Have you ever fallen in love with a very special horse, a horse who spoke to your heart? Dedicated to all those who have had this experience — at least once! — and particularly to the community of Zenyatta.com, this is a story of just how magical the spirit of one horse can be…..
The culture of the 1960’s was such that I was persuaded (like most of my girlfriends) to give up childhood passions as part of the ritual of becoming a young woman. It was as though we each had to make a personal sacrifice in order to be considered an adult, a person who had left the interests and impulses of our “former selves” behind. For me, that meant divesting myself of horses, “Classic” comic books and Barbie. So I put my C.W. Anderson, Walter Farley and Marguerite Henry books away, along with my Breyer horses, horse scrapbooks and a handful of horse stories that I had written and illustrated myself when I was a girl of twelve.
Having boxed up the treasures of childhood, Secretariat came along and took me completely by surprise. Even though I was now a young woman, I was so moved by his victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes that I actually made a scrapbook of news clippings of Big Red’s Triple Crown, which I placed on my bookcase with my more “adult” pursuits. The scrapbook was joined, 2 years later, by Raymond Woolfe’s book, “Secretariat.” Through university, teaching, marriage and motherhood, these two mementos were my “guilty little pleasures,” snuck off the shelf when the house was quiet or when I had a few rare moments to myself. It just made me truly, deeply happy to spend time with Secretariat.
At 11:45 a.m. on October 4, 1989 Secretariat was humanely destroyed, a victim of laminitis, an incurable, painful and degenerative disease of the hoof. As there had been no forewarning of his illness, his death was registered as a kind of thunderbolt that pierced the heart. And even though I had never visited him at Claiborne, or been present at the tracks when he raced, I grieved like a woman who had known him my whole life.
As I grieved, I began a search for additional Secretariat memorabilia. And somewhere along the way, I read that Penny Chenery had observed that of all Secretariat’s offspring it was the filly, Terlingua (1976), who most reminded her of him. My curiosity peaked, I set off in search of Terlingua.
Locating even a scrap of information about her turned out to be an arduous task. The web was young in the 1990’s and lacked depth in many areas: horse racing was one. But very gradually, over months and years of dogged research, a path to Terlingua opened up. My first “sighting” of her was on a pedigree site where I saw a photograph of Terlingua as a broodmare, at her home, Overbrook Farm. Even though she was in foal in the photo, her resemblance to Secretariat was unmistakeable. She had his head, though not his ears, as well as his powerful hindquarters. I determined that I wanted a copy of this elegant photograph of the chestnut-red Terlingua against a background of fall foliage, her beautiful face turned toward the camera.
Emboldened, I varied my search vocabulary, until I came across equine photographer Audrey Crosby’s site. She had been to visit Terlingua at Overbrook and had taken a few photos which she had posted on her website. I contacted Audrey and she very kindly gave me some insight into Terlingua’s personality. She described the 17 year-old as either shy or indifferent to people — or both — but went on to talk about her pasture pal, Island Kitty (1976) the dam of champions Shy Tom (1986) and Hennesy (1992). It seemed that the two mares were devoted friends. And although my very first photos of Terlingua came from Audrey, she had not taken the much sought after picture that I had found on the pedigree website. There was, however, something about actually seeing Terlingua that pulled at my heart strings. It was suddenly hugely important to read everything that I could get my hands on about her.
I located old issues of The Blood-Horse and Thoroughbred Times on Ebay and began to collect the ones that recorded Terlingua’s personal history. This collection would take another 3 or 4 years to complete, during which time I made some quite wonderful “virtual” friendships with people who would actually notify me if “anything Terlingua” came up. Deb Strother became my “eyes on the ground,” locating back issues about Terlingua for me; without her help and guidance, I would never have learned much about Secretariat’s talented daughter, other than what seemed her only claim to fame: she was the dam of Storm Cat, foaled in 1983.
In fact, her story was far more compelling than her broodmare record. I learned that Terlingua had been the darling of the California racing world as a 2 year-old — according to Barbara Livingston, in her wonderful book, “More Old Friends,” the filly had been regarded as another Ruffian, so brilliant was her early career. Terlingua was purchased as a yearling at Keeneland for owners, Beal and French, by a young Wayne Lukas, whose background was in training quarter horses. Lukas described how he had a picture in his head of just what “the Secretariat filly” would look like. Lukas’ father had trained Terlingua’s dam, Crimson Saint (1969) and Secretariat was Lucas’ all-time favourite thoroughbred. The young trainer pictured a yearling who would be a perfect blending of these two great thoroughbreds.
