| Secretariat is the name of one of the most famous | | | | prized horse all the way to the hall of fame Penny |
| American race horses that ever lived. The 1973 Triple | | | | selected a Canadian trainer to hone the skills of her |
| Crown winner passed away over twenty years ago | | | | large thoroughbred and that is exactly what trainer |
| in October of 1989 and is still dutifully remembered by | | | | Lucien Laurin did in terms of maximizing potential. The |
| fans of the sport of horse racing as one of the most | | | | primary jockey that rode Secretariat competitively |
| accomplished thoroughbreds to ever enter the starting | | | | was a young man by the name of Ron Turcotte. |
| gates. | | | | Despite fourteen major wins and numerous awards |
| Born on March 30, 1970 in Virginia the horse named | | | | (including multiple American Horse of the Year honors |
| Secretariat came from good breeding stock. As the | | | | in 1972 and 1973) it is the Triple Crown performance |
| son of an accomplished thoroughbred named Bold | | | | that will forever be linked with Secretariat. The |
| Rules great things were expected from the young colt. | | | | process of winning a Triple Crown involves winning the |
| In spite of strong breeding even the most optimistic | | | | three most exclusive races in American thoroughbred |
| onlooker would have been hard pressed to guess that | | | | racing in consecutive order over a five week span. |
| this young horse would go on to become the first | | | | The three races that make up the Triple Crown are |
| Triple Crown winner in the sport in 25 years and that in | | | | the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky (held |
| doing so would solidify his place in history as one of | | | | annually on the first weekend in May), the Preakness |
| just 11 horses at the time of this writing to accomplish | | | | Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland (held annually two |
| the challenging feat. | | | | weeks after the Kentucky Derby), and the Belmont |
| Secretariat was a large horse at 16.2 hands tall and | | | | Stakes in Elmont, New York (held annually three |
| weighed in at hefty 1,175 pounds at the peak of his | | | | weeks after the Preakness). The feat of a single |
| conditioning. In terms of physical features this particular | | | | horse winning all three of these races in a row is so |
| horse was what is known as a chestnut colt and as a | | | | rare that when Secretariat did it in 1973 he was the |
| result of his reddish coat and abnormally large size the | | | | first horse to do so in 25 years. Since the 1973 Triple |
| champion horse was given the nickname "Big Red" at | | | | Crown was won by Secretariat the award has only |
| an early age. | | | | been bestowed on two horses since (Seattle Slew in |
| Owner Penny Chenery was responsible for | | | | 1977 and Affirmed in 1978) for a grand total of eleven |
| assembling the team that would eventually take her | | | | to date. |