Haskin on Secretariat

[PaceAdvantage]

The Real Secretariat

The Disney movie, “Secretariat,” will be released on Oct. 8, but many, including myself, have already seen it or plan on seeing it before its opening.
There already have been reviews published, most of them mixed. This is not a review, but a merely a look at the real Secretariat through my eyes, my lens, and my recollections through a kaleidoscope of colors and images that it is hoped will bring Secretariat to life for those who did not have the privilege of seeing him in person.

~~read the rest at the following link~~

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2010/09/12/hangin-with-haskin-the-real-secretariat.aspx

[tucker6]

Great pics of a bygone era. Four things from that article I noted. The first was to be reminded how small Riva Ridge was compared to Secretariat. The second was the insanely short times between races for a TB champion, including long, strong workouts just days prior to a race. The third was the seeming casualness in which he set world records. The fourth was Haskins contention that Riva saved the farm. I'm sure Steve must be correct, but everything I have read said that Riva helped save the farm, but the money earned from racing him was not enough to make Uncle Sam happy, which is why they syndicated Secretariat. Anybody here know whether Steve is correct or not?

[mountainman]

Saw clips from upcoming movie and fear the worst. Lucian Lauren now a flake who did stand up routine for reporters, and whole thing transformed into little girl loves horsey saga. That, I can live with, but if they so much as try, for one single scene, to reinvent the big red choo choo as proverbial 'underdog,' I'm walking out.

[classhandicapper]

I love that photo of the rippling muscles and long stride.

[born2ride]

I love that photo of the rippling muscles and long stride.

That photo plus the one of him rising from the grass - magnificent. He was simply, a beast.

[bane]

That is a shame with this movie is that it sounds like they are taking Riva Ridge's thunder, as the horse that I won't say saved...but kept the Meadow going a little bit longer. I also wonder how much will focus on The Syndication of Secretariat since that is what truly kept the farm going as long as it did, the book covered it a good amount.

Heh...maybe the movie will protest The Death Tax.

[Miss Disco]

Protest Death Tax :)
I am sure racetrackers will find scenes in the movie that make you :rolleyes: but Seeing the big horse on the big screen will be worth it. And you know, no one ever made a film about Man o' War, so I think we are lucky to get this one.

[bigmack]

I love that photo of the rippling muscles and long stride.
Penny Tweedy once said to reporters, I don't think you'll be able to print this but I think he's sexy.

[toetoe]

Saw clips from upcoming movie and fear the worst. Lucian Lauren now a flake who did stand up routine for reporters, and whole thing transformed into little girl loves horsey saga. That, I can live with, but if they so much as try, for one single scene, to reinvent the big red choo choo as proverbial 'underdog,' I'm walking out.


Hear, hear. :lol: . If Rosie stars as Red, I myself will walk out. Wanda Sykes as the curmudgeonly trainer ? Toetoe gone ! Danny De Vito as wisecracking Ron Turcotte ? Buh-bye.

I found Penelope rather tweedy, truth be told [sniff, sniff]. For its meaning, refer to Dick Chenery. He's an encyclopedia. Literally !

[46zilzal]

trying to pass off Keeneland for Belmont????

[joanied]

I read haskin's 'blog' story too...there are several things that bother me, one being that they didn't even try to disguise Keeneland as belmont...is there a sign saying Keeneland or what...I'll be surious about that...the other things he mentioned as negatives aside, the one that really caught my attention is what he said about at least one peice of music in the movie...
"the inane choice of a song during the stretch run in the Belmont at the end of the movie"...
which leads me to a couple of questions...maybe someone that's been to a screening can answer them...
are they ending the movie with the Belmont rather than hs race in Canada?
And just what IS this inane song Haskins mentions?

The last scene in any movie is always important, and in a movie like this one, I beleive the last scene shoud really be something powerful, emotional, so folks come away from the movie thinking...WOW!!

[Grits]

Please. Someone tell me its not:

a. Rocky (theme)

b. Chariots of Fire (theme)

c. We Are The Champions (probably not, its plural).

[joanied]

Please. Someone tell me its not:

a. Rocky (theme)

b. Chariots of Fire (theme)

c. We Are The Champions (probably not, its plural).

:D
seriously though, the operative word from Haskin is 'inane'...I would really like to know what the music is!

