For those that ponied up $190,000 apiece for membership in Secretariat’s breeding syndicate, the period between the powerful chestnut’s loss in the April 21 Wood Memorial Stakes and the May 5 Kentucky Derby was gut-check time.

After two facile wins to begin his 1973 campaign, Secretariat’s inexplicable lackluster third in the Wood turned nerves raw. Many had been hesitant to invest a then-record sum in the Meadow Stable standard-bearer despite his status as Horse of the Year at 2, but those feelings were smoothed over when Secretariat returned at 3 looking better than ever.

One defeat, however, and the racing world – particularly those in the syndicate – began questioning whether Secretariat had run his course, and whether a son of Bold Ruler was fit for distances north of a mile.

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His owner, Penny (Tweedy) Chenery, was resolute, but still in no mood to deal with distraught syndicate members.

“I was confused by the Wood,” Chenery said in 2013. “It brought out plenty of second-guessers, and it was a time of great tension. It was easier for me because the decision about what to do with the horse was mine. I had the right to manage his career through his 3-year-old season. One of them asked me how many times I was going to let him get beat, and I said, ‘Hopefully, none, but that is my right.’ Once you let them start helping you manage the horse, there would be no peace. It was regrettable that he lost, but I was going to take a tough stand and keep managing his career.”

Secretariat was flown from New York to Louisville two days after the Wood and inserted in the same barn and stall occupied by Meadow Stable’s Riva Ridge, the previous year’s Derby winner owned by the Chenery family. With just two weeks between the Wood and the Derby, Secretariat’s regular jockey, Ron Turcotte, flew to Louisville to work the horse April 27, eight days before the Derby. Working in tandem with Wood victor and stablemate Angle Light, Secretariat went six furlongs in 1:12 3/5.

“I didn’t like the way he worked,” Turcotte stated in 2013. “He was hitting the ground perfect; there was nothing wrong with his legs, but there was something wrong, something puzzling me that I couldn’t put my finger on.”

Turcotte flew back to New York after the breeze to ride that afternoon’s card. He was getting a cup of coffee in the jockeys’ room when New York Racing Association veterinarian Manny Gilman sidled up to him and asked if he had worked Secretariat that morning. Turcotte told him he had indeed, and then Gilman, who had discovered the condition the morning of the Wood, asked Turcotte if the abscess had come to a head.

“What abscess?” Turcotte asked.

“The big abscess under his upper lip,” Gilman said.

“Geez, thanks, Doc, you just solved my problem,” Turcotte said. 

Turcotte said in 2013 that discovery was a relief.

“I’d been wracking my head trying to figure it out. I still don’t know why nobody told me about it, and I didn’t know if I was at liberty to tell anybody else, so I didn’t say anything about it to anybody,” Turcotte said. “But it was a big relief to me.”

Trainer Lucien Laurin had been alerted by Gilman to the condition before the Wood but didn’t want to take a chance on lancing it. The abscess finally came to a head the Saturday before the Derby, and a poultice was applied to it. The abscess burst the next morning. 

Turcotte and Secretariat after the Derby win. (BloodHorse Library)

On the Tuesday night of Derby week, Turcotte flew back to Louisville to put Secretariat through his final work the next morning. However, as soon as he got to his hotel room, his heart skipped a beat as he had a message to call Laurin. The trainer asked Turcotte to come with him to Penny Tweedy’s room for a conference.

“I remember it so well because I was apprehensive,” Turcotte noted. “I had a bad feeling. I’m just a hired person and they can decide to change riders whenever they want to, or they might decide to scratch.”

“I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page,” Chenery explained in 2013, “and to make sure they knew that with this horse, they were working for me. I wanted to scare them a little bit. And I guess I did.”

A short conference ensued in Tweedy’s room. Turcotte remembers them talking about the race and the horse and if he could get the distance.

“I told them he could run any distance,” Turcotte said. “His style would carry him. Just throw the Wood out. I kept my mouth shut about what Dr. Gilman told me. But I would tell them what I thought for sure after I worked him the next morning.”

That five-furlong move was timed in :58 3/5, and Turcotte’s mind was put at ease.

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“I was so pleased,” he said. “Coming off the track, I saw (exercise rider) Charlie (Davis), and I told him come Saturday we’d be in the same place we were last year. Penny and Lucien didn’t get to see the workout; they’d driven around to the front side, but the gates were closed. They asked me how he went, and I told them ‘He went beautiful. We’ll get there.’”

After the workout Turcotte again returned to New York, where he ran into legendary jockey Eddie Arcaro.

“We started talking racing and the Derby, and he asked me if a Bold Ruler could get the distance. I told him this wasn’t a typical Bold Ruler; he was more like (broodmare sire) Princequillo – you could do anything with him and he could go any distance,” Turcotte said. “And Arcaro told me that I’d get blamed anyway, so ride him the way I thought was right. I wanted to go easy with him the first part; I knew he could outrun any horse going a mile.”

As the Derby approached, Tweedy maintained a quiet confidence. “I didn’t want to talk about how the horse was doing or how the race would be run,” she said. “I guess that was my nerves reacting to the Wood. But I was pretty confident. I was realistic, and I really thought I had the best horse.”

Turcotte and Secretariat went real easy, breaking last of 13 from the Derby gate. 

“Ron told me years later that he broke slow because it took the horse that long to get his big rear end in gear,” said Chenery. “I wasn’t concerned because that was his style.”

Turcotte was happy enough to be away from any trouble caused by riders jockeying for position early on. He eased back on Secretariat, asking for nothing the first quarter mile. Turcotte would now test his theory that no one could outrun his colt going a mile.

The start of a Triple Crown sweep. (BloodHorse Library)

“As soon as we passed the wire the first time, I ran by Bill Hartack (on Warbucks) and just kept picking my horse up,” said Turcotte. “From there I kept improving my position. By the five-eighths I was fifth or sixth and at the half-mile pole I’d moved up to fourth alongside Walter Blum on Royal and Regal. I stayed on the outside and was moving good. My horse ran around the turn on his left lead, so turning for home, I tapped him a couple of times to get him to switch leads. I saw (Laffit) Pincay (on Sham) had a lot of horse, but once Secretariat switched his lead, I never had to touch him. He took off. Pincay saw me coming and set his horse (Sham) down. But I was leaving him fairly easy and hand-rode my horse to the wire. Once my horse switched leads the game was over.

“As I was coming back I saw the time (1:59 2/5) and knew we had broken Northern Dancer’s record. I used to ride him his 2-year-old year and I loved that little horse. But it was kind of sweet we broke his record.”

Up in the stands the relief was palpable for the owner of the most valuable racehorse in the world. Mrs. Tweedy, along with her brother and sister, who co-owned Secretariat with her, was swallowed up by well-wishers.

“There was a sense of pressure being lifted off my shoulders,” she said. “I was relieved we didn’t get tripped up by something. There was no screaming, just a sense of ‘We did it.’ I felt that we would. Having won it the year before made a huge difference; having been there, done that.

“I wanted to do it right, so we spent 40 minutes in the press box answering questions, but I really wanted to get back to the barn and congratulate the horse and join the party. 

“I wasn’t surprised nor overwhelmed by winning the Derby. It was more like, ‘OK, we won the first one, and now we have to win the second one (the Preakness).’”