No racehorse has ever captured the hearts of U.S. racing fans quite like Secretariat. In 1973, “Big Red” embarked upon an unforgettable Triple Crown-winning campaign with a string of dominant classic victories that will never be matched to become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.
Tag: Legends
Unbridled: The Gentle Giant Who Delivered a Magical Kentucky Derby Moment
Few horses have been able to blend the kind of success that Unbridled enjoyed both on the racetrack and in the breeding shed. A strapping, 17-hand colt with a long, ground-gobbling stride, he was slow to develop at 2 after a promising 10 ½-length victory in his career debut. The son of Fappiano was then plagued by a sore hoof at 4, succinctly explaining why he won just eight of 24 career starts.
Racing Hall of Fame Trainer Allen Jerkens: The Chief
Allen Jerkens took out his trainer’s license as soon as he turned 21, and he only waited that long because his father forbid him to do so any sooner. He enjoyed solid success almost from the very beginning and won his first stakes race in 1955 with a horse named War Command, whom Jerkens had claimed for $8,000. Seven years later, he agreed to become the private trainer for Jack Dreyfus Jr.’s Hobeau Farm. Though Hobeau Farm didn’t always deal in the most fashionable of pedigrees, it did provide Jerkens with volume. And Jerkens certainly had a knack for getting the most out of his horses.
Swaps: A Speedy, Well-Oiled Machine
Barry Irwin, now the head of Team Valor International, was entering his teenage years in Southern California when Swaps burst onto the scene in 1955. “He just really excited me and caught my imagination,” Irwin recalled. Irwin was hardly alone. Swaps’ popularity became so enormous that Union 76 gas stations began distributing posters of him. “I kept pushing my father to get gas there so I could get more pictures,” Irwin said.
