There have been horses with better records.
Some had perfect resumes and jockeys who were as well known as star baseball players (and more so than basketball or football players). Man o’ War, War Admiral, Citation and Gallant Fox were rock stars, drawing legions of men in coats and ties while donning stylish derbies that made racing an everyday happening.
It was the sport of kings, but in 1973 racing needed a new monarch, a horse that could replicate the way Seabiscuit lifted up the public during the Great Depression with a series of stirring victories. With Vietnam War protests mounting outside a White House beleaguered by Watergate investigations, Americans again required a white knight — or at least a “Big Red” — to cheer.
Disney’s “Secretariat” opens Friday with a stirring tale of the Triple Crown champion who not only simultaneously graced the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated but was on the lips of even those who thought horses only plowed fields and pulled milk trucks.
Secretariat is the benchmark of greatness in post World War II racing. A horse hadn’t won the Triple Crown in 25 years, and many doubted it could be repeated.
Secretariat not only won the Triple Crown to save Meadow Farm in Doswell, Va., from an estate tax sale but won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in record times. The 31-length Belmont victory was like Michael Phelps winning an Olympic gold medal by an entire pool length.
After his 1989 death, an autopsy showed the colt’s heart was nearly triple the normal size. It fueled his thunderous stretch runs, including two on Maryland tracks. Secretariat won the 1972 Laurel Futurity at Laurel Park by eight lengths in the mud. He captured the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course by 2 1/2 lengths in record time.
D.C. author Bill Nack, whose “Big Red of Meadow Stable: Secretariat, the Making of a Champion” in 1975 was the movie’s foundation, is pleased with Hollywood’s treatment of the racing legend.
“If it’s as popular as I hope it to be, millions will come to see it,” Nack said. “Women and daughters will be there in droves, and men will like it. It could really spark an interest in the racetrack. Let them come out and see it for themselves. It could be a real positive and plus when racing needs it.”
Finding the next Secretariat seems impossible. Since Affirmed and Seattle Slew also won the Triple Crown in 1977 and 1978, respectively, seven Derby-Preakness winners have failed to win the Belmont. Secretariat sired several champions but none that rivaled his own success.
Japanese breeders and Arab sheikhs bought nearly every top U.S. stallion in the 1980s and 1990s until the sport became seemingly incapable of replicating Secretariat’s success.
Hollywood magic may be the last time such greatness on the track will be seen. It makes for a grand story worth telling again.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