And Terlingua did not disappoint him. She was definitely Secretariat’s daughter, with a few touches from her dam in conformation and racing ability. Named after the town in Texas famous for its hot chilli, Terlingua was a feisty youngster. Lukas decided to train her with his quarter horses, an approach that somewhat quelled her high-strung temperament while toughening her for the rigours of thoroughbred racing. The pretty youngster was racing royalty and that’s exactly how she was treated. When she was bathed, for example, Breck shampoo was in the bucket and she was frequently pictured being hand-walked by Lukas. One story tells of how Lukas was unable to complete a round of golf with a friend because he was so nervous about leaving his filly on the eve of her first start.
He needn’t have fretted. Terlingua broke her maiden and set a track record in the Hollywood Nursery Stakes in 1978, in her racing debut. A month later, she won the Hollywood Lassie and set another track record of 1:08 and four-fifths, the fastest ever recorded at Hollywood by a 2 year-old filly, winning by three-and-a-half lengths. A delighted Wayne Lukas exclaimed after the victory, “ Can you believe that she ran from the half-mile pole to the five-eighth pole in :11 and four-fifths, and then went the final eighth in :12 flat?” The jockey who rode the runner-up added, “ That filly said it all on the track. She could beat the colts right now. She’s something else. She’s going to make her daddy proud.”
To adapt a line from Tom Smith in the movie version of Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit: An American Legend, “…a good thoroughbred wins races but a great thoroughbred is measured by who she defeats.” On Saturday, July 22, only a week after her victory in the Lassie, Terlingua won the Hollywood Juvenile Stakes by 2 and a quarter lengths, defeating colts that included Exuberant (1976), Roman Oblisk (1976) and Flying Paster (1976), the latter also the reigning Kentucky Derby choice in the West that year. Terlingua blazed an opening quarter mile in :21 and three-fifths seconds and in the stretch, when asked for more speed, drew away easily, having gotten the six furlongs in 1:08 and four-fifths.
(There are precious few video records of Terlingua on the track. In this one she is shown racing — although the tape ends rather abruptly! )
Her next victory, in the Del Mar Debutante on September 3, 1978, gave her a record of 4 wins in as many starts. In an article headlined, “The West’s Filly Still Unbeaten,” Robert Hebert of The Blood-Horse began:
“Normally, the outstanding feature of the Labor Day weekend at Del Mar is the traditional Del Mar Handicap (gr. II) but this summer it was overshadowed by the 28th running of the $122,440 Del Mar Debutante (gr. II). The reason was the presence in the field of the brilliant, exciting, undefeated filly, Terlingua, who has become a great favourite with California fans. Secretariat’s muscular daughter attracted a crowd of 22,122 and when she appeared in the picture-postcard walking ring, the crowd lined up five and six deep at the rail. Many believe, as does this reporter, that Terlingua is the finest 2 year-old filly ever to race in the West.”
Terlingua was all business in what had been her longest race to date. Although she did toy somewhat with the field, resulting in some few anxious moments, when she turned for home she was to win by nine lengths, galloping to victory under the bit. A satisfied Wayne Lukas reported that his filly was in a growth spurt and had lost her “downhill look” for a gain in height at the withers to match her big, strong hindquarters, “…whence comes her tremendous power.” And although a compact 15.2 hands, Lukas also observed that Terlingua’s confirmation was perfect and her feet, knees and joints were all “clean.” Future plans involved a choice between staying in the West and bringing the undefeated two year-old East for the Matron, the Frizette or the Alcibiades.
The decision was made to bring Terlingua to the East, in order to clinch the Eclipse Award for 1978. However, it was here that the filly tasted defeat for the first time in her career, finishing second in the Alcibiades and third in the Frizette. After the losses, Lukas commented, “With a filly this good, you can convince yourself that they can adjust to anything, even though they might be trying to tell you something.” Before the Alcibiades, Terlingua faced the strangeness of a wet track during the days that led up to the race. On race day, there was a downpour. The filly’s struggle to overtake the winner, Angel Island (1976), was viewed favourably by her trainer, even though she fell back to be beaten by six lengths. However her jockey, Darryl McHargue, was deeply disappointed, “I’m just sorry that the people in New York and here at Keeneland didn’t get to see Terlingua run the way I know she can. She caught a cuppy track at Belmont, then this track today. She gave a game effort, but running on heart doesn’t win races all the time.”
