Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
SECRETARIAT 1973
Ch. c., 1970, by Bold Ruler—Somethingroyal, by Princequillo OWNER: Meadow Stable BREEDER: Meadow Stud (Va.) TRAINER: Lucien Laurin JOCKEY: Ron Turcotte RACE RECORD: 21 starts ages 2-3, 16 wins, 3 seconds, 1 third, $1,316,808. AT 2: Won Garden State, Laurel Futurity, Belmont Futurity, Hopeful, Sanford. AT 3: Won Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, Marlboro Cup Invitational H., Canadian International Championship, Arlington Invitational, Man o’ War, Gotham, Bay Shore.
An equine hero in his day, Secretariat has achieved even more legendary status with the passage of time. His occasional failures are overshadowed by the magnitude of his accomplishments, topped off by track records in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont, and Marlboro Cup that stand decades later. His official clocking in the Preakness, tainted by a Teletimer malfunction, was changed in 2012 by the Maryland Racing Commission to acknowledge he had set a track record, remarkably giving him a track record in all three Triple Crown races. His prodigious 31-length margin of victory in the Belmont is one of the most remembered Thoroughbred performances in history.
Displaying versatility, he concluded his career with lengthy victories on the turf against some of the best U.S.-based grass horses. The details of his then-record syndication, determined at the outset of his 3-year-old season, called for his retirement at the conclusion of 1973.
At stud at Claiborne Farm, Secretariat did not live up to the incredibly high expectations, but he was a good sire, getting Horse of the Year Lady’s Secret and dual classic winner Risen Star, and he was an extremely influential broodmare sire. He died from complications of laminitis Oct. 4, 1989.