The Hope of The Dying Meadow Stable – Secretariat was America’s Guiding Light
The birth of Secretariat was a memorable one as he was born unnaturally huge and under conditions when the foaling stable, the Meadow Stable in the Caroline County of Doswell, was counting its days before a possible sell-off. The “Sport of Kings”, as he was fondly remembered after his establishment as a potential superstar, was born out of Somethingroyal sired by Bold Ruler. His grand sire was Nasrullah was also was the great-great grandsire of none other than the Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew.
Secretariat was a chestnut colt, and soon the world nicknamed him the ‘Big Red” owing to the magnanimous power and thrust his firm muscular body exhibited reminiscent of his predecessor Man O’ War. It wasn’t an easy ride, the one that rode Secretariat to being a world champion. A stable on the verge of being sold off, a financial crunch, America distressed with the Watergate scandals and even the heartbeat of the American crown, the Yankees, was sold off by CBS. It was one of the most confusing times of the nation when Secretariat brought hope and life to the faithless and lifeless.
The Meadow Stable had a ruling tenure when it produced some finest race horses including Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Riva Ridge; U.S. Horse of the Year, 1950 star Hill Prince; Cicada, the champion filly at two, three and four years; and also First Landing who was U.S. Two-Year-Old Champion. The stable that originally belonged to the owner/breeder and businessman Christopher Chenery thrived on the idea that the broodmares held the key to an outstanding foal, however after his death, it was handed over to his daughter Penny who decided to continue with his concept and accomplish his dream of a Derby Winner.
During the time when Secretariat was blooming into a huge racing superstar, the ground was firmly held by Riva Ridge, his predecessor from the stable. Riva won the Derby and the Belmont amidst a field full with male contenders, she was Penny’s favourite; Riva gave life to the dying stable and that made her more integral to Penny and the stable. The preparatory two-year-old season for Secretariat was lined with graded stakes most of which he won seamlessly. He had the heart and body compared to a locomotive. Most of his quarter laps when timed showed consistent acceleration despite his emerging victorious at the home stretches.
It wasn’t much of a surprise when Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness without much effort. It was his Belmont victory against his constantly vindictive contenders from the previous two legs that won him accolades and made him an intangible competitor. He won the final leg by an incredible 31lengths, the highest recorded lead by anyone, higher than the then record holder, Count Fleet at 25 lengths.
The legend finished in the money in 20 out of his 21 starts and won 16 of them. However he didn’t have much luck as a leading sire which did lead him into considerable amount of controversies regarding his calibre. He was euthanized when he was 19 due to a worsened laminitis in his hoof. It was then that the doctors were stunned at the sight of his humungous heart, it was more than twice the size of an average horse heart; they believed it was this heart that pumped all the energy the legend displayed each time he raced making him absolutely invincible.
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