The Special Ones: Happy (official) birthday to the two last known Secretariats

Border Run: The 34-year-old has always enjoyed lying down for naps in the pasture, but now he often has difficulty getting back on his feet. Photo: Patricia McQueen

There were more than 650 registered foals sired by Secretariat. The first were born in 1975 and the last in 1990. There are just two who are known to still walk this Earth – a son born in 1988 and a daughter born in 1989. 

They had their official birthdays on January 1, so that means Border Run is now 34 years old and Trusted Company 33. They are remarkable, emotional reminders of the horse that many consider the greatest of all time.

Border Run

Out of the outstanding broodmare Crimson Saint, Border Run is true equine royalty. He’s a full brother to Terlingua and Pancho Villa; both were multiple Graded stakes winners who often flashed brilliance as racehorses. Terlingua, of course, is best known as the dam of Storm Cat.

Born March 23, 1988, Border Run sold for $650,000 as a yearling and was stakes-placed at three but spent the second half of his 41-race career in the claiming ranks.

Current owner Curtis Wright stumbled across the chestnut in 2011 and immediately recognized him as the same horse he saw at Southern California tracks in the early 1990s. He wasted no time acquiring the gelding, then 23, for the small Washington farm that he and his wife Margo call home, and Border Run has been spoiled rotten ever since.

The old horse moves around the pasture a lot slower these days, and has age-related challenges, but Wright understands the responsibility he bears as the guardian of such an elderly statesman – he does what it takes to keep Border Run happy. The gelding still eats his food with gusto – a mixture of senior feed with corn, oats, barley and molasses. “He gets a banana a day, along with some after-Christmas marked-down candy canes,” said Wright. “He pretty much wolfs those down.” He also loves sliced carrots and horse cookies.

Secretariat’s son has always enjoyed lying down for naps in the pasture, but now he often has difficulty getting back on his feet. Most recently, he decided that several inches of snow would make a nice bed, and it took a lot of encouragement by Curtis, Margo and a big Quarter Horse named Harley (who tried to show him how it was done) to get him up afterwards. But, like every similar episode, he immediately wandered off looking for food, totally oblivious to the concerns of those around him.

There was a setback just before Christmas, when Border Run’s best friend for more than ten years, the younger gelding Anniversary Year, died suddenly and unexpectedly. ‘AY’, as he was called, was Wright’s first Thoroughbred. A racing fan and horseplayer, he had been awestruck by the horse’s appearance as a 3-year-old in 1999 and hit the trifecta on his maiden win. He followed AY’s career closely, and acquired the gelding in 2003.

Understandably, it’s a little quieter on the farm these days, but horses, humans and even the goats are adjusting to the loss.

Border Run now tolerates Harley more than ever before, but he has become more demanding of Wright, who has to watch out for Border’s new habit of head-butting when he wants more treats. “I’m starting to feel like Alice Kramden to his Ralph Kramden with his head butting,” he said with his usual eloquence. “One of these days as he gets me from behind it’ll be straight to the moon!”

The family continues to take it one day at a time. “Old Man River, the equine, still rolls along, and, as he does, so does life,” said a philosophical Wright.

Trusted Company

Trusted Company: Now aged 33, she receives electromagnetic treatment on her hips, back and legs twice a week to help keep her limber and reduce the pain from arthritis. Photo: Patricia McQueen

Across the country in Western Pennsylvania, the big mare Trusted Company continues to feel her oats at Bright Futures Farm, an accredited Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance sanctuary and 501(c)(3) charity run by Bev Dee. The daughter of Secretariat out of the Stage Door Johnny mare Star Snoop needed a new home in late 2018, and she found a good one. She also found celebrity, with her own Facebook page and plenty of adoring fans.

‘Company’, as she is known, is a Valentine’s girl, born on February 14, 1989. She still enjoys running around in an arena and tossing her head like she’s the boss – which she is, says Dee – before going into the pasture with her buddy, the 29-year-old gelding Catch This T.

The mare enjoys the colder weather, and only wears a coat when the temperature drops to 20 degrees F. She’s become a connoisseur of Equus Magnificus German Horse Muffins, in addition to her first love, Mrs Pastures cookies.

Her biggest issue continues to be arthritis, but, given her penchant for running around, Dee has it under control. Company receives PEMF (pulsing electromagnetic field) on her hips, back and legs, now twice a week, to help keep her limber and reduce the pain from arthritis. The mare also gets an anti-inflammatory Equioxx tablet daily, made easier because she loves carrots.

“I just cut a slit in a piece of carrot and stuff the tablet inside,” said Dee. “She has no idea she’s taking medicine.” And she continues to get Livatrope twice a day to help keep her liver healthy.

“Company has a small army of sponsors who help us provide her with everything she needs to stay healthy, and we appreciate their support so much. We couldn’t afford all of the medications, supplements and treatments without them.”

There’s one fun fact about Trusted Company as a broodmare – among her nine named foals was Shatzi, a 1996 daughter by French G1 winner Septieme Ciel. Shatzi was sent to Peru as a yearling, and was unplaced in just one start there. As a broodmare, she produced only two foals, both by American-bred stakes-placed winner Privately Held, but what two foals they were!

The first was Pacatan, a minor stakes winner in Peru; a stakes placing in Ecuador earned him the title of 2009 champion imported sprinter in that country. Shatzi’s second foal, the filly Lady Shatzi, was Peru’s 2009 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly, having won six stakes there, including the Derby Nacional, Clasico Enrique Ayulo Pardo, and Clasico Jockey Club del Peru, all G1s.

Precious bloodlines

It’s inevitable that these two precious reminders of Secretariat will eventually be gone, but there’s no telling how many other Secretariat descendants are out there. With grandsons such as A P Indy, Storm Cat and Gone West – all three were not only leading sires, but also top sires of sires and broodmare sires – descendants are everywhere.

The pool shrinks considerably, of course, when looking at only the second generation. Secretariat’s stallion sons in total sired more than 13,000 offspring (not counting numerous sport horses), and his producing daughters delivered about 3,200 foals. That means that there were more than 16,000 Thoroughbred grandsons and granddaughters of the Triple Crown winner, and there’s a strong likelihood that quite a number of them are still around.

After all, the youngest offspring of his later sons such as Academy Award and Tinners Way would be less than 15 years old, and about 75 of his daughters had foals as recently as 2005.

Many of these grandkids are no doubt serving time as pleasure or competitive sport horses, some are pasture ornaments, and others are pensioners on major horse farms; there are even a few stallions still available for breeding. The ones owned by individuals or small-time equine operations are revered for who they are, not what they may or may not have done in racing or breeding circles.

The Secretariat magic truly transcends time and generations. 

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