At the end of 1978, Terlingua was runner-up to co-champions Candy Éclair (1976) and It’s In The Air (1976) in the Eclipse balloting. However, as Edward L. Bowen, writing in The Blood- Horse’s “Thoroughbreds of 1978” concluded, “Her unbeaten status has been shattered, but she remains the most exciting of the juvenile fillies of her season.”
These words were to prove prophetic: in her first race of 1979, the Santa Ynez Stakes (gr III), Terlingua defeated It’s In The Air. Reeling off seven furlongs in 1:21 and one-fifth, “the West’s sweetheart” chipped a fifth of a second off the track record, set by Tallahto in 1973. A description of the victory includes the lines, “…Terlingua, moving smoothly and beautifully, turned for home just coasting in front…” She went on to win the La Brea Stakes and the Las Flores Handicap and finished second in the Santa Susanna, Starlet and Sierre Madre Stakes at three and four. In the Las Flores, she defeated a field that included the future dams of Lady’s Secret (1982), Toussaud (1989) and Sunday Silence (1986). On May 10, 1980, Terlingua sustained a slab fracture to her right knee, following a workout at Hollywood Park. In the news of her retirement, Terlingua was acknowledged as the “brilliant daughter of Secretariat – Crimson Saint.”
As I followed the “Terlingua trail” my passion for thoroughbreds made itself known — and this time, as a lady in her 40’s, I was no longer apologetic.
(HRTV’s Inside Information did a piece on Terlingua shortly before her death, on April 29, 2008, at the age of 32.)
Intense research or all-consuming interests have a way of opening up new and unexpected avenues and the search for Terlingua was no different. The need to learn more about her bloodlines led into pedigree research and learning a new vocabulary. I began to build a modest library of books about thoroughbreds which led, in turn, to discovering the stories of other thoroughbreds who had become legendary in North America, England, Ireland and Australia. As I read about Man O’ War or Count Fleet, I also reflected on my grandfather’s stories of great thoroughbreds and just how incredibly interesting — and accurate! — they actually were. And the little girl within whispered of her love for The Black Stallion, Misty the pony, Fury, A Filly For Joan and My Friend Flicka.
In my desire to find photographs of Terlingua, I ended up chasing down some quite extraordinary photographers — Lydia A. Williams (LAW), Patricia McQueen (who turned out to be the photographer who had taken the very first photo that I ever found of Terlingua), Anne Eberhardt and Barbara Livingston, to name but a few. Kind, helpful and understanding of a woman “bitten by the bug,” we still exchange emails periodically. Too, the horses portrayed by these gifted women spirited me away to the sagas of thoroughbreds like John Henry or Raja Baba or Kingston Rule or Genuine Risk or Personal Ensign. The research and study felt “just right” and an intense interest in photography burgeoned that opened into the worlds of great equine photographers of the past, including C. C. Cook, James Soames and “Skeets” Meadors.
Throughout the cultural history of humankind, the horse is associated with inner journeys …. with travel between the worlds of mortality and immortality, typified by Pegasus. In a similar vein, the Jungian psychologist and storyteller, Clarissa Pinkola Estes (“Women Who Run With The Wolves”) talks about how following one’s inner spirit results in a kind of personal journey that eventually leads us to our spiritual home, a place where we find others who are like ourselves and in whose company we restore and refresh our souls. Secretariat was the first to call to me, shining his light into the darkness where I had excised my passion for horses. But it was Terlingua who acted as my companion and guide.
She led me on a merry chase, but once I agreed to follow, Terlingua brought me home. Home to a community of friends, professionals and other “horsey types” who happily weave horses into their lives, one way or another, every single day. Home to sharing in the joys of campaigns by great thoroughbreds like Smarty Jones, Funny Cide, Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. Home to finding the courage to write a note to Steve Haskin that brought me right here, to THE VAULT.
Of course, I didn’t really notice a community sprouting up all around me — I was just concentrating on nurturing my love for Terlingua. But in trusting myself to follow her, Terlingua carried me into a new world — into a landscape of hope and promise and delight, where the girl and the woman walk hand-in-hand.
Beautifully done, Abigail, as always. Very informative, moving, and inspirational.
From: One of your many fans from Zenyatta.com, Trina Nagele
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Trina: Thank you so much for taking the time to write. And I really appreciate your comments & your support for THE VAULT!
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Lovely piece ! I sure appreciate all the work and effort you put into this and all your wonderful writings.
