Big Red and the Winter of '73

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Sagerider1 — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 00:25:58 GMT

I'll never forget Secretariat, I first fell in love with Man o' War, and always felt Secretariat was him reborn. I remember my mother crying that she was never going to see a Triple Crown winner, I turned around and showed her the BloodHorse photo and said "here is your Triple Crown winner", a picture of Secretariat winning the Belmont Futurity. I remember her crying also that he was going too fast in the Belmont Stakes, I told her he wasn't, they were going too slow. I never had any doubts, Man o' War was denied the KD, but with Secretariat's KD win I knew he would not be denied this time.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Tiara Terces — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:55:54 GMT

Secretariat, as with many, is my all time favorite. My display name is almost his name spelled backwards. Why has he never had any close inbreeding from among his descendents like Mr. Prospector, his contemporary?

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Tiara Terces — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:50:56 GMT

As with so many, Secretariat was my all-time favorite, followed closely by Native Dancer. My display name is Secretariat spelled backwards. . . except it is Tiara not Taira.

I only saw those two legends on TV. However, I had all of the magazines with Secretariat on the cover and the NY Times sports page coverage of his astounding Belmont. They were destroyed in a basement office fire.

Anyway, why hasn't there been any who can approach him since?

I had high hopes for one of his look-alike descendents, Charismatic, who had a less than illustrious early racing career, (like Seabiscuit), but came close to a Triple Crown. I honestly was going to bet him the day he won the Derby and I will never forgive my ride for not showing up. They lost their money at Fox Woods and I would have made them a fortune.

I wonder if Charismatic's jockey would have lived longer had he won that day in Belmont. He may have saved the horse's life by quickly pulling up and jumping off when the horse injured himself and lost the Triple Crown.

I had not realized Syrian Sea was Secretariat's full sister until much later as she was a bit older.

Why has his progeny never been closely inbred as with so many other stallions, such as Mr. Prospector?

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

OTTBsRock — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:00:30 GMT

Thank you for the Secretariat article and photo. I too always enjoy stories and photos of him. He was the simply the best. I'm a forever fan.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

TerriV — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:25:42 GMT

It may be 40 years but Secretariat never gets old. I never tire of these stories of him. It's amazing to hear the emotion in all of these posts. 40 years later and we are still brought to tears, awestruck by his very name. Never stop writing about him, Steve

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Mike Monarchos — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:23:14 GMT

Great article Steve! I loved Secretariat. He was my favorite. I'll never forget Chick Anderson's calls of the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont. Chick lived a few miles from me in my home town of Evansville, Indiana. I'll always regret not going to see Big Red while he was at stud at Claiborne though. I do have many paintings of him that I've done on my walls though. He was a picture of perfection though, and it's very hard to paint perfect!

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Christy — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:02:57 GMT

Secretariat IS the standard for which we measure greatness! I am so proud to own a grand daughter of his. Her name is Cousin Sara out of Jazz Session by Secretariat. It is a thrill to go out to the pasture each day and pet a part of history. She is a beautiful, big red horse also but you can still see the magic in her eyes!

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

neverso — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:32:58 GMT

my mare ruffaroundtheedges ( graddaughter of secretariat) had her first foal bred to ryan' thunder ( out of Lil.E.tee ) It' a boy. She is being bred back to Hansen this spring can not wait to see my new foal.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Davids — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 20:06:18 GMT

Speaking of Shenanigans, Orb looked very impressive wining the 5 at Gulfstream Park today.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Pedigree Ann — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:30:03 GMT

Linda in Texas -

Shenanigans raced 22 times in two seasons, winning a Maryland-bred stakes at 2; he had a half-brother who won 22 of 122 starts. Soft she was not, nor was her family.

