After Secretariat’s stunning victory in the inaugural Marlboro Cup Sept. 15, 1973, owner Penny Chenery Tweedy knew she would have her superstar for less than two months before sending him off to Claiborne Farm to be readied for a career at stud.

Hoping to accomplish as much as possible with him, the owner, along with trainer Lucien Laurin, decided to run Secretariat on the grass, with the Man o’ War Stakes a likely target three weeks after the Marlboro. But like everything on Secretariat’s post-Triple Crown schedule, that plan was subject to change, and change it did.

After the Marlboro Cup, regular rider Ron Turcotte began taking the Bold Ruler colt to Belmont Park’s grass course in the mornings.

Secretariat after winning Marlboro Cup. (BloodHorse Library/Bob Coglianese photo)

“I was just playing with him on the grass, schooling him, but not asking for any speed or even galloping fast,” said Turcotte. “He was coming off a world record in the Marlboro, so we were just going easy.”

Tweedy’s other star, Riva Ridge, was being pointed to the Sept. 29 Woodward Stakes at Belmont. But when entries were taken for the Woodward, both Riva Ridge’s and Secretariat’s names appeared. Turcotte was told that Secretariat was entered to scare away the opposition and make the Woodward an easier race for Riva Ridge.

Up until the morning of the race, Laurin told Turcotte that Secretariat would not run. But when scratch time passed, sure enough, Secretariat remained in the race and Riva Ridge was scratched. All knew that Riva Ridge despised an off-track, and the day came up rainy and the track sloppy. The problem was that Secretariat had not been trained with this race in mind, or any race coming up so quickly after the Marlboro Cup.

So, with just an easy half-mile and then a one-mile work on the grass, Secretariat found himself in the 1 1/2-mile Woodward on a trying surface. Four others faced the starter, including Cougar II, who had finished a hard-charging third behind Secretariat and Riva Ridge in the Marlboro Cup; the filly Summer Guest; the French horse Amen II; and the longest shot, Prove Out, at 16-1, sent out by trainer Allen Jerkens, the man who had toppled Secretariat in the Whitney Handicap the previous month with Onion. 

Hobeau Farm’s Prove Out grabbed the lead out of the starting gate and was running easily through tepid early fractions of :25 and :50, with Secretariat tracking in second. Halfway through the race Secretariat grabbed the lead, going six furlongs in 1:13 2/5 and a mile in 1:37 2/5. But turning for home Secretariat stalled, and Prove Out, sitting just off him, moved back in front. Secretariat did not respond, and Prove Out left him in arrears, outkicking him by 4 1/2 lengths at the finish line.

“He ran a good mile and a quarter and then got tired,” said Turcotte. “I hit him a couple of times but there was no response and there was no sense beating him up and hurting him. The lack of training before the race certainly contributed to his loss. We had trained him real hard in a short time for the Marlboro and then we decided to go easy with him for two weeks and then pump him up for the Man o’ War. But when they decided to run him in the Woodward, he wasn’t quite as fit for the race, especially stretching out to a mile and a half.”

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Mrs. Chenery knew she was testing the limits of her spectacular runner but with his retirement looming, there seemed no need to leave any fuel in the tank. 

“Secretariat was thrown into the Woodward without his usual preparations,” Chenery said, looking back at the 1973 campaign through the prism of 40 years. “It was because of the rain that we made the decision at the last minute. We were kind of floundering around and making a lot of last-minute decisions. Unfortunately, we took some liberties that didn’t work out. The Woodward was one that didn’t work.”

Chenery, who certainly liked some of her human competition more than others, has nothing but respect for Jerkens.

“He beat us twice,” she said, “but he’s such a great guy and gentleman. He wanted to beat us but in a way, he didn’t want to. I remember we had a lovely dinner one evening in which he more or less apologized.”

There would be no apologies needed for the final two races of Secretariat’s career, both of which were run on turf.