, easy lead and went on to narrowly beat Sham, while Secretariat came in third.

Secretariat entered the Kentucky Derby as the 3-to-2 favorite (in an entry with Angle Light), but people were not so sure he was the same horse he was the year before, after his defeat in the Wood Memorial. He came out of the gate near the back of the pack, then began passing horses on the first turn, caught Sham at the top of the stretch, and won going away by 2-1/2-lengths, running the first and only Derby in less than two minutes, 1:59-2/5 for 1-1/4 miles.

Secretariat's quarter-mile times for the Derby were astounding: :25 1/5, :24, :23 4/5, :23 2/5 and :23. He ran each quarter faster than the one before. No horse had ever accomplished this in a mile and a quarter race.

In the Preakness Stakes, jockey Ron Turcotte (who rode him in all but two of his races) was wise enough to detect the slow early pace, and encouraged the big colt to stretch out, and stretch out he did, moving to the front as the six-horse field entered the backstretch. Secretariat led the rest of the race, winning by 2-1/2 lengths over Sham. Pimlico's electric timer read 1:55 for 1-3/16 miles, a second slower than the track record. Clockers for the Daily Racing Form, however, clocked the race in 1:53-2/5. Several days after the race, Pimlico officials changed the time of the race to 1:54-2/5, saying that was the time clocker E. T. McLean Jr. had hand-recorded. The time of this race is still controversial, and many feel that Secretariat should be credited with yet another record for his Preakness win.

The morning of the Belmont, he was jumping out of his skin he was so fit, rearing and bucking in the walking ring, rolling his eyes and ready to run. Only five horses were entered in the race to challenge him. Secretariat and Sham both went after the lead at the start of the race and engaged in a six-furlong duel, clocked in 1:09-4/5, an incredible time for a mile and a half race, and the fastest such time in Belmont history. The speed duel finished Sham, who was injured and never raced again, coming in last in the race. With no competetion but himself, Secretariat ran like the wind, going the mile in 1:34 1/5 and the mile and a quarter in 1:59 flat, faster than his Derby time. He won the race by 31 lengths, an all-time record, while running the 1-1/2 miles in 2:24, knocking 2-3/5 seconds off the track record.

Secretariat was the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 25 years.

Secretariat raced nine more times, winning six, coming in second twice and third in his last race. His major losses were to Onion and Prove Out, both trained by Allen Jerkens (ever after known as the Giant Killer). Onion defeated him in the Whitney Stakes, when Secretariat was fighting off a virus, and Prove Out beat him in the Woodward Stakes, which was run on a sloppy track that Secretariat couldn't get hold of.

Secretariat retired to stud at Claiborne Farm, moving into his daddy Bold Ruler's stall. He sired 41 stakes winners, and became a noted broodmare sire, but never achieved the success at stud that he had on the track. Perhaps it is fitting that he remain the one and only Secretariat.

Secretariat was voted No. 35 among top North American athletes of the 20th century by Sports Century, the only non-human among them.

At age 19, Secretariat came down with laminitis, a very serious condition of the hooves. Everything possible was done for him, but he could not be saved. He was humanely put down, and buried at Claiborne Farm.

Dr. Thomas Swerczek, a professor of veterinary science at the University of Kentucky, performed a necropsy of his body. All of the horse's vital organs were normal in size except for the heart.

"We were all shocked," Swerczek said. "I've seen and done thousands of autopsies on horses, and nothing I'd ever seen compared to it. The heart of the average horse weighs about nine pounds. This was almost twice the average size, and a third larger than any equine heart I'd ever seen. And it wasn't pathologically enlarged. All the chambers and the valves were normal. It was just larger. I think it told us why he was able to do what he did."

Secretariat had a heart worth its weight in gold.