The Real Secretariat

re: The Real Secretariat

Cassandra.Says — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:02:11 GMT

In case you still check these out:

So. Did you throw the stick for him?

re: The Real Secretariat

ninafeather — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:52:20 GMT

I enjoyed the pictures you posted in your blog. I am the proud human of a Secretariat grandson by Tinners Way: Trabia, named after a city in Italy by his Italian breeder. Trabia, now 8, a gelding, claimed me as his human after giving a try at racing. He does amazing things in endurance races. He must have Secretariat's big heart because he comes in to vet checks with his heart rate already down to 60 beats/minute or lower, even after loping a bit plus jogging on flat ground. Trabia looks a lot like Secretariat and your pictures make me realize how close I am to Secretariat through his grandson. Thank you!

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jillian — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:14:15 GMT

i love ecetariat .i watched the movieand loved it. i wish he was still alive

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kytie — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:08:43 GMT

I love secretriat dont everyone dont you ask please! EVERYONE!

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Vikke~~~~~Kentucky — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:58:25 GMT

Just watched the movie TWICE yesterday!! What a beautiful and inspiring story. Oh, to have touched and stroked this wonderfully unique horse would have been a dream come true. Thanks for sharing your unique perspective of Secretariat. Arguably the greatest horse who ever lived.

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Victoria Tyrrell — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 01:08:06 GMT

I learned alot about Secretariat in this bio thing. I want more about Penny Tweedy tho!1!!!!!!!

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Petergrantfineart.com — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 10:38:55 GMT

Thanks for sharing your experiences with these great wonderful horses. The movie is neat in it own way and the true stories of Secretariat are even more wonderful!

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barrel racer — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 20:40:03 GMT

i am writing a project on secrateriat for school. and yes i am a barrel racer

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wowow — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 21:22:13 GMT

Big Red is so magneficent!!! And now my new fave color is red. GO BIG RED!!!

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mattie — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 03:01:45 GMT

hey i saw the movie you had an amazeing horse i could have rode that horse he was gorges and i hope you had a great time with him i have so many questons to ask you lol

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muriel — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:06:05 GMT

Super Nice post. Thank you.

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Dave S. — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:05:19 GMT

Isn't it Amazing How Big Red Brought So Much To Racing (And To The Public In General) and That Not Much Later Another Famous Race Horse "Ruffian" Would Almost Bring The Worst Attention To The Same Industry ( With Calls For The Stoping Of Racing In America).

The 70's Were A Wild Ride For Horse Racing!!!

Regards......

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corrie — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:13:16 GMT

what a wonderful storie and how great he was. i wish i would of got to meet this great horse and it sad his life end so soon and at a very young age he is and alway will be in are thoughts. i cant wait to see the movie and i just love when they tell great storie of great hero and he truely is one. love horse they are such pretty animals and i hope they will make more movies that tell us how truly great they are.

re: The Real Secretariat

Hunter — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:20:08 GMT

When I was a little girl, in the 1950s I loved Man O'War and to this day think he's the greatest racehorse ever, that said Secretariat is a close second. I do think the nickname "Big Red" does belong to Man O'War.

That said, I remember watching Secretariat win the Triple Crown, I cried like a baby when he crossed the finish line. Later, when he was standing at Claiborne I was lucky enough to meet him in person. He was in his pasture and saw us at the fence and came trotting over to say hello. He was like a big old friendly pet gelding. He was also very overweight which made me sad, I supected he would come to the end that he did. )c:

re: The Real Secretariat

APPLESAUCE — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:17:40 GMT

LAZMANNICK,

Hawkster's 1 1/2 mile turf World Record was run over S.A.'s downhill turf course--5 of the 12 furlongs drop continuously from level ground-- and horses gain greatly against the clock.

The downhill section is also used for the 6 1/2 furlong races, and it is common for run-of-the-mill horses to cover that distance in blazingly fast times of 1:06 at the three quarters mark, and finishing in 1:12.

Race clockings set on such a track should only be compared to other times on the samer track, for the same distance, and not to other tracks, where the advantage of gravity is lacking.

Add 3 to 4 seconds to Hawkster's time (which has been eclipsed) to gain parity with level track clockings.

re: The Real Secretariat

Sara — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:23:31 GMT

I just saw the movie this weekend, and while I'm not thrilled with some of the liberties that were taken, I do agree that it "mainstreams" the story for those who haven't read Mr. Nack's book or know from other sources more about the actual events. I DID think that the racing scenes were filmed extraordinarily well, in a way to appeal to the non-horsey set. No, it's not a perfect movie - it's been "disneyfied" which is why I still like "Seabiscuit" better, but it was still well done.

