Secretariat's Triple Crown Turns 50: 1973, the Year That Arizona Honored the Racing Legend

 Tobi Lopez Taylor

 Arizona Horse History Project

[Originally published in Arizona Horse Connection, May 2023]

This article is part of the Secretariat series, which also includes essays on Penny Chenery and Allison Janney

Although he was born in Virginia and lived most of his life in Kentucky, Secretariat — racing’s ninth Triple Crown winner — was also proclaimed an honorary citizen of Tucson, Arizona, by the city’s mayor. 

Secretariat and his jockey Ron Turcotte. Painting by Chaille.

The story begins in May 1973, when a record 134,476 fans traveled to Churchill Downs, in Kentucky, to watch Secretariat face off against 12 rivals in the 1¼ mile Kentucky Derby, the first leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. Owned and bred by the Chenery family and raced in the blue-and-white colors of Meadow Stable, Secretariat had been a phenomenal two-year-old, winning seven races so impressively that he was named the 1972 Horse of the Year — only the third juvenile (along with Native Dancer in 1952 and Moccasin in 1965) to win the title.

However, some longtime racing fans were skeptical that Secretariat, a son of the famous sire Bold Ruler, would have what it would take to win the Triple Crown. It was well known that Bold Ruler’s offspring tended to mature early, win impressively as two-year-olds, and fade into obscurity at age three. Furthermore, a quarter of a century had passed since the last Triple Crown winner, Citation, had won these three venerable races. Even Citation’s jockey, Eddie Arcaro, observed, “No one knows if Secretariat can go a mile and quarter.” It didn’t help matters that just two weeks before the Kentucky Derby, a lackluster Secretariat had finished in third place in the Wood Memorial behind his stablemate Angle Light and a talented colt named Sham. 

But on the first Saturday in May, Secretariat was back in top form. He not only won the Derby, he also covered the distance in a new record time of 1:59 2/5, a record that still stands. It was then that his jockey, Ron Turcotte (who had won the previous year’s Derby on Riva Ridge, also owned by Meadow Stable), decided that Secretariat was not only the greatest horse he had ever ridden — he was the greatest he’d ever seen. 

Secretariat’s connections accept the trophy for his Derby win. Left to right: trainer Lucien Laurin, jockey Ron Turcotte, John Tweedy, his wife Penny Chenery Tweedy, her brother Hollis Chenery, and their sister Margaret Chenery Carmichael. (Photo by Raymond G. Woolfe, courtesy of Karen Blaschke)

Two weeks later, Secretariat, with Turcotte aboard, went to the post for the Preakness Stakes, at Pimlico Racetrack in Maryland. The second leg of the Triple Crown is run at an unusual distance, a mile and three-sixteenths, slightly shorter than the Kentucky Derby. Instead of his trademark closing run from far back, the chestnut colt grabbed the lead in the clubhouse turn and never looked back, finishing about two lengths ahead of Sham, who had also come in second in the Derby. After the race, there was some controversy about Secretariat’s winning time of 1:55 (a second slower than the track record), which witnesses believed was in error. The controversy continued for 39 years, when more modern technology was able to prove that Secretariat’s winning time was actually 1:53 — a record that has never been bettered. 

And then, on June 9, Secretariat went to the post with his rival Sham and three other colts for the Belmont Stakes at New York’s Belmont Park. The Belmont is the longest of the Triple Crown races at 1½ miles. If the public thought that Secretariat’s wins in the Derby and Preakness had been phenomenal, those races were only a prelude to his otherworldly performance in the Belmont. Secretariat not only finished ahead of the field by 31 lengths and set a new track record, but along the way he also tied the world record for nine furlongs and covered 1¼ miles in 1:59 — faster than his Kentucky Derby time. As noted turf writer Bill Nack observed, the thousands of fans at the track and 50 million viewers watching the race on television witnessed “the greatest single performance in the history of the sport.” 

The Copper Letter

At last, America had a new Triple Crown winner. The following month, there was much rejoicing in Tucson at the home of Margaret (Chenery) Carmichael, who was a co-owner of Secretariat along with her sister Penny (Chenery) Tweedy and brother Hollis Chenery. Margaret, herself a horsewoman, and her daughter Lee “shared their good fortune with Tucson friends at a Triple Crown party Saturday at their home in honor of Secretariat,” reported the Arizona Daily Star newspaper, which covered the event. One special guest was Elizabeth Ham, the longtime secretary and “right-hand woman” to Christopher Chenery, the founder of Meadow Stable. Ms. Ham has the distinction of coming up with the name “Secretariat” for the chestnut colt. 

For the party, the Carmichael home was decorated in blue and white, and a large dining table featured statues of the chestnut colt “surrounded by flowers representing the roses of the Kentucky Derby, the black-eyed Susans of the Preakness and the carnations of the Belmont,” noted the newspaper reporter. Lee Carmichael recalled recently that her mother had brought home the blanket of roses Secretariat wore in the Churchill Downs winner’s circle. The flowers were then dried, and their petals were put into small bottles, which were given as party favors to the guests. 

Two young women, dressed as jockeys and wearing the Meadow Stable colors, handed out programs for the evening’s events. George Gardiner, a family friend, served as the master of ceremonies. He wore his “lucky” blue-and-white jacket he’d had on at the Derby and the Preakness. The entertainment included a film presentation of the three Triple Crown races as shown on CBS. In those long-ago days, VHS tapes and DVDs hadn’t been invented, and streaming wasn’t an option. Instead, a reel of film had been sent to the Carmichael home and was projected on a screen for the guests to enjoy. 

The other special event planned for the evening came by way of Tucson Councilman Jerry Myers, who
brought a prestigious “copper letter” from Tucson Mayor Lew Murphy that conferred honorary citizenship on the 1973 Triple Crown winner. (Unfortunately, Secretariat’s copper letter has not been found yet in the Chenery family’s  extensive memorabilia collection. At right is an example of this accolade.) 

For decades, these letters, engraved on thin sheets of copper, have been given by Tucson’s mayors to
deserving individuals, including scholars, artists, civil servants, entertainers, faith leaders, athletes, musicians, and community members, such as Coretta Scott King, Pope Paul VI, Johnny Cash, and Cher. With a stroke of the mayor’s pen, the mighty Secretariat joined this list of notables. He became an adopted son of Tucson and the Copper State, the only animal ever to be so honored.