When one thinks of sports, he usually pictures humans.  Our most popular past times and heroes involve very human characters.  But what if there was an animal that had more heart and was more of a hero than most other humans?  There was.

On March 30, 1970, a colt was born at the Meadow Stables in Caroline County, VA.  With three white feet, a blaze, and thoroughbred blood, he had potential.  He was to become certainly the most exciting horse so far in my lifetime.  Being a Virginia native, he received apt local attention when, at 2, he won horse of the year, beating out his stable mate, Riva Ridge, who had won the 1972 Kentucky Derby and the Belmont.

1973 was his year.  He made the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated the same week.  I had never been a racing fan but I recall that spring well as I watched each race.  Seeing his mere presence on screen was captivating, and I joined the entire nation in rooting for this huge chestnut red horse.  He was regal and fast and when the gates flew open, he tore with such speed that his trainer feared he would die on the track.

His records at the Derby and Belmont still stand.  His finest performance was last in the Triple Crown that year.  He won the 1 1/2 mile race by 31 lengths in 2:24, the fastest ever by any horse on any track in the world. 

As I watched him win his crown, I remember letting out a yell that startled my mother.  "HE DID IT!" I exclaimed.  The CBS announcer Chic Anderson was practically yelling in the microphone, that he was "... moving like a tremendous machine."  To see a horse win by 31 lengths is a beautiful thing.  

In all, he won 16 races out of the 21 he ran.  He was retired to stud in Paris, KY, where he remained a much visited celebrity, michievous, proud, and a ham for the camera. 

He was euthanized October 4, 1989 due to laminitis.  The necropsy showed his heart was naturally larger than that of other horses his size.  His heart was not enlarged, it was just bigger, and could pump more oxygen into his body.   I sometimes think back to my young teen years, suddenly excited by a horse that ran like a locomotive.  A new movie is being made about his life, due out in October, 2010.  That's how large he and his heart were.

Since today is his birthday and you may not know the name, Happy Birthday, Secretariat.

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SOURCE:  Richmond Times Dispatch , 3/30/10, Bill Millsaps, pp C-1&6.