She was also an old-fashioned 100% - every one of her foals raced and won. To wit - Icecapade won 13 of 32 starts; Laughter won 4 of 12; On to Glory won 2 of 7; Buckfinder won 9 or 21; Near East won 14 of 54; and Ruffian won 10 of 10 before she broke down. She was the only foal of Shenanigans who broke down on the track.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Big_Red_4ever — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 01:55:28 GMT

On a brighter note than discussions of who said what about Ruffian, I'd like to say a word about the magnificent foal crop of 1970. In addition to Secretariat and Sham, that foal crop included Forego, Ancient Title, Mr. Prospector, Allez France, Bel Sheba (dam of Alysheba), Dhalia, Desert Vixen, La Prevoyante, Stop the Music, Thatch and Star Appeal. I'm sure there are other notable horses from that crop, but this list, alone, makes the 1970 group one of the great foal crops of all time.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Linda in Texas — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:18:52 GMT

Steve's article is about Big Red, so Big Red allow me to digress once again.

Now i read that Ruffian's dam Shenanigans broke her legs before her intestinal surgery not during or after as i read elsewhere. Suffice it to say, weak bones were prevalent in Ruffian's Pedigree. I am safe with that statement. In reading articles, determining actual times of a past event many years back can be misinterpreted by the wrong placement of a comma to the top or to the bottom!

Apologies offered where needed, especially to Shenanigans.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Linda in Texas — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:24:40 GMT

Cassandra.Says - i don't believe i said Ruffian's sire broke down on a track while racing. I did say he was euthanized because of an injury. However, Reviewer did sustain 3 injuries in his racing career and was retired to stud and the 4th and final injury that led to his euthanization happened in his paddock when he broke one of his leg's again for the fourth time. You are correct about the paddock incident and i never said it was or wasn't.

Perhaps you can enlighten me. I would not purposely make a statement especially derogatory to any horse if i indeed knew it was false.

Further explanation: Ruffian's Dam Shenanigans also did not end her life on a track racing. She broke 2 of her legs when she awoke from intestinal surgery and had to be euthanized. Not unlike her daughter Ruffian who awoke from her sleep after her surgery and thought she was still running or attempting to and tore the surgery that was just completed and sustained more injuries. Those words were quoted as i listened to the sad report that she was euthanized and i turned off racing until my hero or one of many of them, the one and only Seattle Slew won the 1977 Kentucky Derby, The 1977 Preakness and the 1977 Belmont, becoming the ONLY undefeated Triple Crown Winner including Secretariat. I personally felt and thought that Seattle Slew was honoring Ruffian by his extraordinary thrilling wins. Just saying. I am an empath.

Our fellow blogger Slew is lead professor when it comes to Slew. And of course Steve.

Thanks for letting me explain to Cassandra.Says. I mean no disrespect Cassandra.Says. Just clarifying my statement since you seemed to misunderstand what i wrote.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Steve Haskin — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:12:43 GMT

mz, yes, Moccasin was named Horse of the Year by the TRA in 1965. Roman Brother was the recognized Horse of the Year in the DRF/Morning Telegaph poll

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

mz — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 05:50:33 GMT

And Steve, help me here

Wasn't Mocassin picked as HOY in 1965 by one of the three groups picking year end honourees instead of Roman Brother? Another 2YO and a filly to boot

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Alex'sBigFan — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:47:09 GMT

Deacon, all the Karens, Mike Relva, Paula, Slew, MZ, TCKaren, Linda in Texas, thank you one and all for your heartfelt thoughts.

Linda I am sure your son, Edward has greeted my sister, Jennifer, and they are frolicking up there enjoying all the animals, for they loved them so. TCKaren, I will send up that prayer, maybe they can go and pat Barbaro and Big Red. Edward and Jennifer exist now with no disabilities and it must be amazing. Her tribute was indeed very special, yes, I saw to that. She looked like a little princess angel at peace, she was beautiful. I gave a speech at the service and she was buried with her stuffed animal doggie like our Betsy at her side with a floral bouquet in the shape of a dog bone. I know I will miss her dearly but her suffering is over and she is in a better place.

Thank you all.

