Popularly known as ‘Big Red’, Secretariat was arguably the greatest racehorse of all time. Foaled at the Meadow Stud in Doswell, Virginia on March 30, 1970, the son of 1957 Horse of the Year Bold Ruler was owned by Meadow Stable, under the auspices of Christopher Chenery and his daughter, Penny, and was put into training with Lucien Laurin in Hialeah, Florida as a two-year-old in January 1972.
Secretariat could finish only fourth in a maiden special weight race, over 5½ furlongs, at Aqueduct Racetrack, New York City on his debut on July 4, 1972, but was first past the post on each of his remaining eight starts as a juvenile. He was, however, he was demoted to second place, behind Stop The Music, in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on October 14, 1972, having been deemed to have caused interference. Unusually, his exploits were sufficient for him to be voted Horse of the Year.
Christopher Chenery died on January 3, 1973 and Secretariat was syndicated for a then-world record sum of $6.08 million soon afterwards. In his three-year-old campaign, Secretariat would actually be beaten three times, in the Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct in April, the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga in August and the Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park in September. However, in between times, he became the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown and the first since Citation in 1948. Not only that, he set stakes records, which still stand, in each of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
Secretariat was retired to stud in November 1973, having won 16 of his 21 races and just over $1.3 million in prize money, and was named Horse of the Year, for the second year running, shortly afterwards. In his latter years, Secretariat suffered from laminitis or, in other words, inflammation of the laminae, the delicate soft tissue structures that support the foot, as a result of which he was humanely euthanised in Paris, Kentucky on October 4, 1989.