Lady's Secret (April 8, 1982 – March 4, 2003) was an American

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

winning

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

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that was listed in the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century. Lady's Secret was bred by Robert H. Spreen at Lucas Farm in Oklahoma. Spreen sold her for $200,000 to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Klein (former owner of the San Diego Chargers), and she was prepared for racing by Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. She was a small horse, weighing no more than about 900 pounds.

Breeding and background

Lady's Secret was sired by U.S. Triple Crown champion

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...

and out of Great Lady M., a daughter of Icecapade who was a half brother to Ruffian. Lady's Secret was also closely related to Ruffian on her sire's side since Secretariat and Reviewer (Ruffian's sire) shared a sire in Bold Ruler. Lady's Secret was bred by Robert H. Spreen at Lucas Farm in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Spreen sold her for $200,000 to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Klein (former owner of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

), and she was prepared for racing by Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. She was a small horse, weighing no more than about 900 pounds.

Racing record

Lady's Secret, who was a front runner, won twenty-five of her forty-five races and had nine second-place finishes. The daughter of Secretariat dominated the fillies she raced against and was also competitive against males. After winning the Moccasin Stakes at age two, Lady's Secret won three important races at age three, including two

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

events, and ran second to stablemate

Life's Magic {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Life's Magic , image = , caption = , sire = Cox's Ridge , grandsire = Best Turn , dam = Fire Water , damsire = Tom Rolfe , sex = Filly , foaled = 1981 , country = United States , colour = Bay , b ...

in the 1985

Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or ...

. In 1986, four-year-old Lady's Secret defeated the nation's best male horses four times, winning ten of her fifteen starts that season, all

graded stakes race A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is then ...

s. Eight of these stakes wins were Grade 1 events, a single-season Grade 1 winning record only equaled by the champion

Cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

during his undefeated 1995 campaign. Nicknamed "The Iron Lady," Lady's Secret was the first female to win the

Whitney Stakes The Whitney Stakes (run as the Whitney Handicap through 2013 and still sometimes referred to as such) is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of miles. The current purse is $1, ...

since

Gallorette Gallorette (1942–1959) was a Maryland-bred chestnut thoroughbred filly who became a Hall of Fame race horse. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III. Breeding Trainer Preston M. Burch bought Gal ...

in 1948. She finished her year by winning the

with

Pat Day Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 a ...

aboard. Her lifetime earnings equaled $3,021,325. Her performance throughout the 1986 racing season earned her the

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Older Female Horse The Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a filly or mare, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of th ...

plus the most prestigious honor of all, and a rarity for fillies, the

Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...

for 1986. Lady's Secret is ranked at number 76 by ''Blood-Horse'' magazine in their list of the Top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century.

Stud record

Retired at age five, in 1989 Lady's Secret was sold to Fares Farm in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, as a

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...

. She and

Azeri (horse) Azeri (foaled May 6, 1998) is an American Hall of Fame champion thoroughbred racehorse who was 2002 US Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female from 2002 to 2004. Breeding Azeri was foaled May 6, 1998, in Versailles, Kentucky. She was bred an ...

are the only two female winners of the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year to have produced foals by more than one stallion who was also Horse of the Year (Lady's Secret produced foals by

Seattle Slew Seattle Slew (February 15, 1974 – May 7, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who became the tenth winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States), American Triple Crown (1977). He is one of only ...

and

Skip Away Skip Away (April 4, 1993 – May 14, 2010), was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1998 Horse of the Year, 1996 Champion Three-Year-Old, and 1997 and 1998 Champion Handicap Horse. He won 10 Grade One races for $9,616,360 in ...

). Lady's Secret died suddenly on March 4, 2003 at Valley Creek Farm in Valley Center,

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, as a result of complications in foaling. She produced 12 foals, with 10 starters and 5 winners. None of her progeny were of particular note. In 1992, Lady's Secret was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

. The Lady's Secret Café at

Monmouth Park Racetrack Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...

Oceanport, New Jersey Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 5,832,Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

, was named in her honor, but from 2012 it was known as the Zenyatta Stakes, after the 2010 American Horse of the Year who won that race in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Lady's Secret Drive in Del Rayo Estates,

Rancho Santa Fe, California Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping blocks, ...

, where her owner lived, was also named in her memory. Valley Creek Farm has since been sold. The new owner is in the process of developing The Lady's Secret Memorial Garden as a tribute to the great race mare.

Pedigree

References

* ''Women of the Year - Ten Fillies Who Achieved Horse Racing's Highest Honor'' by the Staff and Correspondents of The Blood-Horse magazine (2004)

Eclipse Press Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Publica ...

External links

*{{Find a Grave, 8455571
A Swell Dame Wins The Beldame
*The Lady's Secret Memorial Garde

1982 racehorse births 2003 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 22-d Racehorses trained in the United States Breeders' Cup Distaff winners American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Racehorses bred in Oklahoma United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Eclipse Award winners