Also coined as one of the greatest American racehorses to ever live, Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973 and set track records that still stand today in two of the three races.
Just A Youngster
This great throughbred raced a very short time and was retired to stud at the ripe old age of three. Making his fantastic racing career substantially shorter than most of his competitors in the ‘Greatest Racehorse Ever’ title.
A Serious Athlete
Secretariat won many awards for his performance on the track. In 1999 ESPN honored him as one of three non-humans on their list of 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century and gave him the 35th spot. The first spot going to Michael Jordon, second to Babe Ruth and the third to Mohammed Ali.
It’s All About the Heart
Sadly Secretariat was put down in 1989 after suffering from a painful and incurable hoof disease. As with several of the great racehorses, autopsy was said to reveal an abnormally large heart (although no hard evidence exists). Perhaps the key to their collective racing success.
Whether you look at it as a genetic defect that gave the horses super capacity, or a sign that a big heart is enough to win, you can’t deny that horses like Secretariat inspire you with the size of their heart.