365 Days in Horse Country – Secretariat
Not all great horses in history have centuries-long
legacies. One of the most incredible
equines of all time lived and died in the late twentieth century.
His name was Secretariat, and he was a 16.2 hand chestnut Thoroughbred stallion born in Doswell, Virginia. His sire was Bold Ruler, a well-known racehorse, and his dam a mare named Somethingroyal.
By the age of three, Secretariat had won fourteen out of eighteen races run. When Secretariat entered the Kentucky Derby, he was the favourite and won by 2 ½ lengths. He then took home the Preakness, beating the great racehorse Sham by 2 ½ lengths once again. But it was the Belmont Stakes that will forever be etched in the mind of racing fans and horse lovers around the world. Secretariat made the small field of four look like they were standing still as he broke the record for 1 ½ miles (2.4 km) by winning by 31 lengths.
Secretariat is clearly the greatest racehorse in modern times, and when he died in 1989 after suffering an acute bout of laminitis, he was mourned like the national hero that he was.
Michael