News
“Secretariat: Larger than Life” Traveling Tour to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Historic Triple Crown
Multi-State Exhibition and Festivities Planned for Meadow Stable Champion
LOUISVILLE, KY. (Apr. 19, 2023) — Marking the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s historic Triple Crown sweep, Secretariat.com and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame have announced today a traveling tour celebrating the legendary racehorse and the 1973 Triple Crown records he set 50 years ago.
The “Secretariat: Larger Than Life 50th Anniversary Tour” will travel to Louisville, Kentucky; Baltimore, Maryland; and Elmont, New York, for stops along the Triple Crown trail at Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Park—the racetracks where Secretariat’s name was forged into legend—before moving to Saratoga Springs, New York for the summer season.
The Secretariat: Larger Than Life Tour will showcase the National Museum of Racing’s traveling exhibition of Secretariat’s Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, and Triple Crown trophies, along with artifacts, video footage, and interactive elements. The tour will coincide with several racetrack-related festivities and special appearances, and also offer commemorative 50th Anniversary merchandise. Sculptor Jocelyn Russell’s impressive 21-foot long bronze monument of Secretariat will serve as the symbolic centerpiece of the Tour, and be on display at each of the Triple Crown venues following its April 30 Louisville debut in the Kentucky Derby Festival Pegasus Parade.
“Thanks to the hospitality and support of the Triple Crown tracks we are thrilled to be able to bring the story of Secretariat to longtime fans as well as new admirers during this milestone anniversary year,” said Leonard Lusky, president of Secretariat.com. “To this day, Secretariat and his Triple Crown records still stand and remain an enduring highlight of American sports history and popular culture, inspiring an ever-growing legacy filled with admiration, awe, and affection that transcend the sport.”
The “Secretariat Larger Than Life 50th Anniversary Tour” Triple Crown schedule is as follows:
- May 3 – 6 Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky
- May 18 – 20 Pimlico Racecourse, Baltimore, Maryland
- June 8 – 11 Belmont Park, Elmont, New York
Following the Triple Crown, the Tour will migrate to Saratoga Springs where the bronze monument will be on display at Saratoga Race Course and the traveling artifacts will be incorporated into the National Museum of Racing’s own 2023 Secretariat exhibition titled, A Tremendous Machine: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown, opening July 13. Additional tour stops are expected to be announced at later dates.
“I don’t think we will ever see another horse like him,” said Secretariat’s Triple Crown winning rider Ron Turcotte from his Canadian hometown of Grand Falls, New Brunswick. “He had it all—the temperament, the ability, the soundness and the versatility. To me, he was the perfect horse. He loved to compete and he loved to run.”
Secretariat is widely recognized as one of the best racehorses in North American history, and was ranked number 35 in ESPN’s SportsCentury list of the 20th century’s greatest athletes. Owned by the barrier-breaking Penny Chenery, trained by Hall of Fame trainer Lucien Laurin and ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, the chestnut colt set records that still stand in each of the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby (1 1/4 miles in 1:59 2/5; stakes and track record), Preakness Stakes (1 3/16 miles in 1:53; stakes record), and Belmont Stakes (1 1/2 miles in 2:24; stakes and track record). He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974. After Secretariat’s death from laminitis in 1989, a necropsy found that his heart weighed an estimated 22 pounds—more than twice the size of a typical Thoroughbred’s heart.
Recent News:
03/20/23 – Ragged Branch Distillery Celebrates Secretariat with Limited-Edition Bourbon
02/21/23 – Irsay Collection Acquires Secretariat’s Saddle from Historic Triple Crown Wins
09/01/22 – Park Honoring the Legendary Secretariat to be Built in Downtown Paris, Kentucky
