Secretariat
by Raymond Wolfe
Updated Edition
Foreword by Ronald Turcotte
The Derrydale Press
224 pages, color
The toss of a coin determined the ownership of the foal that was to become the greatest racehorse ever bred. By losing the toss, Penny Chenery had to settle for the colt that was foaled the following year. When it finally arrived she named it Secretariat.
Some track pundits laughed when the big, fat colt with the ravenous appetite came to the track in training. He was even-tempered and relaxed but possessed a clownish streak. Trainer Lucien Laurin teamed him up with Gold Bag who “wasn’t much of a hoss” according to the grooms, but Gold Bag still worked faster than Secretariat. Then one early morning the youngster flashed by and trainer Lucien Laurin looked at his stopwatch in disbelief.
“We have a racehorse on our hands,” he reported to Mrs. Chenery.
Author-photographer Raymond Woolfe was on personal terms with Secretariat’s owner, trainers, grooms, and jockeys. A former jump race rider himself, Woolfe captures the drama of Secretariat’s spectacular career from big, bumbling colt to the greatest Thoroughbred racing machine ever seen.
First published in 1974, Woolfe’s book has had rave reviews from the beginning and has been through several printings, first by Woolfe then by The Derrydale Press. The latest Derrydale offering is a soft cover edition at an attractive price. Both hard cover and soft cover editions include a foreword by Woolfe’s good friend Ron Turcotte, Secretariat’s jockey.
“Besides being a gifted photographer and writer, Raymie Woolfe is also a thoroughly knowledgeable lifetime horseman,” Turcotte writes. “He has all the necessary credentials to tell Secretariat’s story, both in words and through pictures.
“Raymie would always be welcome around the barn, and Mr. Laurin would speak freely to him about Big Red and his training schedule. Raymie also became close friends with Secretariat’s groom Eddie Sweat. He would visit with him often, talking about the big horse and his ways.
“Raymie thoroughly did his homework in writing this book [and] brings back in detail many a memory of that great time in American racing to all of us.”
Everyone, even Raymie Woolfe himself is looking forward to seeing Disney’s movie and what Hollywood makes of Secretariat’s story. I know I can’t wait. But here’s the authentic version, right in FHL’s Bookstore!
October 14, 2010