Secretariat - The People Behind the Horse

[Music] hi I'm Tom seed with Kristen Bisco on this episode of best of America by horseback we'll take an intimate look at perhaps the greatest racehorses who ever lived Secretariat we will talk with Kate Chenery the daughter of owner Penny Chenery Tweedy about her life on the farm with Secretariat and visit with his exercise writer Charlie Davis who may have known the horse better than anyone he was called America's horse the big red horse that captured the hearts of the entire country he won the Triple Crown in 1973 during which he set a new track record at both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and a new world record at Belmont where he won by a remarkable 31 lengths ahead of the nearest challenger if you saw it you knew you had just witnessed a moment of greatness stay tuned now as we will show you Secretariat part of this show is brought to you by Mill Creek manufacturing makers of the first compact and stainless steel manure spreaders they also make spin groomer arena rakes and now a new line of outdoor power equipment like the mighty ox box litters and wood chippers all top-quality high value equipment all made in the USA and by Spurs bigfix wound skin and hoof treatment the more you use it the more you'll love it we know who made that hitch we know who cut the steel who milled the ball and who welded the seams we know who tested measured and checked we even know who thought the whole thing up we're being W and we know your hitch so we don't make them halfway around the world we make them all right here B&W trusted on this episode of best of America by horseback we will take a personal and inside look at the life and legacy of Secretariat named America's horse the big red race horse became a sports hero for all of America appearing on the covers of Time Newsweek and Sports Illustrated a presumed underdog in the racing world Secretariat emerged to become perhaps the greatest racehorse in history at a time when the Vietnam War was still lingering on and the Watergate scandal upset the country Secretariat brought America together he was their horse every man's horse coming from behind with an explosion of power and muscular beauty setting new track records at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness he won the Belmont Stakes in June of 1973 to become the first Triple Crown winner in over a quarter of a century he won by an astounding 31 lengths ahead of the pack setting a world record that has never been broken Secretariat's future was far from assured he was part of a stable in Kentucky that was deeply in debt and the owner Christopher Chinnery was suffering from Alzheimer's as fate would have it his daughter penny Tweedy stepped in to run the farm and recognize the potential that's Secretariat were big red as he was known around the farm had within him okay you got to essentially grow up with Secretariat can you tell me about what it was like to grow up the way that you did with your mom being who she was and Secretariat ended up being the horse that he was well it's interesting I had a very normal childhood mom didn't take over the stable from my grandfather till I was about 16 but we that the magical part of my childhood was we got to come to the meadow the racing stable the farm here in Virginia where secretary was born and raised and some that's where I learned to ride it's where I learned to swim some of my fondest memories we'd go down after dinner and feed the Mamas and babies in the in the broodmare barn and and it just was you know it's an amazing experience of course that was before we had such an amazing horses Secretariat so that part was really special so get him to come out here it was originally your grandfather's yeah tell us about him and how he inspired your mom and also you well he was a horse lover from the word go he was he grew up very poor in rural Virginia loved horses knew he had to sort of make money in order to own any so he ended up going to New York as an engineer and making money and then came back to Virginia bought back the old family farm this farm had been in the family since 1805 but had been lost to the bank in 1912 he bought it back in 36 and established a horse farm here and he really--he he did everything at a level that he just wanted to create the best place he could for the horses he also had a really good eye from Mayor he believed in mayor's as being just as important for breeding aesthetically and that's partly what how we got Secretariat because we his mother's something raw was our home bred and granddaddy had this real vision of how what would make a really great mayor and it was because we had such good mayors that we got to breed to Bold Ruler who was the sire so you know it all sort of as a piece yes yes so as you got older of course in your teens as one secretary it started yeah becoming a big name yep tell us kind of help what that meant to you I mean how did that affect you personally well you know that was the late 60s early 70s early 70s by the time Secretariat came along and I was very much a member of my generation I was sort of a rebel the movie shows me it's a real rebel and sort of a hippie and that was all true but on the other hand I adored horses and I was so proud of my mom is so proud of my grandfather and and just really in love with it so it was a little schizophrenic because it was two sides of a coin one was rebelling against society and the other was embracing the sport of kings right so you know it was an interesting dichotomy well of course you being young not realizing yeah really significant to what was going on you wanting to be a teenager of doing what teenagers do like bullying and it's funny because we didn't understand at the time it was unbelievably great what he did but I think at the time we thought somebody else would come along