Comments on: Once Upon a Time

by: Kate Brock

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:19:20 +0000

I got to see Secretariat in 1976 when he was at Claireborne farm in Paris Pike, Kentucky. Not only do I remember his races and how thrilling they were, but I remember that my friend and I (both teenagers at the time) were allowed to take the lead line and just walk with him and let him graze. He was just the sweetest horse, especially for a breeding stallion. I have my picture taken with him and we were even given a bit of his mane to take home.

But my heart breaks for Sham, who in any other year, would have been a Triple Crown winner himself. I got to see him and Claireborne (however you spell it) also.

by: Gloria

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:33:26 +0000

Yes, that’s right…he was a gelding, so he didn’t have a future as a stud.

But what a horse he was…..

by: maha

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:57:45 +0000

The great Kelso was a gelding, so they kept him racing. The business of retiring horses to breeding farms before they turn four is one of the reasons thoroughbred racing isn’t as popular as it used to be. The public can’t follow the racing career of a great horse, because as soon as he becomes a “star” they send him to the farm. The only exceptions are geldings and late bloomers like Cigar.

by: Gloria

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 02:39:06 +0000

More on KELSO!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelso_(horse)

Kelso (April 4, 1957 - October 16, 1983) was an American thoroughbred race horse and is considered to be among the best racehorses of the Twentieth century. In the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by Blood-Horse magazine, Kelso ranks 4th, behind only Man O’ War (1st), Secretariat (2nd), and Citation (3rd)……

Unlike all too many of today’s top racehorses, Kelso did not ignite racing in his second and third year only to disappear to a stud farm. This great gelding[2] competed for eight seasons, from 1959 to 1966. As his career raced on, so did his popularity. Huge crowds flocked to see him. Kelso competed on fourteen tracks, won in six states, smashed any amount of records, won an unprecedented number of awards, and eventually became as beloved a horse as any who ever lived.
Retirement
In 1965, during a workout he suffered a hairline fracture of the inside sesamoid of his right hind foot. Though he’d planned for another year’s racing, Hanford retired him at the age of nine.

…And then…he became a show jumper!!

by: Gloria

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 02:29:17 +0000

Thanks for this video! It just brings tears to my eyes. When I was a kid growing up outside of NYC, the races were aired every Saturday on TV! Two horse stick with me…Sunrise County and the incredible KELSO!
Watching this film of Secretariat brings me back many, many years.

by: maha

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 20:41:20 +0000

Now you know why us geezers still get all blubbery about Secretariat. I remember being so surprised when he died. It was hard to realize he was a mortal horse.

I see they’re showing a made-for-TV movie about Ruffian tonight. I might watch part of it, but I can’t watch the ending. It was too sad.

by: moonbat

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 19:28:55 +0000

That video gave me goosebumps. Wow. I didn’t know anything about Secretariat till now.

by: Bonnie

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 16:31:11 +0000

This is the best example of why I watch sports. When something truly remarkable happens, like Secretariat, you have an experience like you have never had before. Even though, I have never been athletic, I discovered there were great, magical experiences watching Secretariat and realizing this is the greatest performance ever. I remember that race, too. I got goosebumps every time I saw Secretariat race. And, despite all the negatives about TV, this is one of the great things it has done. It brings to people something they would never see without television and a common experience for all us in many different parts of the country. I saw Don Larsen’s perfect World Series game as a very young girl in Tacoma, Washington. I saw Dr. Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech. And, more sadly, I saw the assassination of JFK followed by the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald right before my very eyes just as we had returned from Church. And, while as stated above, we may never see a horse as great as Secretariat, anticipating the possiblity with each new year in the Triple Crown makes it that much more available.

by: Raenelle

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 16:02:09 +0000

I’d never seen that before. Knew about it, read about it, but today was the first time I’d seen it. It brought tears to my eyes. Perfection, arete, the Form of beauty, strength, determination, heart. Wow.

by: goatherd

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 13:58:17 +0000

Like many of you, I remember watching this when it happened. It is one of those moments that I will always remember. Now, I can “always remember” it via youtube.

I am going down to the barn and give our horses each a kiss on the nose and extra bit of orchard grass.