[tzipi]

That, I can live with, but if they so much as try, for one single scene, to reinvent the big red choo choo as proverbial 'underdog,' I'm walking out.

I think they do. Pretty sure it was reported that Disney shows Sham winning out in California and then coming here and winning over Secertariat in the Wood Memorial. Problem is Sham didn't win the Wood. Angle Light did.
So I think from what I read they show Secretariat as an underdog going into the TC and it being "sad" because Penny Chenery needs money to save the farm.

[DeanT]

I think horse racing movies have to be doctored somewhat because they need a storyline. And in racing, how are you going to have an underdog storyline?

- "Jerry Moss and Zenny". Jerry needed the money and was down and out because Itunes has reduced his fortune to about $11M. The horse, named after his buddy Sting, runs the table and becomes a household name. The earnings save his fleet of Rolls Royce's.

- "Jess Jackson and the Rachel Alexandra Story" - Reeling from a 1 cent increase in grape prices, wine magnate Jess Jackson uses his $10M pocket change to gamble on a filly, with a huge downside risk, off a 20 length win in the Oaks. He and little known trainer Steve Assmussen embark on an amazing year long journey of hope.

- "Sheik Mo - No Mo Money" - The amazing underdog story of Sheik Mo, who was given the Gehrigian task of buying $10M yearlings and turning them into champions.

It's pretty tough to sell a true story in racing.

[tzipi]

It's pretty tough to sell a true story in racing.

Seabiscuit(great story) got great reviews and took in over $120,000,000 at the box office. It's not like Secretariat was a one hit wonder horse. This is a great story and it has a good full background. There's the story of Penny Chenery and the racing family, there's the rise and fall of Meadow stable until Secretariat. Horse racing was also on a decline in America and the TC was not won in 25 years. Secretariat put it ALL back on the map. if done classicaly like Seabiscuit, I see no reason it wouldn't be a draw too.

One last thing. ALOT more people today know who Secretariat was. Very few people knew who Seabiscuit was and look at how that did because of how it was done.

[joanied]

http://www.vlicious.org/2010/09/official-music-video-for-secretariat.html

Above is, so far, the only song from the movie I have found...what I'm looking for is the 'inane' song that Haskin talks about in his blog story...if anyone can find it, please post a link. If anyone who saw a screening knows the song, please post your opinion on it, and the rest of the movie soundtrack :)

One thing that I keep thinking about is Eddie...I wish so much that he was still with us to see this movie, and in fact, he would have been part of it's production, as a tech adviser if nothing else...he would have loved all this. I get very sad when I think of Eddie when they took the big horse to the farm...I don't think he was ever the same after that horse, and that includes his time with Riva, who Eddie adored...that man was one of the best people I knew at Belmont.

[Grits]

One thing that I keep thinking about is Eddie...I wish so much that he was still with us to see this movie, and in fact, he would have been part of it's production, as a tech adviser if nothing else...he would have loved all this. I get very sad when I think of Eddie when they took the big horse to the farm...I don't think he was ever the same after that horse, and that includes his time with Riva, who Eddie adored...that man was one of the best people I knew at Belmont.

Joanie, this is one of the reasons I prefer Raymie Woolfe's book, Secretariat over Bill Nack's, Secretariat, The Making Of A Champion. Woolfe's book was released a year (1974) prior to Nack's (1975). Woolfe was close to, and spent great amounts of time under the shedrow with Penny, Lucien, Ron, Elizabeth Ham, Howard Gentry, and of course, Eddie.

After his career as a steeplechase jock, Woolfe spent eleven years as chief of photography, photo journalist, for DRF. Not only the story, but the photos in his book are worth far more than Nack's tome.

His story of Secretariat's time on the track came from a more indepth personal account. His only acknowledgements at the book's beginning are to those mentioned above (the team), and to DRF and columnist Charlie Hatton, and (at that time) Steve Haskin. These few, along with personal friends.

His account of Eddie's relationship with Riva and Secretariat is a moving storyline in the book. And at the book's end, the final photo he took is one of Eddie, with his back to the camera, his small plaid suitcase beside him, standing by the loading ramp at Claiborne, his hand up to his face wiping tears from his eyes--one line underneath reading "Eddie Sweat will miss him most of all."

