With release of the “Secretariat” movie, I thought it would be a good time to tell about my own encounter with Big Red. Back on that famous day in June of 1973, I attended the Belmont Stakes with a buddy of mine. As well as wanting to see history made, we also wanted to get a good up-close-and-personal look at Secretariat. The Belmont Stakes was the 8th race, so, during the 7th, we went out to the paddock area and positioned ourselves right in front of the stall where he was going to be saddled. In those days (and maybe today as well) you could stand less that ten feet away from the stall, separated from the horse only by a low fence. As soon as the 7th race was over, a crowd of people started to gather around us—but we held our spot directly in front of the stall. Then, Big Red came out and was led into the stall, facing us head-on. He carefully looked at us up and down, decided we were nobodies, and snorted, tossing his head in the air. He then directed his attention to the sound of clicking cameras to our right, striking a series of handsome poses for each click. We had been snubbed by Secretariat!
The race itself was, of course, amazing to watch. The crowd was on its feet and roaring right from the bell. After he covered the first half of the race in ridiculously fast time, I remember thinking, "He's going too fast, he can't keep up this pace." Wrong...he won by 31 lengths. My buddy turned to me and said, "That was the greatest horse race I'll ever see."
Secretartiat entering the track for the Belmont Stakes
