Secretariat’s Saratoga Legacy

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Few places in Saratoga Springs invoke the city’s grand history like the Canfield Casino, which was an appropriate setting for Patricia McQueen’s presentation last week, “Secretariat’s Legacy: The Greatest Racehorse and His Enduring Impact on Saratoga Springs.”

McQueen, a longtime thoroughbred photographer, is the author of the book “Secretariat’s Legacy,” which explores the lasting impact of both Secretariat himself and his many successful offspring. In her presentation, McQueen also explored the Triple Crown-winner’s history at the Saratoga Race Course.

“I basically saw him race on TV when I was ten,” McQueen said. “I was hooked and so I followed his racing career, and when he retired, I followed his offspring. I’ve been doing it for fifty years.”

Secretariat at Saratoga

Secretariat’s most successful year at the Spa was probably 1972, when he won all three starts as a two-year-old. That year’s Sanford Stakes was the only race in Big Red’s career in which he was not the betting favorite. Nonetheless, he easily defeated the favorite, Linda’s Chief. Ten days later, he notched another dominant victory in the Hopeful Stakes. 

“He loved Saratoga,” McQueen said.

But the 1973 Saratoga summer meet would prove to be a frustrating one. Secretariat was set to compete in both the Whitney and the Travers. But in the Whitney, he was famously upset by Onion. Following the race, he came down with a fever and was sidelined for the rest of the meet.

The Next Generations

Secretariat’s son General Assembly would avenge his father at the Travers in 1979, a year in which he went undefeated in four starts at the Spa. Perhaps just to place an exclamation point on his success, Assembly also set a new track record in the ‘79 Travers that remained unbroken for 37 years.

In 1986, it would be Secretariat’s daughter Lady’s Secret who avenged her father’s loss to Onion in the Whitney by becoming the first female horse to win the race since 1948. Lady’s Secret previously won two races as a three-year-old at the 1985 Saratoga meet.

Over the decades, Secretariat’s lineage has continued to impress in the Spa City. Weekend Surprise won the 1982 Schuylerville Stakes. Summer Squall won the Saratoga Special and the Hopeful in 1989. Chief’s Crown won the Travers in 1985. The list goes on.

All told, six of the last seven Travers winners (prior to the 2024 race) were Secretariat descendants. Ten of the last eleven Whitney winners came from the Big Red genealogical tree. Fourteen of the last sixteen Alabama champions are descended from Secretariat. Perhaps most impressive of all, the eight competitors in the 2024 Travers are all related in some way to Secretariat.

“To me, and to many people, [Secretariat] was the greatest racehorse who ever lived,” McQueen said.

With a legacy like this, it’s hard to disagree.