This article first appeared in the January 2023 digital edition of Equestrian Life. To see what’s in the current issue, click here.

The real Secretariat in action.

 

Secretariat – The other ‘Big Red’

By Suzy Jarratt

Phar Lap and Secretariat were both supremely successful chestnuts who shared the nickname ‘Big Red’. Legends of the racetrack, they have appeared on postage stamps, been honoured with statues and researched by historians – and both have had films made about them.

Although Secretariat still holds some track records to this day, and is arguably the faster horse, Phar Lap was a big weight carrier. They never competed against each other as their careers were decades apart, so it is unlikely the debate will ever be solved.

The Australian film Phar Lap was made back in 1983 and was featured in the February 2021 edition of Equestrian Life. Secretariat, made by Walt Disney Films, came out much later, in 2010, starring Diane Lane, who played Colorado housewife and mother of four, Penny Chenery, and John Malkovich as racing trainer, Lucien Laurin.

It is largely based on William Nack’s Secretariat: The Making of a Champion, published in 1975, although there are some fictional scenes included in the screenplay. The film chronicles the life of the 16.2hh stallion and how his owner takes over the stables of her dying father despite her lack of racing knowledge. With the help of the veteran trainer, Laurin, she navigates the male-dominated business ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years…

Read the full article FREE in the January 2023 issue of Equestrian Life magazine here.