Secretariat's First Crop

Fifty years ago, Secretariat’s first crop of foals was born. There were just 28 named members of that 1975 crop, from 36 mares bred, and it’s hard to fathom that today’s top colts can retire to books of 150 to 200 or more mares. What a different 50 years makes!

There were of course high hopes for the Triple Crown winner’s first foals, unreasonably high hopes. How could the greatest horse of all time possibly reproduce himself? That first crop did indeed leave a lot to be desired on the racetrack, although they made plenty of headlines just for who they were. There was, however, one G1 winner in the bunch, which was really not all that common among first-year sires back then. The colt named Dactylographer won his big race in England, so perhaps Secretariat didn’t get the recognition he deserved at the time, at least from American media.

Dactylographer was purchased for stud duty in Florida, and became the best sire of that first crop, and was fairly prominent in Florida for several years. He sired seven stakes winners and earners of almost $6.3 million.

Dactylographer as a stallion in Florida; he was one of Secretariat's nine G1 winners.

One other first-crop Secretariat became a stakes winner. That was the filly Messina, whose two wins in eight starts included the 1978 Valdale Stakes at Latonia (now Turfway Park). As a broodmare, she was eventually sent to Japan, and her most notable descendant was her grandson Telegnosis, a G1 winner in that country.

Several first-crop Secretariats made their headlines in the auction ring. The stallion launched the era of million-dollar yearlings when a handsome chestnut son out of Charming Alibi (already the dam of international champion Dahlia) brought down the house at Keeneland with a world record $1.5 million sale in 1976. It was more than double the previous record. However, the colt named Canadian Bound failed to win in four starts in France and California, and was similarly unsuccessful as a sire.

This handsome boy is Repatriate, a son of Canadian Bound. I saw him in my early days at Santa Anita when his sire's name called at me from the program. He only won one race, but as a Canadian-bred, he was sent into the prestigious Queen's Plate at Woodbine. Overmatched, he finished far back.

Other record first-crop yearlings were the Saratoga sales-topper Grey Legion at $550,000. Although he never started, he had some early success as a sire of runners, including graded stakes winners American Legion and Foreign Legion, along with French Legionaire. The latter was on the Kentucky Derby trail for a brief time in early 1984, winning three straight races that winter, including the El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows (defeating future Preakness winner Gate Dancer in the process). Grey Legion went on to be an interesting sport-horse sire; more of his story is told in Secretariat’s Legacy.

I consider myself fortunate to have seen Grey Legion on my very first trip to Kentucky in 1982.

Across the pond, a filly out of Aladancer brought an Irish record price for a yearling of either sex, about $288,000. Named Secala, she won two of six races in California and was second in the San Clemente Stakes at Del Mar. She later became the second Secretariat daughter to produce a stakes winner with her son Sir Simon. And her great-grandson Equiano was a multiple G1 winner in England and the sire of 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Belvoir Bay.

Belvoir Bay won the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint; he was by Equiano, a top descendant of the first-crop Secretariat mare Secala.

As weanlings in 1975, two first-crop Secretariats sold for record prices. A filly to be named Superfast brought $200,000 the night before the colt named Confidant brought more, $250,000. Neither won a race.

The last Secretariat born that first year (on May 21, 1975) became the stallion’s first starter, making her debut at Keeneland on April 16, 1977. The perhaps unfortunately-named Sexetary took the lead early in the 4½-furlong race, and weakened late to finish fourth. She was sidelined with shin problems until later in the year, and never won a race. Yet as a broodmare, she was one of five first-crop daughters to produce a stakes winner. Her 1981 foal was the multiple stakes winner Green Cedars, who won two stakes at Calder. Sexetary’s daughter Archangel was sent to Japan, and she won a stakes race there.

Secretariat didn’t get his first winner as a sire until Feuille d’Erable won in her third start on September 11, 1977, a Woodbine maiden race. She would end up with five wins in 33 races, more starts (and wins) than all but one of the first-crop Secretariats. As a broodmare, she stayed in America, while her early female-line descendants went far and wide: Australia, India, Philippines, South Korea, Argentina and Japan.

Other winners in Secretariat’s first crop included Sacrebleu, the stallion's first American winner when he won at first asking at Laurel on December 21, 1977; Acratariat (one win), Brilliant Protege (two wins), Centrifolia (two wins in two starts in Ireland), Cold Reception (one win), Oatlands (one win in Ireland), Seclusive (three wins), Senator’s Choice (one win), Syntariat (four wins), Tete a Tete (two wins) and Debrett (the only gelding in that first crop; he raced from age three to nine and won 12 of 110 starts).