To say, the very least, I too, wish Eddie had lived to see this film. And to see the bronze of Secretariat, Ron, and himself that "Miss Penny", as she's often called, worked so diligently to raise funds for--to commission and have placed at the Kentucky HorsePark.

http://www.kyhorsepark.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/SecretariatBogucki1.gif

When she was working towards the funding for the bronze, I was invited to her home one afternoon, living in Lexington at the time, as did she. She was one of the most gracious ladies I've ever met. A wonderful storyteller. We sat for a while, and then she asked if I'd like to see her photo collection room--it was tremendous and chock full. Her love for Secretariat, for Riva, for her family, and her family's farm was everywhere to be found. Endless. We talked about Eddie that afternoon, she told me he had died of leukemia.

He had a fine way with horses; its nice to read that you knew him.;)

I love the trailer out now that has Eddie shouting to all, "you gonna see something like you ain't nevah seen."

[joanied]

Grits...
I have Woolfe's book, Nack's book and Scanlon's "The horse that God Built'...that photo of Eddie at Claiborne just makes me wanna cry...it's a heartfelt photo and depicts Eddie so well...you don't even have to see his face to feel his pain.
You'd walk under the shedrow and first thing you'd hear is Eddie chatting away with one of his horses in the stall...indeed, he had a way with every horse he rubbed...his quiet sense of respect and love and admiration for the horses under his care was evident in everything he did, and he was just a very sweet man to be around.
His passing left me with an empty feeling in my heart...sick, broke and really never given the credit he deserved, it hit me with profound heartache, and I'm happy that he will always be remembered now that his likeness is cast in bronze, alongside his beloved Red.

[Grits]

Joanie, your years and years of experience at the track can be overwhelming sometimes. I, too, have always had a special place for Eddie. That photo said it all.:(

[Cratos]

Secretariat in 1973 transcended horse racing. He arrived on the scene with a nation in social turmoil.

His great exploits on the racetrack occurred with a nation recovering just 5 years after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy; and on the heels of a nation divided by an unwanted war in Vietnam.

I will go see the Secretariat film, but having lived through that period which encompassed the protest against the Vietnam War and a horse becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years with unbelievable performances on the racetrack; it will be a tough act for any director to bring that much public emotion into one film.

In 1973, Big Red gave racing its finest moment ever.

[PaceAdvantage]

Haskin with a follow-up piece...this time, a revisit of an article from 2002 entitled:

When Big Red Was Little Red

In the spring of 1969, a magical seed was planted in the equine garden known as The Meadow, located in Caroline County, Va., just north of Richmond. From that seed the following spring would sprout a legendary creature who would one day transcend the Sport of Kings and forever alter the course of racing history.

But the harsh winds of 30 winters have since eroded this hallowed ground that once nurtured the immortal Secretariat. The pastures and training track that once shook from the pounding of "Big Red's" mighty hooves have been still for two decades. ~~read the rest~~ http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2010/09/14/when-big-red-was-little-red.aspx

Some more photos too...

[born2ride]

Grits and Joanied,
Thanks for added background info, it's wonderful to read the insight on top of Haskin's blog. Makes me feel like I was there in the background witnessing the story of Big Red in person.

[joanied]

Joanie, your years and years of experience at the track can be overwhelming sometimes. I, too, have always had a special place for Eddie. That photo said it all.:(

You know the saying...a picture speaks a 1,000 words...

[joanied]

Pace...thanks for the link...'the rest of the story'... reading about the memories those old grooms have, it made me sad...sad that anyone working farms like The Meadow can't live out their lives there...I can still recall all the emotions I went through that last walk I took down our shed row at Belmont...it was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do, and was made even harder because my special filly that I rubbed whinnied as I made that walk...emotional agony...I don't think anyone that works with these horses and truly loves them, can ever 'get over' having to leave it all behind...it hurts that much.
To let a place like The Meadow, go down hill, fall apart...is so sad, it leaves an empty feeling in my heart...
things can never be as they were, those days of homebreds and great horses are gone forever...so much has changed, and isn't that a sad thing...

maybe the Secretariat movie can bring back a tiny bit of those days, if only for 2 hours, and maybe some that see the movie will come away with a sense of what it was all about...

I am feeling quite melancholy.

[OntheRail]

:D
seriously though, the operative word from Haskin is 'inane'...I would really like to know what the music is!

I think I found it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6A-JYbu1Os&feature=related

:D

[joanied]

I think I found it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6A-JYbu1Os&feature=related

:D

:lol: pretty good, OntheRail