Cheryl (or Alex'sBigFan)

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

mz — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:40:31 GMT

Sorry forgot one more thing:

Favourite Trick won HOY as a 2yo

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

mz — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:38:23 GMT

Coming late to this again so only time for random comments:

ABF, I can't even think about losing one of my sisters, even tho we spend a lot of time screeching at each other or walking around in a (silent) huff. Still love 'em. Remember that your sister will never be truly gone -- she'll always be in your heart (or in the back of your head, sniggering at you when you do something stupid and making you snort at yourself too.

Slew, I always thought La Prevoyante deserved that HOY. After all, SHE was undefeated that year.

Steve: I think everyone looked dorky in the '70's. didn't some of us actually even wear hot pants?

Finally: Ack! 40 years!

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Lammtarra's Arc — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 01:28:15 GMT

I am hoping very much that Hialeah will become that special hub in the winter like she used to be. Having the Historic Flamingo stakes back would truely be wonderful. As for the 72 HOTY Both contenders were rightfully deserving, and La Prevoyante was a tremendous Canadian Bred Filly, like so many after her in 73 would have won races, or Awards had it not been for Big Red and his superior talent.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Cassandra.Says — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:10:44 GMT

Obmar:

Actually, the filly Phipps took, The Bride, was the first born. I've read that story so often, Phipps struck down by the savage hand of fate, and it never could bring me to tears.

I mean, really, we're talking about a full sister to Secretariat and Syrian Sea, half to Sir Gaylord.

"Hey, over here! I'll take her."

While not a dynastic mare, The Bride was a multiple stakes producer.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Paula Higgins — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:01:12 GMT

Big_Red_Forever, you are so right about Sham. Sham was a very special horse and great horse. He was crucial to the legend of Secretariat.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Cassandra.Says — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:35:47 GMT

Somebody did a retrospective of Secretariat's training regimen in the Thoroughbred Record many moons ago, and pointed out that Secretariat ran to his pre-race blowout. All his losses were preceded by uncharacteristically slow final works. Either he really needed a bullet work going into a race, or something was off with him (once it was an abcess, I remember) whenever he threw a clunker. I think Prove Out was the better horse going two miles in the mud, but other than that no horse that beat him was ever regarded as his equal.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Cassandra.Says — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:15:45 GMT

Linda in Texas:

Whoa, there. Ruffian's sire Reviewer had three leg fractures at different times. Not racing injuries, in the paddock.

But Northern Dancer? He was a tough little mutt. In his daddy's first crop, he was raced to advertise his old man. The Kentucky Derby, in which he set the track and stakes record, was his 15th start, and he was a late May foal. And, of course, he emerged from that race, with its stretch-long challenge from Hill Rise, ready to win the Preakness laughing.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

A Horsey Canuck — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:53:28 GMT

Steve, I watched all of Secretariat's races over again after you first posted this blog. I was lucky enough to watch them first hand, albeit on TV; he looks as great then as he does 40yrs later. There will never be another like him. I had the privilege of standing over his grave, wishing that I had not put off visiting him while he was alive. Lesson learned...make a bucket list and stick to it. I've now been to KY twice. Thanks so much for the great memories. This, including all of the comments, will go into my Big Red binder. Thank you again.

re: Big Red and the Winter of '73

Big_Red_4ever — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:39:05 GMT

To Slew, you are by no means the only fan of Sham. He was a wonderful horse with a fine lifetime record of 5w, 5p, 1s from 13 starts. Like Secretariat, Sham was out of a mare sired by Princequillo. So, although not in horse pedigree terms, in human terms the two colts had the same maternal grandfather and were first cousins. This might explain why they both had large hearts. While not a top tier stallion, Sham had a reasonably successful career at stud. He died April 3, 1993, aged 23, having lived three years and six months longer than Big Red. Sham died just shy of 20 years to the day after the only time he finished ahead of Secretariat. He was 2nd in the Wood Memorial with Red finishing 3rd on April 21, 1973. I think Sham lives on in the hearts of many racing fans who realize that Secretariat might not have raced on to that incredible Belmont win if he didn't have a horse the quality of Sham pushing him through those mind-blowing first six furlongs. Maybe somewhere those two old racing legends are running together again. I like to imagine they are. Hope is made of such dreams. :)