As we approach the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s iconic Belmont Stakes victory, Patricia McQueen outlines Big Red’s influence on the Triple Crown through his descendants
When National Treasure edged Blazing Sevens to win the Preakness, it marked the 42nd time a descendant of Secretariat won a Triple Crown race, following right on the heels of Mage’s victory in the Kentucky Derby.
In the past 10 years alone, 19 different winners of 24 of the 29 Triple Crown races trace to Secretariat; 10 of them have Secretariat more than once in their pedigree. Recent Classic-winning Secretariat descendants include Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify, plus Derby-Preakness winner California Chrome.
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s record-setting Triple Crown sweep, that preponderance of Secretariat blood over the past decade is an important statement on the significance of the champion’s lasting legacy as a sire, primarily through his influential grandsons A.P. Indy, Storm Cat and Gone West.
Yet it all began with General Assembly in 1979. A member of Big Red’s second crop, this talented chestnut colt had the misfortune of being born in the same year as Spectacular Bid, one of racing’s all-time greats.
Much like Sham in 1973, General Assembly couldn’t win against the big horse of his generation, yet he had some spectacular moments of his own. His second in the Kentucky Derby was a brilliant race, a winning effort if not for the Bid, and of course he loved Saratoga.
Unbeaten in four starts there, he won the Saratoga Special and Hopeful at two, and an allowance race and the Travers at three. In the Travers, he won by 15 lengths, setting a new track record of 2:00 on the sloppy track that lasted 37 years.
It would be nine years before another son of Secretariat made it to the Classics, and this time, there was no better three-year-old colt running that year. Champion Risen Star was the pride of Louisiana, racing for co-owners Louie Roussel and Ronnie Lamarque; Roussel also trained the big colt.
On the road to the Kentucky Derby in 1988, he won the Louisiana Derby Trial (which was renamed the Risen Star Stakes the next year), Louisiana Derby and Lexington Stakes. After a troubled third in the 1988 Kentucky Derby behind Winning Colors and Forty Niner, Risen Star would not be denied in the Preakness, winning by a length and a half.
Then in the Belmont Stakes, the colt gave a performance reminiscent of his sire, waltzing home by almost 15 lengths in 2:26⅖. At the time, it was the second-fastest 12-furlong Belmont ever run, and in all the years since, only two other horses raced the distance slightly faster (Easy Goer in 1989 and A.P. Indy in 1992).
No horse except Secretariat himself has ever broken the 2:26 barrier, with his legendary 2:24 clocking in 1973.
Risen Star completed a very rare three-generation sire sequence in the classics: Bold Ruler won the 1957 Preakness, his son Secretariat won the 1973 edition, and Risen Star won in 1988.
More remarkably, Secretariat came very close to securing an historic second such sequence. In the Belmont Stakes, Risen Star’s 1988 runaway victory followed his sire’s 1973 tour de force. Then in 1995, Risen Star’s son Star Standard finished second in the Belmont, just two lengths behind winner and three-year-old champion Thunder Gulch.
Grandson Summer Squall strikes first
Moving on to the next generation, it’s worth pointing out that while this article focuses on the American Classics, Betty’s Secret was actually the first daughter of Secretariat to produce a G1 winner when her son Secreto won the premier English Classic in 1984 – the Epsom Derby. And it just so happens that the fourth dam of 2023 Epsom Derby winner Auguste Rodin is by – you guessed it – Secreto.
In America, the first of two Secretariat grandsons to win a Classic was Summer Squall in 1990. After finishing second to Unbridled in the Kentucky Derby, Summer Squall turned the tables in the Preakness, defeating his rival by just over two lengths in 1:53⅗. That was the third-fastest Preakness in history to that date, and remains one of the fastest times ever recorded for the race more 30 years later.
Summer Squall was out of Secretariat’s stakes-winning daughter Weekend Surprise, and the mare’s 1989 foal was even better. His name was A.P. Indy, and among his big wins during a 1992 Horse of the Year campaign was the Belmont Stakes. His time of 2:26.13 is still the third-fastest in the history of the race.
Both Summer Squall and A.P. Indy went on to sire Classic winners themselves. The former sired 1999 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Charismatic, who was a brave third when injured near the finish of Belmont Stakes.
A.P. Indy got his first Classic winner with Bernardini, who landed the 2006 Preakness. One year later, his daughter Rags To Riches won the Belmont Stakes in an epic stretch-long duel with future Horse of the Year Curlin. The filly prevailed by a head, and remains the only one of her sex since 1905 to win the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Over the years, the two half-brothers have continued to impact the Triple Crown races through descendants further down the line. Summer Squall is the broodmare sire of 2009 Belmont winner Summer Bird, and most recently appears in the pedigree of this year’s Derby winner Mage – he is the sire of Mage’s third dam Rocktheboat.
