Story behind Secretariat's Triple Crown in 1973

By Ed Zieralski

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 7:06 p.m.

/ AP

In this publicity image released by Disney, from second left, Diane Lane , Nelsan Ellis, Otto Thorwarth, and John Malkovich are shown in a scene from, "Secretariat." (AP Photo/Disney, John Bramley)

Horse racing fans know well the story of Secretariat and how he capped his Triple Crown march with a record-setting romp and 31-length win in the Belmont Stakes.
It’s still considered one of the greatest athletic performances in the history of sports. At 35th, Secretariat is the only non-human on ESPN’s list of Top 100 athletes of the 20th Century.
Actress Diane Lane was 8 years old when Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973. And although she never got into horse racing in real life, her recent association with the movie, “Secretariat,” gave her a deep appreciation of what Big Red did in the Belmont Stakes. More importantly, it gave her an even greater respect for the people behind the superhorse.
“I had such a love for horses,” said Lane, the actress who plays Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery (Penny Tweedy then), in the movie, set to be released Friday. “But I didn’t understand the accomplishment that basically the earth stood still on its axis for a moment while Secretariat grew wings and expressed his joy for living at the Belmont Stakes.
“You can go on YouTube and press that postage-size icon of (Secretariat’s Belmont Stakes win) , and it gives you goose bumps and brings tears to your eyes,” Lane added. “But this way you have two hours of that feeling rather than two minutes. And you get the story behind it.”
Lane said she received great support from Chenery in preparing for her role as a Denver housewife who decided to step up and take over her ill father’s failing Virginia-based farm, Meadow Stables. As an actress, Lane has Oscar, Emmy and Old Globe nominations, but she said her role as Chenery was challenging. Known as “The First Lady of Racing,” Chenery earned the Eclipse Award of Merit.
“Penny was gracious enough to accept me as a guest in Boulder, Colo.,” Lane said. “She shared her experiences of life being a wife, and a daughter and mother who was thrust into the media with success and expectation and high stakes living.”
Chenery said it was difficult at first seeing herself portrayed on screen by Lane. But she said she was very happy with the outcome of the movie. She felt it was an accurate portrayal of what she and veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (played by actor John Malkovich) went through. She said the use of a real jockey, Otto Thorwarth, as jockey Ron Turcotte, was a key to the film’s authenticity.
“I’m very pleased with it overall,” Chenery said. “Horsemen will nit-pick inconsistencies, but they don’t hurt the flow of the movie. It’s just a wonderful feel-good show, and I do hope that all of my horse-crazy teenage girls will really get into this film.”
Disney director Randall Wallace said of the film: "The story is about heart -- Secretariat's and the heart of the woman who owned him. Both were greater than anyone imagined."
Lane said she learned quickly that horse racing is “an amazing arena of heart and families and dreams and great risk and excitement.”
Producer Mark Ciardi said the film focuses on Chenery because her’s was the story of the underdog behind Secretariat’s great run. As a horse owner and breeder, Chenery’s Riva Ridge and Secretariat won five of six Triple Crown races over a two-year span. Riva Ridge won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes in 1972. And Secretariat won the Triple Crown the following year. Chenery was disappointed Riva Ridge’s accomplishments were omitted in the film, but Ciardi said the focus had to be Chenery with Secretariat.
“The horse was amazing, but we looked at Penny’s story as the one that was really interesting, one that coincided with Secretariat’s ascension,” Ciardi said. “Penny came into a man’s world and took over a farm for her ailing dad when she was much removed from that. It rekindled her love for horses. But she was in a man’s world and had so many things to overcome. That was really the underdog story. It was a tough journey and very challenging for her.”
The movie, “Seabiscuit” worked because the horse was such an undersized underdog and overachiever at a time when the country was going through hard times after the Great Depression. Secretariat is an oversized superhorse whose story happened at a critical time in America and whose film comes out at a time when the country once again is fighting, this time through the Great Recession.
“There we were with Watergate and the cynicism of the war of the era (Vietnam) and the generation gap that will never be as wide again,” Lane said. “Women’s lib was a term still holding water. I just think it was an amazing time for Penny’s personal triumph and makes for a great release. And here we are again enjoying the benefit of the story.”