All 19 horses in Saturday’s 151st running of the Kentucky Derby are descendants of the great Secretariat, according to a report by the Louisville Courier Journal. A search of pedigrees found that each horse has some relation to Secretariat, who set the fastest Derby time ever in 1973 on his way to the Triple Crown.
Secretariat sired more than 660 registered foals in his lifetime, with several such sires or dams showing up in each Kentucky Derby horse’s pedigree. While most present day race horses have an all-time great somewhere in their pedigree, it worked out this year that every single horse has some link to Secretariat — whether through Weekend Surprise, A.P. Indy, Terlingua, Storm Cat or others.
The horses in this year’s Derby vary from fourth to seventh generation descendants of Secretariat, who was bred from 1974 until his death in 1989. The last of Secretariat’s sires were born in 1990.
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“It’s one of those stats,” Whit Beckman, trainer for Flying Mohawk, told the Courier Journal. “It’s bound to happen at some point with how much he shows up in every single pedigree. It’s really cool. Very cool.”
Among the notable sires of Secretariat included Risen Star, who won the 1988 Preakness and Belmont Stakes, and Lady’s Secret who won Horse of the Year honors in 1986.