Bold Ruler XX x Princequillo XX x Caruso XX
A foal that made racing history was born on 30 March 1970. With a chestnut coat, three white socks and a star on his forehead, he was a rising star: Secretariat.
He stood up when he was 45 minutes old and drank milk 30 minutes later. Howard Gentry, the manager of Meadow Stud, was present at the birth and later said, “He was a very well-built foal. He was the most perfect foal I ever delivered”. The foal soon stood out from the others. ‘He was always the leader of the crowd,’ said Gentry’s grandson, Robert. ‘To us, he was Big Red, and he had a lively personality. He was a clown and always getting into trouble.’ Some time later, Chenery saw the foal for the first time and wrote a single word in her notebook: ‘Wow!’
He was born to the stallion Bold Ruler and the mare Somethingroyal. His father was a multi-award-winning racehorse. Bold Ruler was the leading stallion in North America from 1963 to 1969, finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby and winning the Preakness Stakes in 1957. Big Red also competed in the Preakness Stakes in 1973, finishing first with an actual time of 1:53, which was recognised as a category record.
Interesting facts about the Preakness Stakes:
An American thoroughbred horse race is held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May, at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, except in 2026, when it will move to Laurel Park for reconstruction. The Preakness Stakes is a Grade I race over a distance of 1+3⁄16 miles (9.5 furlongs; 1.9 kilometres) on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). It is the second event of the Triple Crown, taking place two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes. First held in 1873, the Preakness Stakes was named in honour of the colt that won the first Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. The annual Preakness Weekend races include both the Saturday Preakness Stakes and a Grade II race on Friday for fillies, called the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America among horse racing events, surpassed only by the Kentucky Derby. The 150th Preakness Stakes was held on Saturday, 17 May 2025.
Somethingroyal
Somethingroyal (1952–1983), her dam and daughter of Princequillo XX, was named Kentucky Mare of the Year in 1973 when, at the age of 18, she became the oldest mare to produce an American Triple Crown winner, Secretariat.
She had already established herself as a “blue hen”, having produced several race-winning and placed horses.
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Sports and breeding results
Big Red is considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974. In Blood-Horse magazine’s list of the 100 greatest American racehorses of the 20th century, Secretariat was second only to Man o’ War.
He was the winner of the American Triple Crown:
In the United States, the Triple Crown consists of: the Kentucky Derby, approximately 1.25 miles (2.01 km) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky; the Preakness Stakes, over 1.1875 miles (1.91 km) at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland; the Belmont Stakes, over 1.50 miles (2.41 km) at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
Secretariat officially sired 663 named foals, including 341 winners (51.4%) and 54 stakes winners (8.1%). Secretariat has been the subject of some criticism as a stallion, mainly because he did not produce male offspring of his own calibre and did not leave a leading son, but his legacy is assured by the quality of his daughters, many of whom were excellent runners and even more excellent broodmares.
Ron Turcotte
Big Red won the Triple Crown with Ron Turcotte (1941–2025) in 1973. He was the most successful jockey in North America in 1972 and 1973. He was the first jockey to win two consecutive Kentucky Derbies since Jimmy Winkfield in 1902 and the first jockey ever to win five of the six consecutive Triple Crown races.
1970-1989
He lived until 1989, dying on 4 October at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, at the age of 19. After a long and persistent fever, he was diagnosed with chronic laminitis, which prevented him from standing. During the autopsy, it was discovered that his heart weighed 10 kg, almost three times the average weight of a horse, explaining his exceptional athletic ability.
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