Born in the foaling stall at The Meadow in Doswell, Virginia, in the early hours of March 30, 1970, by all accounts Secretariat was promising from the start.
Shepherded through his legendary career by Penny Chenery Tweedy, trainer Lucien Laurin, jockey Ron Turcotte and groom Eddie Sweat, Secretariat was not just a Triple Crown-winning racehorse, but an icon of hope and determination in troubled times.
Over the 42 years since Secretariat's birth, his story is undiminished. Indeed, his fable has grown. From the June 11, 1973 cover of TIME magazine to the acclaimed 2010 Disney motion picture Secretariat, each new generation embraces the big red horse. As the first Saturday in May approaches and Kentucky Derby fever reaches a crescendo, there is one horse against whom all are judged.
And that horse is Secretariat!
Correction: The year and time of Secretariat's birth have been corrected. Oops, my apologies.
The photographs in the slideshow are from the collection of the Chenery-Tweedy family and have been shared with full permission by the the publisher of Secretariat's Meadow, Wayne Dementi. The digital media was provided by by Jane Hushen Design.
