National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame celebrates Secretariat’s birthday

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Not only does legendary thoroughbred Secretariat hold all three Triple Crown races’ time records, but also holds the title of the “people’s horse” in the Spa City.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame held a special birthday for Big Red, celebrating his 54th birthday with activities for kids and a showing of the Disney Movie “Secretariat.”

“I love that we are able to do this, it feels so good to welcome people into the museum and to have an event that builds the community and brings us together,” Museum Educator Matt Reichel said. “As somebody who has lived in Saratoga forever, I like when there are opportunities for people to get out of their houses and realize that there’s a community of about 33,000 people in Saratoga Springs full of very friendly people.”

Riechel also talked about why Secretariat is still being celebrated all these years later, making note of his incredible racing history and his records that to date no other horse has beaten.

“I think what’s so fascinating about Secretariat is he really is such a singular horse in the history of horse racing, I mean there is a reason we are still talking about him 50 years later,” Reichel explained. “He still has the record for all three of those Triple Crown races from back in 1973 that still hasn’t been beaten by the many many, many hundred horses that have come and gone since then.

“To have a horse just so utterly dominant in the sport and to have all those records still stand — it’s like if Wayne Gretzky was a horse. It was just one utterly dominant performance by one singular horse, and it’s just a fascinating part of our history. At the museum today people can come in and see why we are still celebrating Secretariat, his story and the history as well as today presents an opportunity for kids to come and connect with it all in a new and interesting way.”

Along with visiting the museum and seeing the many displays of trophies, horse racing memorabilia, and the preserved history of horse racing many special activities were set up for children to take part in to celebrate. These included making birthday cards for Secretariat, raffles, an “Easter Egg” scavenger hunt throughout the museum, a build-your-own trophy station, and ice cream sandwiches from King Brothers Dairy.

“So this is a wonderful community event, we at the museum love children and recognize these children are the next generation,” Museum Director Cate Masterson said. “Our mission is to preserve and promote thoroughbred racing and to honor the sport’s most accomplished participants in the official thoroughbred racing Hall of Fame, and we want to teach children about horses and thoroughbred racing.”

“There’s a lot of opportunity here and there’s just something special about the relations between horses and humans. There’s just an emotional connection. They’re beautiful creatures and animals here So we have a lot to offer and it’s pretty special.”

Many people came out for the celebration like Eileen Brzozowski and her family. Her two grandsons from Garden City, Henry and Alexander came to visit and they all made a special trip to the museum for this event.

“I was born on March 31st and Secretariat was born on the 30th so that’s special,” Brozozowski said. “They (her grandsons) like going to the race track and feeding the horses during the summer and this is a fun little outing. They loved the jockey room and enjoyed the scavenger hunt.”

The event also marked the last day the special 50th anniversary Secretariat exhibition, “A Tremendous Machine: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown,” was open. This exhibit opened in July of 2023, the day before the summer meet at the Saratoga Race Course started, and throughout the duration, many people have visited from all over to experience it.

“It’s been unbelievable really,” Masterson said about the reception from the public regarding the exhibit. “It starts with the toss of the coin, which is how the Chenerys received him as a foal and then it works through his training, his two-year-old career and into his Triple Crown victory. We also have some videos of his farewell tour and some saddles and all of his Triple Crown trophies, which are pretty special, as well as a case of really cool everyday fun items, like the Disney poster, the cover of Time Magazine he was on and other little tchotchkes stuff.”

Following this exhibit’s departure, the Museum will be putting up a new one called “The Passions of Paul Mellon: Horses, Art, and Philanthropy.” The new exhibit will open in July.

To learn more about the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, visit https://www.racingmuseum.org.