Secretariat was one of the greatest and most popular Thoroughbreds in American horse racing history. Thoroughbreds are horses whose ancestry can be traced to three Arabian stallions that were brought to England, probably from the Middle East, in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. Stallions are male horses that can be used for breeding. In a career that lasted less than 16 months, Secretariat became one of the biggest celebrities on the American sports scene. During his career, Secretariat started 21 races. He won 16 and finished second or third in all but one of the other 5 races. In 1972, he became the first 2-year-old to be named Horse of the Year.
Before the start of Secretariat’s 3 year-old season in 1973, his owner and breeder, Christopher Chenery, died. To help pay the estate taxes, his children sold Secretariat to a syndicate of Thoroughbred breeders for $6.08 million, a syndication record at the time. The 28 shareholders made their investments in the belief that Secretariat had the potential to become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown of American Thoroughbred racing. Secretariat won the 1973 Triple Crown and set records for the winning time in each race that still stand.
Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby in a time of 1 minute 59 2/5 seconds. He is the first horse to have run the 1 1/4-mile (2.01-kilometer) race in under two minutes. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a remarkable 31 lengths in one of the most memorable performances in horse-racing history. A length is roughly the distance between a horse’s nose and tail. It measures approximately 8 feet (2.4 meters). Secretariat’s time of 2 minutes 24 seconds at the Belmont Stakes remains a world record for a 1 1/2-mile (2.41-kilometer) race on a dirt track. Secretariat was timed at 1 minute 55 seconds at the Preakness. However, in 2012, racing officials reduced the winning time to 1 minute 53 seconds after reviewing evidence that the timer at the race had malfunctioned.
Secretariat was born at Meadow Stud Farm, Inc. (now Meadow Event Park) in Doswell, Virginia, on March 30, 1970. His sire (father) was the 1957 Preakness winner, Bold Ruler. His dam (mother) was Somethingroyal. Secretariat made his racing debut on July 4, 1972, and ran his last race on Oct. 28, 1973. Secretariat sired Risen Star, who won the 1988 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Secretariat died on Oct. 4, 1989.
See also Horse racing .
