Secretariat and other things

I just watched the movie trailer of Secretariat which Disney has produced. It is supposed to be about the life story of the owner, Penny Chenery Tweedy, and of the horse Secretariat. I had done something strange last May when I logged onto Sprint, and used the name Secretariat as my password. It never did work as Sprint and I did not get it together then, but when I went to a special movie here awhile back at Tempe Marketplace I saw the small ad advertising the movie along with a lot of special promotions by Sprint. It was the Leonardo Di Caprio movie that I had gone to see, about being in a deep sleep. Strange movie but oh so true at times at how one can be inside one another's heads and dreams. Weird!

So now that racing is starting again, and Zenyatta has a special race this Saturday I just learned that the movie preview of Secretariat will also be on Saturday. Then a week or so later, it will be in theatres every where.

I remember Secretariat well and have my own special fond memories of that racehorse.

I see today that Cyclone Larry is who plays the role of Secretariat along with some other horses which were not named. But Cyclone Larry has his own page at Facebook and I connected to it.

As for other things, I am suffering memory blocks again. It makes me wonder at myself, because whenever I do something stupid like decide to put something somewhere where I can find it, naturally, I always forget where I put it.

So here again, I am looking for an object that I put away and had forgotten until this morning when all of sudden I realized that it is not where it had always been, and I am angry at myself for it. It is no big deal but it is disturbing to me to realize how often I do this to myself.

Renewing interest in Secretariat again seems strange to me. I cannot imagine what kind of story there is to tell about horses any more, as there are so many who have done so many phenomenal things. But I will say that after realizing that drugs are used to pep horses up, it makes me wonder why it is that a horse cannot be left to run on its own accord without having to have lasix or bute or some other drug to act as a medicine of some kind. If it is truly not healthy, it should not race. But some think these drugs are like aspirin, and just serve to dull the pain. Anyone really believing that is nuts!

Lasix is supposed to have something to do with the blood, but for the most part, I had been told that it acts as a cover to hide other forms of medicine that cannot be detected when lasix is used. There was a time when first time lasix almost always guaranteed a win for a horse, but not any longer so. Horses can only win if they are truly capable, no matter what drug may be induced into them. So don't expect to win just because a horse's program indicates first time lasix. It does help a horse that has the potential to win though, but most have to be trained to learn how to take the lead and how to keep it, or how to close if far behind.

Zenyatta is a closer, and is so fast that few can keep up with her, so I am sure that this story of Secretariat is to let the world know about the horse that some considered a "freak of nature".

I always remember that year because it took place after I had gone through Kentucky Blue Grass country that year. I had been tied to a horse named Cougar II then.

Willie Shoemaker had been the jockey for that horse as Charlie Whittingham had trained him.

Ron Turcotte rode Secretariat and later suffered a severe accident and he sustained a back injury. I just read where a jockey fell off a horse at Zia Race track and died from his injuries. The track closed racing that day after the fall.

Racing is serious business, and is dangerous. It is exciting as all get out though, and I love horses. So I will be going to see Zenyatta this Saturday and will see the movie though I am not sure I will like Diane Lane as Penny.

Secretariat's trainer is Lucien Lauren. I did see him when I visited Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Oaks. I went to the museum, toured the grounds, watched the film there, learned who the star of jockeys had been then, and bet on the Kentucky Oaks.

I placed an advance bet on the Derby and left promptly. The place becomes a carnival, a circus, a hoot! It promised to be too crowded for my meagre budget at the time, and while I did meet up with some interesting people there, I remember one in particular who impressed upon me that the horse is only a commodity.

Well, some horses are overlooked who are not freaks of nature but who have paid both owners, bettors, and trainers and jockeys very well. While Secretariat is a very special horse and gave rewards to millions who just wanted to see something spectacular in action, the movie will never be quite the same as when the events themselves took place. All of horse racing is a gamble! The movie is a sure bet!