almost as good as him but we had no idea at the time how amazing he was and how his records would stand all these more than 40 years later you know and how nobody would come close to him what he was able to accomplish nobody knew that at the time even though we totally knew that he was probably the best horse but the rest of us were kind of watching going you know this is so phenomenal what will come next stay tuned because when we come back Kristin has a fantastic interview with Charlie Davis who exercised and worked with Secretariat this is a great interview I just loved it we'll be right back I'd like to thank each and every one of you for helping to make this show such a success across the trail writing world we're trying to reach out to all of our best of America friends and family on Facebook so please share this video and this information with all of your friends tell them to go to our website best of America by horseback comm and click on the Facebook logo or log on to facebook.com/thebalancingactfans [Music] this the life-size is like Secretariat yeah you know yeah see did you see how big his knickers is that daddy's neck been something like a brim of bull neck a brand mobile unit and you know you know bigger brain will boom that guy you okay I'm gonna put the story out okay we run the Derby right you see how fast you run the Derby you 1:59 a horse running the Derby that fast he should have lose weight right you should have lose at least 5 or 10 pound right he didn't lose no weight we went to Maryland right I beat I created my tack and was my McGirt to do good attract more Eddie so Charlie said you got the wrong girl I said no this decide used to be a size 48 Gert what 8 right it is you got the wrong dude that's a no-no that's just before yesterday just before that good he said well it's due to Lou they had up nice to meet her a Gert 52 and a half he gained weight and he gained weight a you feed him eally feed me said I do my work they say feed me you know after Secretariat won the Derby oh how was he you know the media came up and everyone came up to put the blanket of roses on it well how do we enjoy is is is that first hidden that that in lega to two years tutor if you get the video is that you see even get a little trouble you gotta dance around the living area dance around adjust just a little bit let me say Ruiz a boy easy gang of her cheese easy so he found out you want to hurt her after that are you gonna try that flowers anyway on him and you stand say yeah yeah yeah usually you crazy problem he's in the Preakness dad he didn't bother and the Belmont you see all them people have been around him people was gotta cook and he did try to kick nobody there so she destroyed the name for put the rose on him then he say hey I know I'm the man the Preakness in the Belmont because uh because that whole week I didn't I didn't I didn't have to do not know what I record ride secretary trend is on oneself he trained his own self pretty degree secretary know what you could do how you could do it and Winnie was could do it it's temporary thing always to eat is in my mind where you could do we need to do it how do you what we do [Music] [Music] [Music] a colleague for statistics and it was a powerhouse race again by the big strong Secretariat who made a very other jockeys that rode Secretariat did you give them advice no we didn't have to Holly give nobody advice so there's only jockey riding years after run it is it was Eddie maple and so Ronnie and Eddie he's dipper doing the talking so I don't have enough to say don't be good hey all you had to do was secretary just sit there and just world and you just just enjoy all right you were best friends with the greatest forest of all times yes 50 years from now and I'm not going to be here and you're not gonna be here and people are talking about Secretariat and they're talking about you what do you hope they will remember and say about you Charlie and if secretary could talk what do you think secretary would say about you we were the best so friend I watched his back he watched my back he'd be like is one of the family the dude ranchers Association is celebrating 90 years promoting all inclusive quality Western adventure vacations with over 100 ranches west of the Mississippi offering activities like horseback riding skeet shooting whitewater rafting fly-fishing and great children's programs you are sure to find the perfect location for family reunions girlfriend getaways or that vacation of a lifetime dude ranch association ranches adhere to the highest industry standards we are all about quality I'm Steve Tucker I'm the founder and president of Tucker trail saddles we listen to our customers we leverage the experience and craftsmanship of our team and we embrace the goal to produce the most comfortable and functional trail saddle in the world and we believe that we are offering with the new horizon the absolute best and most comfortable trail riding saddle available today ridden thousands of miles all over this country the saddle I choose is a Tucker saddle after our interview with Charlie Davis and Kate tweety Tom spoke with the tourism director and historian at the meadows the birthplace of Secretariat to learn more about this legendary horse usually when you're in the racing circles because the tendency for some families to be very stiff stuff shirts stuck up you're wondering where I'm going with this question your words nothing but the family pennies the order today they just love life they're just the all-american family as well just like Secretariat was the all-americans everybody owned that horse in that race well it started with mr. Chinnery who founded the meadow in 1936 superb horseman even taught a quotation in the army played polo Fox hunted superb horsemen and so he truly loved horses and just wanted to have a thoroughbred farm