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Eveline: Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me. It’s fun to do the work and to share it with others who love horses the way I do!
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Abigail – I continue to follow your posts from “The Vault”. This latest one on Terlingua necessitated a comment. In the introduction, you sound like me when you were describing Secretariat. He has been my idol since I followed him from his 2yr old racing season until his death. I have binders, photos, articles, all books and his races on Youtube. I probably own the record for the most watched 1973 Belmont ever! I really didn’t “discover” Terlingua till I purchased Barbara Livingston’s book, “More Old Friends”, pages 192-195. Everything, and I mean everything, Secretariat, is interesting and passionate to me. Maybe we can talk Big Red 1:1 someday.
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Pat ! Thank you for following THE VAULT on a regular basis. This kind of support means SO much! I would adore talking Secretariat with you anytime at all….just let me know!
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What an amazing journey, Abigail!! Terlingua has always been one of the horses I have wanted to learn more about, but I never had the time or inclination to follow through with all the research you did. Finally you have provided here her lovely story and more insight into the past of these wonderful Thoroughbreds! So many of the things you write seem to parallel similar experiences that I have been through – setting aside my passion for horses through out the time I was raising my family, only to rediscover and redevelop that same little girl love at a point much later in life. Thank you for sharing your journey!! I am so happy you wrote to Steve Haskin!!
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Celeste: I found it so moving to read your response because it always feels wonderful to know that we are not alone in so many of our formative experiences. This is one think that I love about the world-wide web — we can make connections that are so much more than casual with people who live far away that we would never really meet without this nifty system! Too, when you find your “true family” in the sense I meant it in the article, it gives me the courage to go on. So thank-you, from the bottom of my heart!
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And so, again, your written story knits a skein of loose ends for more of us than you alone. As per the discussion on ‘Z`s’ entry today, such love summons participation and support for the arts. Those who as students stretched into beauty and awareness of ‘our better angels’ by a strong arts program, decades later exercise in behalf of the future support for bond issues, music programs, all forms of public school offerings; animal care, too — so much that does well by doing good. Much research supports the enthusiastic connections among the language arts, math, sports skills, and the finer ones of music and arts: the future success of students and their communities follow right along; neglecting none. Threading the needle again, the mature Abigail, true to earliest dreams, tracks a template of why and how love of .. . — you name it — nourishes us the rest of our lives, and then nourishes our culture, even after we are gone.
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Abigail,
Another lovely thorougbred story about a realtion to Secretariat. Ands
She produced the talented Storm Cat. I loved the video of her as she looks
so much like Secretariat. As I mentioned on Zenyatta.com, so appropriate for father’s day and Carlton House’s race (if human would be Zenny’s 1/2 brother)
but not as a equine. I left a comment for you on Zenny’s site about last two HOY being female and possibly a third (?goldy). What do you think about breeding and strength of filly/mares , while colts are getting injured or is it
more environmental? Thanks so much for posting on Z.com. Great idea
and I bet they would not mind.
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Abigail, thank you so much for introducing me to Terlingua. From your tribute to her it is easy to see why she touched your heart. I’ve learned so much from The Vault. Every horse you’ve written about has now a little place in my heart because your writing is heartfelt and getting to know these horses has been a wonderful journey for me. To date the one that has touched me the most personally is ‘Shine On: The Story of Your Host. I hope you never tire of writing as we all love what you have treated us to and because we all love horses so very much.
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Dani: Beautiful words. Thank you so much! I owe Terlingua so much — meeting up with great women such as yourself has been a hallmark of having her in my life. I think I won’t tire of writing as long as there are fabulous readers like you who remind me so eloquently that they’re out there and in love with horses too! Your Host — I was really proud of that piece. A woman who read it & was a huge fan of his sent me a whole file of press clippings and articles about him that I will treasure for always. Imagine that!
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Thanks so much for the additional information about Terlingua. I could only glean a small amount of information about her on the internet.
It seems that she was the most like her sire than any other progeny that Secretariat had. And she imparted her characteristics to her descendents due to her dominance (genetically, personality-wise, and physically).
When I saw Shakelford, the winner of the 2011 Preakness, he reminded me of his great grand dam, Terlingua, and of his great great grand sire, Secretariat.
I am sure the similarities did not escape Penny Chenery or D. Wayne Lukas.
It would be great if you and Steve Haskin could write a book or piece on Secretariat’s girls.
Thanks again for your wonderfully written piece.
