Firstly let me congratulate Jimmy Lithgow on an excellent article about the film “Secretariat” which I agree does credit to what was arguably the best horse who ever raced.
There is one point however that Jimmy makes that needs to be corrected for the record. In his article Jimmy says that the doubts that were expressed in the movie concerning Bold Ruler’s ability to sire a Belmont Stakes winner were not entirely convincing. That is not the case. Bold Ruler himself did not win the Belmont Stakes as Jimmy states but did win the Preakness which is the shortest of the Triple Crown races and run over nine and a half furlongs. What caused the doubt in everyones mind before Secretariat was syndicated was that no son of Bold Ruler in his lifetime had ever won a Triple Crown race let alone the longest race, namely the Belmont. At that stage Bold Ruler was clearly a sire of very fast and precocious horses but he had not delivered the goods as a classic sire. Secretariat put the record straight.
Ronnie Napier – via email