in Virginia which people are told him you were crazy he needed to be in Kentucky then penny who was quite a horse woman herself when she had to take over the farm when he became ill she was really a pioneer in racing because if there were any women involved in racing they were owners who were very much in the background and they were not hands on like penny was and they were not approachable penny really became a media darling and she was so approachable and she helped connect the fans and never forgot how important the fans were in connecting with the horse and if she said she the horse couldn't talk so she had to be his spokesperson and he won the Triple Crown in 1973 penny is now 94 and she's still all these years later an advocate for her horse and Kate her daughter has definitely picked that up and is so approachable and friendly with folks I've been at book signings with it or events with penny where she has signed autographs non-stop like three hours like at this birthday party in previous years because she always believes how important the fans are and what it means to the because she is their connection to secretaries so it started with mr. chary continued with penny and continues with Kate and in and in it it's just a joy to be part of that story of a horse that America loves in my opinion you continue that legacy because the manor house you give tours here I did yours in love with the secretary history the family in this house is anybody and so you give tours here and tell me what people can today plan their vacation they're coming through the Richmond area they can come here for weddings or whatever absolutely we do what we call our footprints of history tours year round permitting weather permitting obviously we don't do too much in January in February but in with other events but you will get a 90-minute narrated tour by me and we start in the mansion and we give you a lot of background so we then when I take you around to the barns the historic barns where secretary was born and raised and first trained you will have seen all these wonderful family photos and you'll understand there were other champions here before Secretariat it was kind of a what led up the bloodlines that were created that eventually produced Secretariat and so we know what it means for people to feel like here they are at the birthplace of arguably the greatest resource of all time and so we do the tours and then we have big events like this the annual secondary birthday party here at the Virginia horse festival and we love to do group tours or groups come here and want to do a special tour it's a very busy place we have the State Fair of Virginia here and we do a salute to Secretariat during the state fairs so we weave that Secretariat narrative into just about everything we do and I'm lucky enough not only to work here but to live here too on October 4th 1989 secretary had passed away at the age of 19 and was given the rare honor of being buried whole at Clairborne farm for more information on Secretariat you can visit the website Secretariat comm for information on visiting and touring the meadow the birthplace of Secretariat in Virginia you can visit meadow event park com hope you'll enjoy viewing future shows with us on best of America by horseback and you can visit us find it or schedule find out where we're gonna be vibe you can visit our webpage best of America by horseback comm click on rides and events and you can see all the upcoming places we will be that you can join us also be sure to follow us on Facebook best of America by horseback thank you so much for watching we'll see you next week they don't anticipate any trouble and as this third horse goes in I give it up to chick Anderson who called the race for you sweaty the horses continuing to move into the gate here's the one horse - caused a bit of trouble in the Derby by suppress but he appears to be going in fine today yes he's in and well damn the outside Lords and we're ready to go for the tremendous Belmont everybody's in line and there oh my god yes my gallery going fleur-de-lis was quite suppressed on the outside secretary the way very well as good position on the rail and in fact is not going up with the leaders they're moving for the first turn it is Secretariat shame on the outside is also will they go off strongly and now it's sham sham and Secretariat oh right together into the first turn Mike Allen has third behind them then it's Lysa print and the printer is private smiles as they go by the turn those two together sham on the outside sham getting a heavy front as they move around the turn with Secretariat second then there's a large gap makeup eight lengths back to my Gallatin third and whites of prints fourth and private smiles is still a trailer there on the backstretch it's almost a match race now get the camps on the inside by a head sham is on the outside they've opened ten links on my gallon who is hurt by with bites of prints for then it's another eight lives back to private smiles he was trailing the field they continued on the back stretch and that Secretariat not clicking believe he's got it by about a half no scam my god or the tournament like opening the windows increasing it could hold [Music] they're on the turn at Secretariat is blazing along [Music] [Applause] he has machine is dropping back it looks like they'll catch him today since they're both coming up to him now Secretariat is all alone he's out there almost [Music] he's into the stretch [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Best of America by Horseback

Views: 6,467

Rating: 4.8275862 out of 5

Keywords: Secretariat, big Red, Best of America by Horseback, Tom Seay, Charlie Davis, Kate Tweedy, Penny Tweedy, Triple Crown, Penny Chenery

Id: bAszm4ejjjk

Length: 23min 41sec (1421 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 30 2016