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Terri: Yes — I saw some Terlingua in the absolutely gorgeous Shackleford and am really interested to see how he does @ Belmont. The Storm Cats with a few exceptions were criticized for favouring speed & shorter distances and THAT was attributed to Terlingua, but Lukas always felt she had the stamina to stay longer distances. Perhaps Shackleford next weekend will be proof of Lukas’ sense of “my girl” and her abilities. Love the idea of a book on Secretariat’s daughters and will jot it down as an idea to think seriously about down the road. Thanks so much for writing, Terri. Hugely interesting to read your thoughts!
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Abigail, What an inspiring story, your dedication to what I consider to be Secretariat’s finest foal is awesome. Terlingua certainly was her daddy’s girl. I was fortunate enough to see Big Red run his last race at Woodbine and to visit him several times at Claiborne. My family and I always took him a treat, usually the candies that Mrs Chenery gave to him. On one trip we couldn’t find the peppermint flavor and ended up with cinnamon. Secretariat did not like the cinnamon and spit them the back at us each time he was offered one. Fortunately, my father had a mint in his pocket and that candy was accepted with pleasure. I always found him to be friendly and happy to pose for the camera, he really was a Ham. One of my prized possessions now is a photo of Secretariat, signed by Ron Turcotte, winning the Belmont – it lives in a prominent place on my living room wall here in Fort Erie. I always look forward to your posts on Zenyatta.com – it’s nice to see another Canadian posting. One of my favorite fillys was Sam Son Farm’s Dance Smartly, I saw her win the Queen’s Plate and she certainly had a good career.
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Hi Brenda: How wonderful that you saw Secretariat! I so regret that I didn’t. It must have been AMAZING to see him right there, in front of you! I, too, have Secretariat mounted and hanging in my home. When I retired, the teaching community here in Quebec gave me Tony Leonard’s “Secretariat At The Belmont.” This photo — like the Belmont one — is my other absolute favourite. So I was very moved to receive it. I am also a HUGE fan of Dance Smartly!!!! I have Anne Eberhardt’s portrait of her also hanging up & think of her as Canada’s Queen of Racing. I will be writing about her on THE VAULT one of these days. I still mourn her loss. She was another thoroughbred who completely stole my heart away…..
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Your story so much mirrors my own with the exception of a grandfather sharing racing with me. My dad used to take me with him on business trips to
My story resembles yours except it was my Dad who took me with him on business trips to Lexington where we would visit the horse farms after he finished working. Consequently I was fortunate to have seen in person many of “The Top 100 Thoroughbreds”. I later was able to visit Secretariat at Claiborne twice after a customer of mine was able to finagle an appointment for me. Emboldened by my success, I was allowed to visit Spendthift afterwards by telling of my childhood experiences and thus I was able to see Seattle Slew and Affirmed, completing my own personal Triple Crown, seeing all three in one day. It was unbelievably special for me but I must admit the highlight was seeing Nashua, who was the grand old man. While I was taking pictures, the grooms pulled on the horses’lead shanks to get them to pose but when Nashua was removed from his stall he exited regally, head held high, ears pricked, sway backed and graying , with full knowledge that he was racing royalty. He knew he was something special and he let you know it too. As you can imagine it was quite a day for me, surpassed only by seeing Zenyatta up close at Churchill Downs. I have always loved the many varied stories of racing, the horses and the people, the fact and the fiction but Zenyatta will always top them all. Thank you so much for your informative writing . I just want you to know that there are others
out there like you with a great desire to know the story of the horse.
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Linda: The story of your “personal Triple Crown” was just beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing it. And then to see Nashua — wow! He’s another great favourite of mine. I’m glad to hear that he knew he was royalty because he was always exactly that to me. I found him not only talented but beautiful as a “young man” and actually have a few photos of him in my thoroughbred photo collection. I am grateful that I have many “sisters” and even a few “brothers” out there with a desire to know as much as they can about thoroughbreds of today and yesteryear. Zenyatta is really the first horse to move me the way Secretariat & Terlingua did. I love them all, but Zenyatta reached out to me from the very start. She is really, really a precious gift!
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I will never get enough of your stories, my friend.
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You are such an amazing writer. I am so glad I’ve found this blog to learn more about this sport I love so much. I didn’t know anything about Terlingua before today! Thank you!
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VALARIE: I’m glad that you found THE VAULT too! My readers are so important to me! There are several articles about different horses posted on THE VAULT that you might also like to read about. You can see the topics on the sidebar. And enjoy some of the links — I posted most of my favourites for other racing fans to enjoy!!!!
