Secretariat

The breeding community lost a friend and asset last week. Annette Covault died Friday, Dec. 13, from complications of ill health that she had dealt with for several years. As the booking secretary for Claiborne Farm first and then Gainesway Farm over several decades, Covault, known to her familiars as "Netto," provided common sense and good humor to breeders and farm managers working through the prickly process of getting mares booked to stallions in a timely manner. The stallion veterinarian at Gainesway from 2008 to 2019, Rocky Mason, DVM, noted...

How did we get hooked on this sport? We all have stories about how our love affair developed and blossomed. The TDN will be reaching out to numerous notable people in the industry to get their stories to find out how they got hooked and stayed hooked on the sport. Brian Spearman, Chairman, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners Growing up in Saratoga, it's pretty inevitable that you're going to fall in love with horse racing if you love horses and you love the whole atmosphere. As a young adult, I went to...

The 2025 Secretariat's Legacy calendar, the eighth and final edition of the series that has already raised almost $39,000 for equine charities, is available for $25 online, the Secretariat Center said via a Wednesday press release. For the second straight year, calendar profits are shared by the Secretariat Center and Old Friends. An additional share will benefit the Maryland Horse Foundation. The calendar series began with the Living Legends theme in 2018, which honored Secretariat's offspring that were still alive, then transitioned to descendants of his broodmares in 2022. "It...

NEW KENT COUNTY, VA -- It would have been no surprise had trainer Graham Motion elected to run Amerman Racing's Trikari (Oscar Performance) in Sunday's rescheduled GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes as opposed to the GII Secretariat Stakes at Colonial Downs. After all, the long-barreled bay was exiting a victory in the GI Belmont Derby over a mile and three-sixteenths, but Trikari proved more than capable of handling the step back down in trip with a powerful victory in the eight-furlong Secretariat. The second betting choice when all was said...

For me personally, what a weird coincidence that earlier this week, TDN published a wonderful essay by its columnist Chris McGrath, who spent time with three of the industry's "elder statesman," among them Ercel Ellis. For it was Ellis who, 40 years ago this coming week, made a decision that altered the course of my life. McGrath obviously had a wonderful time at Lil's Coffee House in Paris, Ky., listening to the yarns spun by Ellis, now 92, renowned veterinarian Bob Copelan (97), and the youngster of the trio, Stone...

Secretariat's birthday will be celebrated Saturday, March 30 with a special children's event hosted by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY. The afternoon, which will run concurrently with the final day of the Museum's exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown, will feature a showing of the 2010 Disney film starring Diane Lane along with a variety of children's activities. Fans are welcome to an Easter egg hunt and will have the opportunity to color silks and design a birthday card....

When Perry Ouzts wired the field aboard an 8-1 maiden filly named Caberneigh (Munnings) at Turfway Park last Wednesday night, the 69-year-old jockey established a milestone that garnered little notice in the racing world. The victory extended Ouzts's remarkable streak of having ridden at least one winner in a calendar year to 52 consecutive seasons. Think about the scope of that accomplishment for a moment. On Apr. 2, 1973, Ouzts, then 18, rode his first lifetime winner on just his second day as a licensed apprentice, guiding home an Ohio-bred...

The Thoroughbred Daily News was among six 2023 Media Eclipse Award winners Friday when the awards were announced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. The 2023 Media Eclipse Award winners are as follows: Multimedia - TDN Writers' Room Podcast - "Wade and Carson Jost," Sept. 20, 2023; Thoroughbred Daily News Gulf War veteran Wade Jost and his son, Carson, joined TDN Writers' Room podcast hosts Bill Finley, Randy Moss, and Zoe Cadman on Sept. 23 for an in-depth and emotional...

The beloved equine friend of the late Cody Dorman, MGISW Cody's Wish (Curlin), was voted the first back-to-back winner of the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, the website Secretariat.com said in a release Saturday. Secretariat's owner Penny Chenery created the award in 2010 to annually recognize the racehorse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the public and gained recognition for the sport. Though he retired to stud duty with 11 wins and career earnings of $3,106,030, it was the Godolphin homebred's connection to Cody Dorman that elicited widespread admiration...

The Secretariat calendar series, now in its seventh year, will honor Secretariat's daughter Secrettame for the 2024 edition. The series started in 2018 with the Living Legends theme honoring the last living Secretariat sons and daughters, then transitioned to descendants of Secretariat's important broodmares in 2022. Proceeds from the 2024 calendar will benefit The Secretariat Center and Old Friends. The series has already raised more than $33,000 for equine charities through six editions. This will be the first one with The Secretariat Center as the primary beneficiary. "I've always wanted...

The Sporting Art Auction, a collaboration between Cross Gate Gallery of Lexington and Keeneland, celebrated its 11th edition with gross sales of $2,826,671, headlined by the sale of LeRoy Neiman's iconic Secretariat, a signed oil on board dated '73, for $146,875. Held last week in Keeneland's Sales Pavilion, the globally prominent auction attracted 112 buyers from four countries who participated in person and remotely. Eighty-eight percent of the 213 works representing fine Sporting Art, American paintings and sculpture by renowned artists were sold. "We were blown away by the interest...

The nominees for the 2023 Secretariat Vox Populi Award are: Arcangelo, winner of the GI Belmont and Travers S. and the first horse to win a Triple Crown race with a female trainer; Casa Creed, the seasoned 7-year-old turf veteran who has continued to thrill fans while demonstrating both heart and resilience in winning the GI Fourstardave H.; Cody's Wish, 2022 Secretariat Vox Populi recipient whose four wins in five starts this year as a 5-year-old included the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, and who shared an endearing and enduring connection with his namesake, the late Cody Dorman; Echo...