Remembering Big Red in the Year of the Horse

I read that February 17 was the start of the Lunar New Year, celebrated by billions of people around the world. This year is designated as the Year of the Horse.

I don’t usually celebrate the Lunar New Year and I’m not a particular fan or lover of horses. When I was seven years old, my parents dressed me up in my Davy Crockett buckskins and coonskin cap and plopped me up on the back of a horse.

Actually, it was a pony owned by the Trott family but at age seven it looked like a full-sized horse to me. Over the years I have gone horseback riding a few times with friends. I was never comfortable astride a steed. Horses are much bigger, stronger, faster than I am. If the animal decided to run, jump or just buck me off, I didn’t see how I could stop it. So, I’ve left the interaction with horses to others.

In 1973, however, I had a slight change of heart. In early ’73, the United States was still mired in the quagmire of the Vietnam War. Another war in the Middle East would trigger an oil embargo that would cripple the world’s economies for years, the Watergate affair was escalating quickly affecting the President. In short, there was turmoil. We needed a hero.

That hero came from a very unlikely source. Not a politician, not a movie star, not a sports hero (well, sort of), but a horse. A three-year old handsome thoroughbred racehorse named Secretariat. His nickname was “Big Red” because of his chestnut color.

Big Red dazzled us by winning the Kentucky Derby in a record time of 1 minute, 59 and 2/5 seconds. Up until recently, only two horses ran the race in under two minutes. The other was Sham, who ran it in 1:59 4/5. He finished second to Secretariat.

Two weeks later, Red won the Preakness, also in record time. Finally, in the Belmont, a grueling 1 ½ miles, he embarrassed the field winning by an incredible 31 lengths in another record time of 2:24. The first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.

All three records still stand today, 53 years later.

Big Red charmed us not only with his speed on the racetrack but by his personality. He was sort of a ham. He was known to prance around or make noise when he heard or saw cameras. His handlers said he was very playful off track but all business on it.

After the Triple Crown win, Big Red appeared on the cover of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated magazines in the same week. He was revered by the press and public alike.

Secretariat finished out 1973 winning four of his final six races. He was sold and retired to stud at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky where he sired 663 named foals, many of them race winners.

In September 1989, I was driving with two friends near Paris and drove to Claiborne Farm. It was my second visit and this time, as in the first visit, the sign on the entrance gate said “Closed.” But the gate itself was open, so I drove in. I encountered a man near the stables and asked him (almost pleaded with him) to let me see Secretariat.

He agreed and led us to his stall, which had been Bold Ruler’s, his daddy. He brought Big Red to the door, where the top half was open. I walked up and started talking to him softly, running my hand up and down the narrow white blaze (stripe) on his face. He seemed content and I admit, I was thrilled. The encounter lasted about 7 or 8 minutes.

Later my friends, who never approached him, laughed at me and said it looked like I was talking to Mr. Ed, the TV horse.

Less than one month later, on October 4, 1989, after Big Red developed a severe case of the hoof disease, laminitis, he was euthanized at age 19. I and his millions of fans around the world were heartbroken. An autopsy discovered that his heart was more than twice as big as the average horse. No wonder he could run so far and so fast.

So, in this Year of the Horse, I remember my “meeting” with a national hero, Secretariat. Thanks, Big Red.

Contact Rick at tct@pageone-inc.com