A.P. Indy and Storm Cat dominate
A.P. Indy, however, took it up a few notches. He and another grandson, Storm Cat (out of the Secretariat mare Terlingua), are widely considered to be among the greatest stallions in US bloodstock history.
It is therefore not surprising that they have both left an indelible mark on the American Classics through both their sons and daughters. To date, 14 descendants of A.P. Indy have won at least one Triple Crown race, beginning with the aforementioned Bernardini.
Storm Cat is right behind with 13 Classic-winning descendants, starting with his son Tabasco Cat, who won the 1994 Preakness and Belmont. Four Classic winners have both A.P. Indy and Storm Cat in their pedigrees (Justify, Always Dreaming, Essential Quality and Mo Donegal).
A.P. Indy’s influence comes heavily through his son Pulpit and his son Tapit, who to date has sired four Belmont Stakes winners: Tonalist, Creator, Tapwrit and Essential Quality. There’s a chance for a fifth this year, as Tapit Trice is expected to join the Belmont field on June 10. The 2020 Belmont winner, Tiz The Law, is also from the Tapit sire line.
Outside of Tapit, Pulpit is responsible for even more Classic winners. Most notably, Derby-Preakness winner California Chrome is by Pulpit’s son Lucky Pulpit, and Triple Crown winner Justify’s second dam is by Pulpit.
Yet A.P. Indy’s influence is not limited to descendants of Pulpit. His son Malibu Moon sired Derby winner Orb, and daughters are in the pedigrees of Classic winners Super Saver, Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing.
As noted, Storm Cat sired Classic winner Tabasco Cat, and his influence is also felt through other sons and daughters. Storm Cat’s son Forestry sired 2011 Preakness winner Shackleford, and is also the broodmare sire of 2017 Derby winner Nyquist.
Two Derby-winning great-great grandsons of Storm Cat (Authentic and Mandaloun) are by four-time leading sire Into Mischief. Storm Cat’s son Yankee Gentleman is the broodmare sire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, and other male-line Storm Cat descendants are the broodmare sires of Preakness winners Swiss Skydiver and Rombauer.
Early Voting, the 2022 Preakness winner, is the only Classic winner to date who has two appearances of Secretariat in his pedigree through the same stallion – Storm Cat. Showcasing the latter’s versatility, Early Voting’s sire Gun Runner descends from a mare by Storm Cat’s superior son Giant’s Causeway, and the Preakness winner’s second dam is by Storm Cat.
Gone West and more
Secretariat’s third important grandson was Gone West, from the Secretariat mare Secrettame. While not quite at the level of A.P. Indy and Storm Cat, like them he’s had plenty of success as a sire of both successful stallions and broodmares. In total, Gone West has seven Classic-winning descendants to date.
The first was his son Commendable, who won the 2000 Belmont Stakes. Gone West’s son Mr. Greeley is the broodmare sire of 2020 Derby winner (and Horse of the Year) Authentic, and his daughters are in the pedigrees of 2012 Belmont winner Union Rags and 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing.
However, Gone West’s primary link to the Classics comes through his son Elusive Quality, who sired 2004 Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones. Elusive Quality’s son Quality Road just got his first Classic winner as a sire when National Treasure won the Preakness.
And as with all of Secretariat’s important descendants, the daughters are also important. For example, Elusive Quality is the broodmare sire of 2021 Belmont winner Essential Quality.
In fact, two-time champion Essential Quality is the only American Classic winner who is a great-grandson of all three of Secretariat’s key grandsons. As noted earlier, he’s by Tapit, and his second dam is by Storm Cat.
While plenty of Secretariat mares are seen in the pedigrees of champions and stakes winners over the past several decades, only one Secretariat mare aside from Weekend Surprise, Terlingua and Secrettame appears in the pedigree of an American Classic winner.
That would be Chosen Lady, the fourth dam of recent Preakness winner National Treasure. In the wake of that race, much has been written about this female family, cultivated by breeder Peter Blum for some 50 years. Yet what is often missed is that Chosen Lady was one of Secretariat’s top broodmares, and also a full-sister to Blum’s stakes winner Academy Award, who won the 1991 Manhattan at Belmont Park.
While Secretariat himself exerted his most lasting impact through his daughters, his important grandsons have done it all – as sires of sires and of top broodmares.
And to this day, one of Secretariat’s ‘other’ mares – and even the occasional son of Secretariat – will sometimes pop up in the pedigree of yet another champion or stakes winner.
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• Children of Secretariat: click here for links to all the articles in Patricia McQueen’s hugely popular series
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