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Secretariat

by Alexis from Leawood

Secretariat (examiner.com)
Secretariat (examiner.com)

Does it ever seem possible that one person could do the impossible and beat the odds, even when they are against them? Does it make it seem even more impossible if I told you that that person was a horse? Secretariat was born to be raced on the track and was trained for speed, even though at first he did not have very much of it. Born to a humble farm in Kentucky, Secretariat was the best thing to happen to them. As Secretariat aged, he grew in speed and stamina, so when it was time for his first race, Secretariat was well prepared and ready to go.

Secretariat was very largely built and had a hard time keeping all his legs in order so he could run fast. Yet somehow he always managed to pull it off. Secretariat had a large stature. That, and the fact that his Sire, Bold Ruler, was a sprinter, he often did not give any speed until the final stretch of the race. Because of this, no one thought that he would be able to go the distance and race in the Triple Crown. Oh, how wrong they were.

Throughout his life Secretariat raced in many races and only lost two, including his first race. Secretariat was a sprinter and often won by many lengths or even on occasion would break the track record. By the end of his first year of racing Secretariat was worth 6.5 million dollars in breed rights. That’s when tragedy struck - Secretariat’s owner died just after his first year of racing, forcing his family to sell his breeding rights. Part of that deal was that Secretariat was only going to be allowed to race one more year.

In his second year of racing, Secretariat attempted the impossible; his trainer entered him in a series of races that kept increasing in distance until it was time for him to race in the Kentucky Derby. It just happens to turn out that no horse had ever won all of those races. Secretariat almost did, if it had not been for an abscess on his upper lip that caused him to get second in the Woodward Stakes.

He was all healed by the time the Kentucky Derby came around. But little did he know that he was about to meet his fiercest competitor yet. A little spunky black horse named Sham. Sham and Secretariat had it out in the derby but Secretariat came out on top, leaving Sham with nothing but a couple of broken teeth. But it was those teeth that caused Sham to lose the rest of the Triple Crown. Secretariat conquered the rest of the Triple Crown, and beat every track record, winning the Belmont by a record number of lengths.

After the race, Secretariat was retired for breeding until the day he died. After his death an autopsy was performed on his body. What was discovered explains why Secretariat could do what he did. Secretariat's heart was three times the size of a regular horse’s heart. That is why Secretariat is the greatest horse that ever lived, and my hero.

Page created on 9/14/2010 10:47:55 AM

Last edited 9/14/2010 10:47:55 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

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