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.