TruthSeeker56
Silver Member
I am a horse-racing historian (a big "hobby" of mine), especially on the topics of great thoroughbreds, and their triumphs and tragedies.
I was so pleased when the movie "Secretariat" was made, because it brought back to life and brought back to the public eye, arguably the best racehorse in the history of the sport.
Although the movie took some "liberties" with some of the facts, and some of the casting was strange (like John Malkovich portraying Lucien Lauren, the short and portly French-Canadian trainer of Secretariat), the movie was very well done, and it captured the excitement and love an entire nation felt for this one racehorse, during very turbulent times in the history of the United States.
When I have the free time, I love going to YouTube and watching some of the thousands of horse races that are available to view. Watching Secretariat in the Belmont NEVER gets tiring. Secretariat's 2:24 Belmont time for the mile-and-a-half race is one of those records that may NEVER be broken. His Kentucky Derby time STILL stands as the record for that race. His Preakness time is, unofficially, the fastest Preakness ever run (the "official" race clock had a malfunction during the race, but all other "independent" timings of the race showed Secretariat ran the Preakness in record time).
If you have a passion for horse racing, or even if you are a "passing" fan and just want to see some very well-done movies, I would highly recommend "Secretariat". "Seabiscuit", and a couple of lesser-known movies that are very well done (and heartbreaking), called "Ruffian" and "Phar Lap".
If you've never heard of Phar Lap, he is the greatest racehorse in Australian racing history, and he raced in the 1930s. He was, and still is, such a sports hero in Australia that after his mysterious and untimely death in California (actually he was murdered), his remains were shipped back to Australia, where he was "taxidermied" and is still on display in an Australian museum.
I was so pleased when the movie "Secretariat" was made, because it brought back to life and brought back to the public eye, arguably the best racehorse in the history of the sport.
Although the movie took some "liberties" with some of the facts, and some of the casting was strange (like John Malkovich portraying Lucien Lauren, the short and portly French-Canadian trainer of Secretariat), the movie was very well done, and it captured the excitement and love an entire nation felt for this one racehorse, during very turbulent times in the history of the United States.
When I have the free time, I love going to YouTube and watching some of the thousands of horse races that are available to view. Watching Secretariat in the Belmont NEVER gets tiring. Secretariat's 2:24 Belmont time for the mile-and-a-half race is one of those records that may NEVER be broken. His Kentucky Derby time STILL stands as the record for that race. His Preakness time is, unofficially, the fastest Preakness ever run (the "official" race clock had a malfunction during the race, but all other "independent" timings of the race showed Secretariat ran the Preakness in record time).
If you have a passion for horse racing, or even if you are a "passing" fan and just want to see some very well-done movies, I would highly recommend "Secretariat". "Seabiscuit", and a couple of lesser-known movies that are very well done (and heartbreaking), called "Ruffian" and "Phar Lap".
If you've never heard of Phar Lap, he is the greatest racehorse in Australian racing history, and he raced in the 1930s. He was, and still is, such a sports hero in Australia that after his mysterious and untimely death in California (actually he was murdered), his remains were shipped back to Australia, where he was "taxidermied" and is still on display in an Australian museum.
