Secretariat

The R.A.C.E. Fund will kick off its annual online auction Friday, May 8 on eBay (seller name: racefund) at 8 p.m. ET with all proceeds raised used to help Thoroughbreds in need of retirement and rescue from slaughter. In addition to halters and horseshoes worn by champions, a number of items have been donated from the third phase of photographer Christopher Hoff's private collection. "We have some very exciting and amazing auction items again this year," said R.A.C.E. Fund President Marlene Murray. "We would like to especially thank our volunteer...

Frank Calvarese, who held the position of head starter at the NYRA tracks from 1984 through 1993, passed away Thursday at his home in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was 96. He died of heart failure. "He was a great horseman and a great man," said his wife, Lisa. "He was ill for about a month, but during the last year he had been on the decline. But he looked so young. He looked great. He still had his black hair and he grew a goatee. He even looked great...

Heading back to the rostrum from a break, Ryan Mahan was stopped by Wayne Lukas. "This filly coming up, three hips from now," the great trainer said. "I'm going to put my pen in my pocket. As long as it stays there, keep me in." "Wayne, please don't do this," Mahan replied. "This kind of thing--if my glasses are on, if I take my hat off--it just never works." But Lukas was insistent: that was what they were going to do. "So we get to $400,000," Mahan recalls, decades later....

The saddle Ron Turcotte used in Secretariat's Triple Crown victory sold for $1.524 million at Christie's auction house on Thursday, March 12. The price was a record amount for a piece of racing memorabilia. The hammer fell at $1.2 million, with the price reaching $1.524 million including the buyer's premium-an additional fee charged by the auction house to the winning bidder to cover the costs of the sale. The saddle was offered by the Jim Irsay Collection on behalf of the late owner of the Indianapolis Colts, who acquired it...

A private tour to visit Hall of Fame member Zenyatta at Lane's End Farm, along with halters worn by Breeders' Cup champions American Pharoah, Cody's Wish, Flightline, and Stormy Liberal, are among several items listed in the Breeders' Cup Charities (BCC) online auction now open for bidding, the group announced via press release. Set to run Monday, Jan. 12 through Sunday, Jan. 18, bidding will close at 11:59p.m. ET on that final day with proceeds going to support BCC. Revitalized in 2025, the program is dedicated to generating meaningful, lasting...

Secretariat's jockey, Ron Turcotte, passed away Friday at the age of 84. The news was confirmed by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in a statement reading: "Ron was a legendary rider and also an inspiration for all he achieved and overcame during his incredible life. Although best known for sweeping the Triple Crown with Secretariat--culminating with a 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes--Turcotte's Hall of Fame career spanned 18 years and more than 3,000 wins. As an ambassador for both the sport and the legacy of...

Three new auction items, with all proceeds benefitting the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund, and Belmont Child Care Association, will become available for bidding beginning Aug. 14-20. Items include: a complete set of artist Greg Montgomery's signed Travers Stakes poster series from 1986 through 2025 in one-of-a-kind presentation packaging; the Museum's box seats at Saratoga Race Course for this year's Travers Stakes day; and Twice the Heart, a limited-edition casting designed by artist Jocelyn Russell based on the monument completed in 2023 depicting...

by Stefanie Grimm & Alan Carasso For the first time in it's 24-year history, Virginia's Colonial Downs will play host to a Kentucky Derby winner as 2024 winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will make his turf debut in Saturday's 1 1/4-mile GI Arlington Million. Trainer Kenny McPeek has had his eye on the turf for his Derby winner for quite some time, telling the TDN this week that the idea had been on his mind for at least a year. "It was kind of an audible at the line of scrimmage,"...

Trainer Mike Maker is a man of few words. Really, he is. Don't take it personally. The 56-year-old is just not naturally blabby. The TDN's Tim Wilkin sat down with him in his office on the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course, and found that Maker has some things to say. A former assistant to the late, great D. Wayne Lukas (you know there are stories there), Maker has a favorite horse he has trained, a favorite sports team, and a definitive answer on what actor would play him in a...

Jockey Flavien Prat had himself a year in 2024 on the way to his first Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. How good was he? He set records for Stakes wins (82) and Graded Stakes wins (56). He won the Breeders' Cup Classic. He won 16 Grade I races. The list could go on, but he has turned the page. He will make no predictions for 2025. The 32-year-old French native just wants to keep on riding. He sat down with Tim Wilkin to talk about life as a top jockey...

A TDN column published Sunday referenced the racing oddity of the two most recent North American champion 2-year-old colts both losing separate races within two hours of each other on June 7 at Saratoga Race Course. 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), the 2023 juvenile male Eclipse Award champ, ran second as the 3-4 favorite in the GI Metropolitan Handicap. 'Rising Star' Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), the 2024 divisional champ, was fourth at 9-2 odds in the GI Woody Stephens Stakes. T.D. Thornton asked, "Has this ever happened on...

I recently finished reading a book called "The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, The World's Greatest Racehorse" by Lawrence Scanlon. Figuring to maybe get a new tidbit or two about the great horse, I was astonished at how it really was more of a pilgrimage of someone becoming a passionate fan. It covered a lot of information about "Big Red" (or "Super Red" if you feel the former belongs to Man o' War), but what was much more interesting was how it provided a look at the...