As we approach the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Triple Crown, Charles Hayward takes an enjoyable delve into Secretariat’s Legacy, an important addition to the canon by Patricia McQueen.
In November 2015, Thoroughbred Racing Commentary (TRC) was fortunate to retain a highly regarded photographer and journalist, Patricia McQueen, to write a regular column entitled Children of Secretariat.
TRC has now published about 50 of her features in what quickly established itself as one of our most popular columns.
Now Patricia has written (and published) a new book on her favorite subject. I had the good fortune to receive an advance copy of Secretariat’s Legacy: The Sons, Daughters and Descendants Who Keep his Legend Alive and I am delighted to say – based on my two decades in book publishing – this is both a brilliantly produced art book and beautifully written.
This lavish coffee table-style volume is beautifully designed and printed at an art-book trim size of 9x12 inches, with paper and binding material that rivals the quality of any art book in my experience.
Secretariat’s Legacy weighs in at a robust 298 pages with over 280 photographs, almost 200 of which are full-color images from the author’s private collection. The whole comprises the largest collection of photos ever assembled of Secretariat’s stakes winners and other important offspring gathered from around the world.
Moreover, here are some brief excerpts from the book to demonstrate the passion, knowledge, and insight that Patricia brings to this important work, which has clearly been a labor of love:
Secretariat stole my heart when I watched his televised exploits in 1973. Fifty years later I’ve never been more grateful for the big red thief.
My own love affair with Secretariat never wavered. My scrapbooks grew bigger as I followed his sons and daughters as diligently as I followed his own racing career. While in college in 1982, I made a pilgrimage to Kentucky to finally see my hero. As I started going to the races after that, I looked for his offspring at the tracks. I taught myself photography, and I had my camera ready whenever I came across one. I ended up seeing nearly 100 different Secretariats.
It is a work I was meant to produce to honor the greatest of all time …
Telling the story of top offspring
Secretariat’s Legacy is a book that tells the story of Secretariat’s top offspring – from stakes winners like Lady’s Secret, Risen Star, General Assembly, Tinners Way and Kingston Rule, to important daughters like Terlingua, Weekend Surprise, Secrettame and Six Crowns, and plenty more.
In addition to the spectacular photography throughout the book, there is a tremendous amount of important content. The foreword is provided by Kate Tweedy, daughter of Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery, and Leeanne Meadows Ladin. The author has provided an excellent overview in the introduction, followed by 21 chapters devoted to Secretariat’s offspring and descendants.
An epilogue wraps things up, followed by an appendix itemizing Secretariat’s stakes winners. A full glossary and index wrap up the substantive content.
I went to my first Thoroughbred race on June 1, 1980, and immediately became a serious racing fan. Now I will comment on the chapter on the aforementioned Lady’s Secret, in part because I had the opportunity to see Lady’s Secret run in many graded stakes at Belmont Park, Saratoga and Monmouth Park.
1986 was an especially brilliant year for Lady’s Secret as she won 10 of 15 races that year, all of them graded stakes, and eight of the 10 races were G1s. As a result, Lady’s Secret was named Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards, where she was also champion older female.
Lady’s Secret was trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who in partnership with Mel Hatley had sold the filly to Eugene Klein, who had sold his San Diego Chargers NFL team in 1984.
‘Something extraordinary’
Here is a quote about Lady’s Secret from Chapter 7:
“The Horse of the Year has to do something extraordinary,” said Lukas. “This filly has won the Fall Triple in New York two years running. She has run the fastest mile ever by a filly or mare at Belmont in the Maskette, then two weeks later carried 129 pounds to a stakes record in the Ruffian. She raced in five stakes races during a seven-week period in August and September.”
Patricia goes on to write:
Even Bill Nack, the noted author who wrote Secretariat’s biography, got on her bandwagon writing in Sports Illustrated. “No horse in America has ever been more consistent than Lady’s Secret, and she has acquitted herself uncommonly well against the best of the colts whenever she has faced them.”
For most chapters, Patricia has added a paragraph which explicates or adds additional elements to the chapter. Here is the paragraph that is at the end of Chapter 7 on page 89. As you will see, these are gems that add dimensions to the racing and breeding experience.
In March 1986 I was still in graduate school. Through some friends, I made arrangements for a photo session with Lady’s Secret one afternoon at Hollywood Park. In all his years training, D. Wayne Lukas ensured that there was grass available for his horses, and there was a little patch of green outside his barn just for grazing.
I hung out and admired the little gray filly for about 30 minutes, snapping a variety of photos as she walked, grazed, and occasionally posed. She had already won all three of her starts that year, the beginning of one of the most incredible campaigns recorded by any horse before or since. I was in horse heaven.
As I read through this book, I realized that in addition to learning about the horses, foals and their racing experiences, Patricia has included details regarding owners, trainers, racetracks, jockeys and the breeding business which explains and informs the broader Thoroughbred racing experience.
As you will see, some of this comes in the form of these paragraphs at the end of each chapter or by incorporating verbal exchanges among racing participants which gives the reader more insight into the world of Thoroughbred breeding and racing.
Finally, I would like to underscore the value of Patricia’s insight and engagement with the Thoroughbred breeding and racing business.
Brilliant, enlightening and insightful
I truly believe that anyone with an appreciation for the sport will find this book an absolute pleasure. I personally find that the paragraphs that she adds at the end of each chapter are brilliant, enlightening and insightful. These two paragraphs are at the end of Chapter 17 (‘More Mares of Distinction’) on page 225:
While I have been fortunate to see many of the descendants of some of Secretariat’s best mares, I was lucky enough to meet two of the wonderful mares profiled in this chapter. I had a brief visit with Nellie Forbes in 1993, but it was Cinegita at Overbrook Farm that really stands out. It was during the same 1991 visit when I saw Terlingua for the first time. By then, Cinegita was already a stakes producer and was even the second dam of stakes winners with her best descendants yet to come. It didn’t matter to me, as I was just thrilled to see her as one of Secretariat’s stakes winners.
I was also blessed to see the two heralded sons of Betty’s Secret. For a time, Epsom Derby winner Secreto – her first foal – was a stallion at historic Calumet Farm, and I visited there in 1991. Decades later, my trip to Ireland was primarily to see the mare’s last foal, the legendary Istabraq. Spending a few hours with the 26-year-old gelding in his paddock one lovely Irish morning was one of the best things I have ever done.
I sincerely hope you enjoy reading Secretariat’s Legacy as much as I have.
• Secretariat’s Legacy is available now at secretariatslegacy.com, and will soon be available at other online sites and retail outlets.
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