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Manny — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 17:06:32 GMT

What a magnificent creature Secretariat was. Thank you for sharing the photos. At home I have a painting of Secretariat's head and neck. His flowing mane and penetrating eyes show all its power and glory. It never fails to lift me up. I just saw the movie and I think it was very exciting and well done. At the end of the movie was nice to see the real Penny in the background. I don’t quite know the actual real happenings but I'm glad Secretariat's story has been made accessible to many horse-lovers and preserved for the future that way.

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Handy21 — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:49:48 GMT

Ya know I was thinking just the other day about , If I could meet any three people in the world, who would I choose? Well I definitely want to meet Ron,cuz HE RODE the BIG RED HORSE and now I might add you cuz you got to meet him, you LUCKY DOG you!!!I am still SOOO emotional about this horse,I had to watch his races on Tv, I live in Idaho, I was 12 in that early part of the year when Red won the Triple Crown, Riva Ridge was my very 1st Kentucky Derby. I didnt know they televised horse races before that, then came along Secretariat,Wow what a horse! What an understatement.I am envious of you that you got to see him in person and interact with him, Thank God for videos & pictures, & you have some mighty fine pictures of Red.My now 12 yr old daughter loves him as much as I do, I do tear up watching re-runs of his races, my favorite race of Reds to watch is the Preakness, to watch him just eat up the ground and fly past all the other horses, you show me any other horse race where a horse even compares to that(ok Minethatbird)does pretty good in his Derby with Calvin in the seat, but there was no speed record involved, you can tell us in your blogs personal experiences that not many people could, your the closest some of us will ever get,by the way, did you ever save a piece of mane or tail hair from him? surely you had the opportunity to,You lucky dog you !!!!

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Monty — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:17:23 GMT

Hi Steve, great story and photos on a "super superior horse". I too can't wait to see the movie, and Dianne Lane, I hope it is as good as Sea Biscuit was with Jeff Bridges, & Toby Mcguire, loved that one. Hey Steve (question) In your opinion, if Zenyatta wins her final 2 races this year at Hollywood and the B.C.Classic, is she worthy of being mentioned right up there beside Secretariat? I think so, even though she never won the "triple crown", but I would appreciate your views ...

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Leeward — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 05:39:08 GMT

I will take Disney's'errors' as literary license, It is so wonderful to see the story of Secretariat presented to those who were not THERE in time nor place.

If the movie piques your interest,read Nack's book!!!! It is the best I have ever read about a thoroughbred.

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MonicaV — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:14:51 GMT

Bailey,

That's really a matter of opinion. I don't think either of them eclipses the other. Man'O War is certainly a legend and always will be. I think they each have their own place in history. Secretariat came along in the modern era when millions could see his incredible triple crown on TV. It's just the fact that Secretariat had much more exposure to the public and most people who saw him run are still alive.

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Bailey — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 03:31:17 GMT

why do they call secratariat Big Red, other than the obvious, that was Man O' War's name first and (sorry to all secratariat fans) Man O' War was a much greater legend than secratariat and deserves the name more.

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Stephanie — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:29:27 GMT

I saw Secretariat at Pimlico the day he won the Preakness. I watched as he and his groom walked up the chute from the stable area. When he reached the track, Secretariat stopped and stood for several moments, head high, surveying the track. His groom stood by his side absolutely still and quiet. Secretartiat raised his tail and took a poop, then strode purposefully off toward the saddling area. I was struck by his regal and businesslike attitude. He was clearly in charge and on a mission--his groom seemed like an attendant.

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mareangel — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:03:53 GMT

Great article, Steve! I have fears that this movie won't be that great. Too many racing fans know the story and will be annoyed with the lies, lies because that is what they will be...

Personally my favorite all time horseracing movie is Phar Lap with Seabiscuit second. It was the human-horse story that touched people; Tommy and Phar Lap and Seabiscuit with Red. After I read Lawrence Scanlon's 'Secretariat: The Horse God Built', I knew that was the story that needed to see the silver screen, not Bill Nack's story.

re: The Real Secretariat

White Camry — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:26:36 GMT

I have to agree with Daina Ryan above: any doc posted on Youtube is better than the movie looks to be. In fact, someone posted the full CBS telecasts of each of Big Red II's TC races. The coverage from Jack Whitaker, Heywood Hale Broun and Chic Anderson was/is light-years more informative than the junk-foodesque coverage we get nowadays