The colts Meiwa Baron and Sociologue failed to win, the former in Japan and the latter in France. Neither sired any reported foals.

Tete a Tete was sent to South Africa for stud duty, and only had a few decent runners there. He was one of several members of Secretariat’s first crop who, without any remarkable racing performances, were sent to distant shores as stallions or broodmares. They brought the Triple Crown winner’s name to breeding industries in Europe, Japan and other Asian countries, Australia, South America and South Africa. Many of Secretariat’s daughters, even if they stayed in North America, had their own daughters picked up by breeders around the world.

While Secretariat sired some excellent runners (like Horse of the Year Lady’s Secret and champion 3-year-old colt Risen Star), we all know that it was his daughters who forever secured his place in pedigrees. Five of the 13 first-crop Secretariat mares produced at least one stakes winner. The very first was Miss Secretariat, who coincidentally was also the very first foal born, on January 1, 1975. She failed to hit the board in five starts, but earned another place in history with her first foal, the stakes winner Uno Roberto. Born in 1979, he won the 1981 Teterboro at The Meadowlands for Secretariat's first stakes win as a broodmare sire. Uno Roberto picked up a second stakes win in the 1984 Fort McHenry at Bowie.

Already discussed were stakes producers Secala and Sexetary. There was also Senator’s Choice, who produced Seattle Rob, who won the 1993 Young America at The Meadowlands; the same race Storm Cat won in 1985.

The only one of the five stakes-producing mares in that first crop to produce a G1 winner was Hope for All, who happened to be bred by Meadow Stud (the Estate of Christopher T. Chenery). She placed three times in nine starts, and her daughter Lacovia won two G1 races in France, including the Prix de Diane (also called the French Oaks). Lacovia herself went on to produce European champion 2-year-old colt Tobougg.

Tobougg was named Cartier champion European 2-year-old colt in 2000. He never won after his juvenile season, but placed in the Epsom Derby, Newmarket's Champion Stakes, and the Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin, all G1 events. His last start was in the G1 Man o' War at Belmont Park.

The remaining first-crop Secretariat mares were non-winner State Room and the unraced Punctuation and Romantic Season. State Room has just one stakes-placed descendant to date, while Punctuation has none. Romantic Season fared much better – she produced the stakes-placed filly Hero’s Romance and has several top stakes winners among her descendants. They include multiple G1 winner and Singapore champion Gilt Complex, New Zealand G1 winner Baldessarini, and multiple graded stakes winner Ascot Prince in India, plus a few American stakes winners.

While Dactylographer was both a G1 winner and the best sire to come out of Secretariat’s first crop, and Grey Legion had some interesting success, there were other sons with bright spots. Alfred G. Vanderbilt’s colt Cold Reception was a rarity – HIS stakes-winning son Cool Joe sired a G1 winner in A Huevo. Cold Reception also sired Rolling Cart, winner of the 1993 Maryland Million Steeplechase. And just last year, Cold Reception’s name surfaced in the pedigree of Kentucky Derby contender West Saratoga.

A nice Maryland sire, Brilliant Protege was Secretariat’s second-best first-crop son by progeny earnings. Two of his best racing sons were Brilliant Stepper and Bagetelle, while his most notable impact was as the broodmare sire of Maryland-bred Horse of the Year Brilliant Brass.

Two other first-crop sons were recognized more for their influence outside the racing world. Seclusive, a full brother to General Assembly (one of Secretariat’s best runners), sired a couple of stakes winners in the U.S. before being exported to Europe, where he ended up in great demand as a sire of show jumpers and eventers. Mr. Crimson Ruler, the first of several Secretariats out of the mare Crimson Saint (the best of the others were Terlingua and Pancho Villa), sired some exceptional Quarter Horse show and performance horses.

And then there were a few who might have been. It’s no surprise that breeders were sending some of their best mares to Secretariat in the early years. His first book included outstanding mares who either didn’t conceive or who aborted. They were 15-year-old Broadway (who had already produced champion Queen of the Stage and Reviewer, sire of the great Ruffian), 20-year-old Iberia (Meadow Stable’s dam of champion Riva Ridge), 17-year-old Natalma (dam of Northern Dancer), and 13-year-old Iskra (dam of champion Wajima). That said, mares who have already produced top runners are typically less likely to keep producing top runners no matter their mates.

More details about all of Secretariat’s first crop horses can be found in Secretariat’s Legacy.