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Secretariat, born on March 30, 1970, was an amazing racehorse. He was ranked number two to Man O’ War in the top 100 US Thoroughbred Champions of the 20th century. He was sired by Bold Ruler from dam Somethingroyal at Meadow Farms Stables in Caroline County, Virginia. His jockey was Ron Turcotte. |
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| In 1973, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, beating the previous track record. Soon after, he set a new record at the Preakness Stakes as well. At the Belmont Stakes, he won by a tremendous twenty-five lengths in front, setting the world record for a mile and a half. He became the first Triple Crown winner in twenty-five years. |
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| Secretariat went on to win sixteen out of twenty-one of his races that year. His fans nicknamed him “Big Red” because of his size and reddish coloring. As a two-year old and the following year, he was named Horse of the Year before retiring to stud. Unfortunately, none of his foals were as great a racehorse as their sire was. |
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In fall of 1989, Secretariat was diagnosed with laminitis, a painful and uncurable foot disease, and was euthanized on October 4th. He was buried at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky. He received the greatest honor of any racehorse in death and was buried whole. Usually, only the head, to symbolize intelligence, heart, to symbolize strength, and legs, to symbolize power, of a deceased racehorse are buried. |
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Before his burial, Secretariat was autopsied and found to have the largest heart ever seen in a horse. It was approximately three times larger and weighing about twenty-one pounds. A normal heart is only about seven pounds. Even though his heart was so large, Secretariat was healthy and showed no sign of heart disease |
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