BY KIMBERLY KOVACIK
I want to start this article out by sharing that when I started this project, I was never planning to include Secretariat being present in a horse’s pedigree as an attribute.
Why, you may ask?
Well, because I never considered him in line with a sport horse sire. Which may have been ignorant on my part, but the whole purpose of this project was to look at data and learn. What gave me pause to include reviewing the sire and dam pedigrees for Secretariat was a post Denny Emmerson made on his Tamarack Hill Farm Facebook page back in March of 2025. Denny’s point was made as to how Secretariat’s physical build would typically not be the type one would look for in a true upper-level sport horse.
I was early into this project and decided to include Secretariat as an attribute, as truly, I had no idea if any of his offspring and their descendants ever made it to upper-level competition and were winners. So, to that, thank you, Denny, because I think bringing Secretariat into this project was yet another wonderful learning opportunity for myself and others!
Secretariat was foaled March 30th, 1970. Bred by Meadow Stud Inc. by Bold Ruler out of Somethingroyal. Secretariat raced 21 times. He won 16 out of 21 races, was 2nd 3 times, and placed 3rd once. Secretariat was the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Who then went on to win the Arlington Invitational Stakes, the Marlboro Cup Handicap, the Man O’War Stakes, and the Canadian International Championship Stakes. His winning race times for the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes still stand 53 years later. To that point, I would highly encourage you to watch the clip of him winning the Belmont Stakes because it is incredible.
Secretariat, or “Big Red,” was fast, had incredible stamina, and had a sleek look to him. On average, a Thoroughbred’s heart weighs around 8.2lbs. Secretariat’s heart was said to have weighed around three times that. Secretariat was known for his excellent conformation, standing 16.2hh, and, from his write-up on americanclassicpedigrees.com, had “a reputation of being a ham who would happily pose for the camera at any opportunity.”
But what about his offspring?
His offspring were impressive on the track. Siring 341 winners, but his big influence was through his maternal grandsons. Think A.P. Indy, Gone West, Storm Cat, and Dehere! Secretariat shows up at least once in 202 of 890 sires on my pedigree review spreadsheet.
2249. Which means Secretariat is listed in 2,249 pedigrees of Thoroughbreds who had a USEF record. Secretariat is also the sire of 6 of the stallions on my “sire” tab of the spreadsheet: Innkeeper, Academy Award, American Promise, Executive Order, Nias, and Romantico. Innkeeper sired 15 USEF record-holding offspring, Academy Award sired 12, American Promise sired 8, and Executive Order, Nias, and Romantico sired 6. While he was not directly in any of the mares’ pedigrees I reviewed as a Sire or Grandsire, he showed up in 2 mare pedigrees, which produced 8 offspring with USEF records.
Now, to sit back on Denny’s question/statement on Secretariat, I agree when it comes to confirmation of breeding for a sport horse. If you gave me a lineup of all of the stallions on my spreadsheet, Secretariat would not be in my top 20 choices if I had to pick a sire to hypothetically breed to.
But as I said above, Secretariat’s big influence was through his maternal grandsons. Enter A.P. Indy and his son, Malibu Moon. A.P. Indy was listed as the sire of 14 offspring with USEF records. Better yet, A.P. Indy was the sire of 15 out of the 890 stallions I reviewed. Some of those sires were Malibu Moon, Congrats, Jump Start, Stephen Got Even, Mineshaft, Friends Lake, Dance With Ravens, and Pulpit. Those 15 sires produced 323 offspring holding USEF records.
In the sport horse world, Malibu Moon would be a horse I would choose much further above Secretariat if I hypothetically were picking a stallion to breed to. Why? He produced 48 offspring that hold USEF records. Had 7 progeny compete in CCI5* events, and 2 offspring competing at the 1.45m at a CSI3* level. Which is rather incredible on its own merit for a horse that raced twice as a 2-year-old. Malibu Moon’s racing career ended early due to injury, but his stud career was much more successful. Siring 1,394 winners out of the 2,259 progenies in total.
To conclude, Secretariat is in many Thoroughbred pedigrees today, and he had some wonderful attributes. But I would note him as above, a much better maternal grandsire. A few notable mentions in my top 20 hypothetical choices for breeding that will segue into my next article (hint, 4 horses I seemingly call out in my “Notes” columns): Hand in Glove, A Fine Romance, Mt. Livermore, Good News Joe, Boc, Peace Rules, Macsen’s Sword, Patton, Absolut (Lancaster Avenue), Lemon Drop Kid, Bernardini, Maria’s Mon, Sir Thompson, Final Pool, and Castle Wonder.
As this continues to be a work in progress, please see my link to my attribute review spreadsheet of the 937 Thoroughbred pedigrees I reviewed (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TBD1B-5eNnxkcMdbLUVlf1faYhE7egZ4jnuRm5DHHJQ/edit?usp=sharing).
As always, if you have any information you’d like to share or add for these horses, please contact me at thethoroughbred.pedigree.project@gmail.com. I would love to talk to you and learn more to share with others!
One last thing. A big thank you to Dr. Pete Birdsall for sharing your wonderful website and knowledge with me over the past few months. I truly appreciate the opportunity to be able to learn from you!
Kimberly Kovacik is a Senior Audit Manager at a top-10 bank, leading robust internal audit functions for the organization’s Wealth Management business. When she’s not working, Kim enjoys living the adult ammy life in the jumper ring (and sometimes Hunters and Eq because it’s fun), traveling, and analyzing Thoroughbred pedigrees.
Some recommended reading to share that have helped me over the past year and a half:
Birdsall D.V. M, Dr. P. H. “Bloodlines of Hunters & Jumpers in North America.” The Hurley Printing Company Limited, 1981.
Chapot, Frank, and Newman, Arlene J. “Winning with Frank Chapot.” Breakthrough Publications, 1992.
De Nemethy, Bertalan. “The De Nemethy Method – Modern Techniques for Training the Show Jumper and Its Rider.” 1st ed., Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1988.
Montgomery, E.S. “The Thoroughbred.” 4th ed., Arco Publishing, Inc., 1980.
Steinkraus, William. “New and Revised Edition: Riding and Jumping.” Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1969.
Stoneridge, M.A. “Great Horses of Our Time – Foreword by William Steinkraus.” 1st ed., Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1972.