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Wonderful article! This is my first time commenting, but I have been quietly reading your blog for a while now and I just love it! Out of curiosity, do you anything about Pancho Villa, Terlingua’s full sibling? He’s the sire of my OTTB, Dino.
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Kelly: Glad to hear from you and thank you so much for taking the time to write. As it turns out, I do know a few things about Pancho Villa. Here’s a link to a site that shows the photo of him that I have in my collection: http://www.pedigreequery.com/pancho+villa As you can see, he was a very, very good race horse and he died of an apparent heart attack 5 years ago. He had the cutest ears!!! Lord only knows where he got them from, since neither Secretariat nor Crimson Saint had ears like this! He was about Terlingua’s size — a little larger — and had more of Crimson Saint in terms of his body-type. He also showed that he could handle distances longer than the usual for a sprinter.
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The legacy of Terlingua continues with Shackleford, Sassy Image, and Courageous Cat.
I was fortunate enough to see Sassy Image at Calder for the Princess Rooney Grade I Stakes; she is a very special mare. In the paddock, her eyes were popping out with anticipation; she was pumped up and bright. She had a regal bearing and was a powerfully built chestnut mare.
She didn’t like the track and was the last horse in the field; she lagged 20 lengths behind. And then she was surging while coming around the bend with the great Mike Smith as her rider.
She caught up with the leader, Musical Romance, and defeated her by a nose at the wire; she did this while running down the middle of the track. It was a great Zenyatta moment which I will never forget. And unlike Zenyatta’s races which lasted 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 miles this was a 6 furlong sprint; that made it all the more remarkable. And this was her third stakes win in a row since she had throat surgery.
Maybe it would be a good idea to write about Terlingua and her continuing legacy through her descendants past and present.
Shackleford and Sassy Image are both trained by Dale Romans. Sassy Image is owned by Jerry Romans, Dale’s brother. She is slated to run in the Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga and in the Breeders Cup. I wonder if Mike Smith will be on board again. Both the Romans brothers and Mike Smith were cellibrating after this race; Dale Romans said this had to be her best race.
Thanks for your wonderful and informative blog.
It was an unforgettable Zenyatta moment as she caught up with the leader, Musical Romance, and won by a nose at the wire.
It had to be the most amazing horse race I have witnessed.
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Terri: Thanks so much for leaving these comments on the Terlingua article. I agree that Terlingua’s legacy has been assured and I do try to keep up with it. I know that Danthebluegrassman (Pioneering) is now at Old Friends and also was interested in The White Fox, another of Pioneering’s progeny. Of course, there are the Storm Cats, right? Giant’s Causeway is a love of mine and certainly looks quite a bit like Terlingua during her youth. And Chapel of Dreams, a daughter of Terlingua, was rescued by myself & Case Clay and is now living out her years in peace at Three Chimneys. I will definitely take a look at Sassy Image because it always interests me to see whether or not these descendants of “my girl” look like her & especially through the withers. And it will be nice to see a “Terlingua” hitting the track in 2011! Thanks so much for telling me about her, Terri.
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Hi Abigail, thank you for teaching me about Terlingua, I’d heard about her in passing in relation to D. Wayne Lukas, but never knew who she really was. I always thought that Lady’s Secret was Big Red’s premier daughter, but now I know Terlingua was also! It has always been said that ‘the heart of a champion is passed down to his daughter’! But it looks to me, that because Secretariat’s heart was twice the size of a normal horse’s heart, that he passed it down to both Terlingua and Lady’s Secret! How amazing!!!
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Valeria: Terlingua was just so special to me and I’m so glad that you enjoyed the article on her. I believe that the consensus today is that, Risen Star, Tinners Way and Kingston Rule (Australia) aside, Big Red’s greatest contribution to the thoroughbred was undoubtedly through his daughters. And what daughters he sired!!!!
