Sunday, March 29, 2009

Mute Monday Topic: Secretariat


20 comments:

Pam said...

Hi Heather, happy MM! I love this photo and can appreciate the timing it took to get it right. (I know it isn't yours, but ... I can appreciate it all the same.)

obladi oblada said...

Yeah...what she said.

h said...

I remember when you came to visit. You were a cute kid!

Happy MY DAY!

Buzz Kill said...

That's a great picture. No mortal horse gets leads like that.

Happy MM!

moi said...

Very striking photo. I can't believe I missed Da Pittie Snow Video, but I went back and visited. Happy Mute Monday!

Joanna Cake said...

Fabulous! Happy MM :)

Heather Cherry said...

Pam/Obladi: It's so like, 'nuff said, isn't it? Leaving all the others in the dust like that.

Secwetawiat! Hi! *waving* You were so pretty and shiny when I came to see you. Mommy says you always struck a pose immediately when the cameras came out. She also says your heart was twice the size of a normal horse so that's why come you were such a champion. I would have tried to give you hugs and kisses but they say you were a biter. :o)

Buzz: True story.

Moi/Cake: Thanks, chickies!

Jenny said...

I have to admit, I knew very little about this beautiful horse until now, but it's all true.... he truly is the king.

Happy Mute Monday!

Heather Cherry said...

Aw, man! You got a new avatar! And I was so enjoying the bull terrier one. (shocking, I know...)

Happy birthday, B!

Shawn said...

$50 straight bet, please.

Heather Cherry said...

Yes, and can I also get a million shares of this "Microsoft" thing... 20 years ago? Thanks.

h said...

Shamefully, I never visited the King-Of-Beasts at Clairborne. I'd have LET him bite me. And bragged about where the scar came from!

Happy Secretariat's Day!


P.S. He did LOVE cameras and never bit a child to my knowledge.

Heather Cherry said...

Mom and Dad got to visit him many times up at C/Farms. At one point they had double fenced him because of some bites, lol. I think he bit a lady's ear off one time. But yeah, I hadn't heard of any incidents with kiddos, luckily.

And hey, I lived in Kentucky half my life and never went to the Derby. Course, we was PO back then so I'm sure my parents couldn't afford it.

Kymical Reactions said...

Happy MM, Heather. This really is a fantastic pic. Good choice!

Heather Cherry said...

Thanks, Kym!

Linzy with a Z said...

i love this picture, sigh...

Heather Cherry said...

Garcias!

Heather's Mom said...

We have a polaroid picture (circa 1979)of "Big Red"- he was truly the most beautiful horse I have ever seen. His coat was so shiny, he shimmered like copper in the sunshine. We were friends with the man who managed all of the mares at Claiborne Farms. He took us behind the scenes so many times. Back then stud fee with Big Red was $100,000 for one shot, with no guarantees, and that providing the filly/mare and her pedigree passed muster. They double-fenced all the paddocks because he did not like strangers. He bit one lady's ear lobe off and bit another lady on the breast. (That would be a memorable moment...) The day he died they buried him, all of him, rather than the usual racehorse burial of head, heart and hooves. His heart was 21 pounds, unlike the normal weight of a 9-lb thoroughbread equine heart. He was the greatest Triple Crown Winner ever. The Kentucky Derby bears that out in that he had what they call "negative splits". Each quarter mile time of the race was successively faster that the one before. Do you get it? He was still accelerating... and continued to do so even after he crossed the finish line! Heather was a baby when she saw Big Red. Secretariat was just a few feet away , posing regally as I held her waving at him. How about that...being in the presence of GREATNESS. I hope HE realized it.

h said...

Heather's Mom,

Wow. What a great memory to have. The "negative splits" KY Derby run is hard to explain to non-fans. Suffice to say, it was thought to be impossible in a 1.25 mile race.

Curious if you thought Claiborne Farms let the King get a little too heavy in later years?

Heather's Mom said...

Hey there Chef-Boy-R-T!

Secretariat was the first horse to ever be syndicated- for $6 million and that was unprecedented in 1973. He was voted Male Athelete of the Year in '73 and was on the cover of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated at the same time. He was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. He is listed 35th on ESPN's list of the World's Greatest 100 Athletes. All that to say, I do not think they let the King get too heavy in his later years. He certainly wasn't at his racing weight because he was put out to stud. Everyone wanted their dams to sire with Big Red. He was worth SOOO much money in stud fees and potential offspring. He had the BEST of care 24/7. (You should have seen those barns. They had a fire way back in the day and lost some horses, so all the barns were rebuilt out of cement and metal so that would never happen again, A/C and heat when needed, etc.) They tried everything to heal the laminitis, but the infection was just too severe. He had to be put down because he was in such horrendous pain. Here is something cool to think about. My husband went to the Keenland sale in Kentucky where they sell the yearlings at auction. And he saw the last colt from Secretariat's line come up for sale. Secretariat had already died, but one last mare had foaled and this colt was the last of Big Red's line. Secretariat's total winnings were just over $1.3 million. The spindly legged little yearling colt- Secretariat's little boy? Sold for $1.3 million. Pretty cool, huh?