The incomparable Big Red

Here’s the setting: Political drama dominates the daily headlines, the country is involved in a discouraging war in a foreign country that lingers on, the economy is bad, and unemployment is high. People need something to believe in. No, I’m not talking about last week. This was the scene in 1973.

During those troubled times, a big red horse captured the American imagination as he shattered all previous records in claiming the 1973 Triple Crown — a series of three thoroughbred horse races: The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. The horse was Secretariat and filming began this week on a movie about his rise to fame.

Mayhem Pictures is producing the film with help from Walt Disney Pictures. Mayhem has done a few other inspiring sports movies you may have seen: Miracle, the tale about the 1980 US Olympic hockey team; The Rookie, about a middle-aged pitcher’s return to baseball; and Invincible, the story of a regular guy who tried out and made it to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. Secretariat is schedule to release in the fall of 2010.

I will be among those eagerly waiting to see Secretariat. Years before becoming an editor at Hoover’s, I was a newspaper reporter and one of the many beats I covered for the business section was the Class I horse racing track in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I loved every minute of it. I admired the magnificent athletes — jockeys and horses alike — who fearlessly thundered down the track, the wise trainers who could see the potential in horses and people, the wealthy owners who, nine times of out 10, were just normal folks.

My love of Secretariat in particular goes back to my parents. Growing up, we would watch the Kentucky Derby every year on TV and they would talk about how no horse would ever outdo Secretariat. As a kid, I thought of Secretariat as “my horse” since he had his big year in 1973 and I was born that year.

What’s incredible about Secretariat, nicknamed Big Red, is that he didn’t beat the odds — he obliterated them. His total domination in 1973 amazed racing fans and made them anxious to see if he could pull off a Triple Crown win, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since 1948. Secretariat set records that still stand today in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. (His time in the Preakness Stakes was disputed because the official clock malfunctioned, but many clockers called his time a track record.)

Secretariat became a celebrity after he clinched the first two Triple Crown races. He graced the cover of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated. But it was his performance in the Belmont Stakes, the final jewel in the Triple Crown, that made him a legend. If you were fortunate enough to watch it live or you’ve seen it since, you know what I mean. It was simply stunning. Secretariat won the race by an astounding 31 lengths and ran the fastest 1 1/2 miles on dirt in history — a blistering 2:24 or 37.5 miles per hour.

With a story as inspiring as this, it’s fair to guess that Secretariat will give pari-mutuel wagering and on-track attendance a boost. After all, both went up for a while after the release of Seabiscuit, the 2003 rags-to-riches movie about a horse of the same name. Tracks have been struggling — even Churchill Downs, home to the iconic Kentucky Derby, which installed lights this summer to launch its first-ever night racing in an effort to pump up revenues.

It’s a dark hour again in our country and maybe we need a hero. Reliving Secretariat’s triumph on the big screen might remind us that we’ve gotten through hard times before and there’s always something to feel good about and someone to cheer for.

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Photo by James Wood, used under a Creative Commons license.