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Abigail,
You have me in tears…what a gift you have to be able to communicate your passion so lovelingly. I was not a D Wayne Lucas fan AT ALL (many, many years) until I realized just this year he trained Terlingua. MY youthful bias is now gone. She made his career and he loved her for it. She was her daddy’s girl and and that says it a;;
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Mary: Thank you so much for taking the time to share these wonderful, warm responses to my work. It’s only worthwhile when I hear from readers. Otherwise, I feel that I’m essentially engaged in a monologue!!!! I thought you might like this. It’s a shot of my girl, Terlingua, in 1979 taken by the great Lydia Williams (LAW). If you’re on Facebook, request Lydia as a friend & say that you were referred by Abigail, okay? Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150243324260598&set=a.10150243290425598.321004.636015597&type=1&theater
I can appreciate that Lucas is a very controversial figure in racing. But he really was in love with Terlingua and she was actually the thoroughbred that moved him to train race horses. Before that, he worked with Quarter horses. An interesting fact is that Terlingua’s early training before she ever raced involved long treks under saddle with quarter horses. She apparently loved this a whole lot more than racing!!!!
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I forgot to mention, Inglorious the Canadian filly, who beat the boys in the Queens Plate Stakes: she is also a great great granddaughter of Terlingua. She will be running in the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga the same day Sassy Image is racing in the Ballerina Stakes.
There might be 3 Terlingua ancestors running in the Breeders Cup this year; wouldn’t that be something.
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Terri: THANKS SO MUCH FOR THINKING OF ME. I have marked August 20th on my calendar and will be watching on HRTV online. (Can’t get the televised HRTV in Canada!!!!****) I thought you might also like to see this photo by Lydia Williams of “my girl.” I’ve been trying to get Lydia to scan her old negatives of Terlingua for awhile now but as they are very, very old — and as she must have millions of them — it was a difficult task. Lydia is an amazing thoroughbred photographer & had many photos published for NYRA and etc. under the name LAW. Here is her scan of Terlingua: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150243324260598&set=a.10150243290425598.321004.636015597&type=1&theater
Wasn’t she a beauty?
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Hi Abigail,
This article caught my breath. Thank you so much for this. It gives intimate detail about this girl that I think we don’t see enough of when reading about our favourites.
I have a little project at the moment, a literary one on similar lines, and I can definitely relate to your early struggles in finding info about Terlingua. I too have found precious little and I’m on quite the journey in my quest for information! So thank you for inspiring me to keep searching!
Rachel
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Rachel: Such an exquisite comment! Thank you. Yes, it was very tough to track “my girl” Terlingua down. But I would not change a single moment along the way. It was just the most self-affirming journey….So keep on with your literary journey, Rachel. And, if you have a moment, I would LOVE to hear more about it. My own academic background is literary & I’m wondering if I could help! Or would that take the fun out of it? Thank you so much for taking the time to write. Abigail
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Hi Abigail,
Thanks for your reply!
I’d love to fill you in, and would appreciate any help, in any way. I think sharing would make it all the more fun 🙂
You can reach me at: rbucciacchio@hotmail.com – I would love to hear from you!
Rachel
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I am an Australian, who loves American racehorses. I purchased a broodmare back in May with Terlingua’s bloodlines 4 generations back. the mare is now in foal to Bel danoro (son of danehill) I actually searched for a Secratariat bloodline and am thrilled that my mare is in foal. My mare is by Falbrav, her mother is Alzhara.
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Allana: Wow! Great to hear from you and very exciting to know that Terlingua’s bloodlines are even in Australia. She was an absolutely lovely filly and perhaps a tad too clever for her then-young trainer, D. Wayne Lukas. Had she been racing today, I think she would have been even better! This baby of yours will be really interesting, with Northern Dancer on the top & bottom, a Secretariat bloodline and one to Seattle Slew (through the mighty Falbrav)!!! You should record Alzhara & your mare on pedigreequery.com if you’d care to, because I noticed that Alzhara isn’t in their registry and, as a researcher, I do worry about “missing” thoroughbreds!!!! Lovely to hear from you! Abigail
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I am an Australian, who loves American racehorses. I purchased a broodmare back in May with Terlingua’s bloodlines 4 generations back. the mare is now in foal to Bel danoro (son of danehill) I actually searched for a Secratariat bloodline and am thrilled to have one. My mare is by Falbrav, her mother is Alzhara.
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For some reason, this came up twice. See my response (below).
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There was a magazine story many yrs ago (in Equus?). About a TB mare who was found loose in KY (?) and identified as a very fancy broodmare. Was that Terlingua ? The name rings a bell.
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Hi Susan: I’m wondering if you might be thinking of Fanfreluche? She was in foal to Secretariat at the time and was kidnapped, then found…..Could that be it? Abigail
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Wonderful article. I disagree with calling Secretariat “Big Red,” as the only one truly deserving of that name is Man o’ War. That aside, Terlingua was one heck of a broodmare, and thankfully she wasn’t conformationally-flawed like her sire. I think that’s where Crimson Satan comes through (he was GORGEOUS). Again, wonderful article.
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Ethan: I always love to hear responses to this article as Terlingua was — and will always be — a great love of mine. And she was, indeed, a wonderful runner and broodmare. I agree that Crimson Satan was outstanding. Thank you for taking the time to write. I deeply appreciatye it. Abigail
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Though not a BIG racing fan, I was playing hookey from work that day in September, 1978 and was at Del Mar, mainly to see one race, The del Mar Debutante, and one horse, Terlingua. Whenever I did go to the track, I was a 2 dollar better. Today, I put $200.00, on the nose of Terlingua. The rest is history, and she paid $2.20 across the board. Wonderful horse.
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Ramrod Bandits: Thanks so much for leaving this comment and sharing your memory of “my girl” at the Del Mar Debutante. So special to hear from you and to meet someone else who appreciated her. Please excuse the time it has taken me to respond. I had a death in my family and just couldn’t get back here as soon as I would have liked. Abigail
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Other than mentioning that early on some compared Terlingua to Ruffian, no other word was mentioned of Ruffian who is widely considered the greatest American filly of all time….to many the greatest of all thoroughbreds. Bill Nack in his book “Ruffian a Racetrack Romance” stated a unagreeable emotion came over him concerning Ruffian, a resentment of her akin to jealousy. She appeared just as Secretariat was retiring and was a threat to his legacy. He further stated, “that feeling of resentment never went away until the day she was buried” Secretarist is Bill Nacks favorite racehorse and he has never faltered in promoting him “the greatest” By all accounts , complaining bitterly each time (3 Polls) ManO’War was voted #1 Greatest all time racehorse of the 20th Century. I find it common for most people , when speaking of great female racehorses, to just fail to speak of her, wishing she and her outstanding records would just go away. It is however quite understandable as in comparison ,both in ability & beauty, everything else is just second best. After all , Ruffian was also a impressive physical presence. Taller at 3 years than Secretariat, and wider than he in girth. Barely three at her death, who knows how much bigger she would have been. Walter Farley stated she was the only horse that matched the beauty of “The Black stallion” A world wide popular book series that he was famous for writing. Even Secretariats own trainer publicly stated after her spectacular track breaking run in the Spinaway ( by 15 1/2 lengths under strong restraint. ) ” As God is my judge, she is even better than Secretariat was as a 2 year old.” Read Nacks book on Ruffian for those “correct quotes” I also have original newspaper articles with correct quotes by Lucien regarding Ruffian. Some how it was incorrectly changed to “may be better”It seems some people prefer to not know the truth . I guess that’s where the term ” Truth Hurts” comes from,
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Marie: I honour & love Ruffian. The quote came from Blood-Horse. But the point of the article was how my love for Terlingua re-awakened me to my childhood passion of loving horses and especially, the thoroughbred. I have another article devoted only to Ruffian that I wrote awhile back.
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Hi, Abigail – Somehow I had never read this post. Came here today via a VERY roundabout way, too, which is usually what happens when I start looking up great Thoroughbreds! Definitely one of my favorite internet “rabbit holes.’ 🙂 I will tell you about this one because you might be amused.
Believe it or not, today’s journey started with a photo of Nearco shared on FB in a private group I belong to. (It was originally posted by a page simply titled, “Blame” – I’ll be following it now. Even though I have a bit of bias against that particular stallion, for the same reason many of us Z fans don’t like him!)
That led me to reading about Frederico Tessio… which somehow led to Kingston Rule… who I SHOCKINGLY had never heard of and knew nothing about! How ridiculous!!! Whaddaya mean, a son of Red’s won the Melbourne Cup in record time. Seriously, I had no clue. And he looked breathtakingly like Dad!
Looking for more on KIngston Rule, I then found Patricia McQueen’s wonderful site and of course looked at her “Secretariat’s Offspring” album. Which led me to Terlingua, who I realized I still don’t know much about. And voila… here I am, for your usual sterling write-up. I do remember that Terlingua is a special favorite of yours so of course you have the definitive history compiled.
I have to admit I was a bit shocked at the footage of her in the second video, at Overbrook. They tried to skip around it but I saw… Boy, did she lose condition in her hind end! I’ve never seen such prominent sacro joint bones in a well-cared-for horse. I think nowadays we have equine elder care more dialed in, and possibly she wouldn’t have gotten quite that puny back there, but maybe it was just many years of difficulty carrying babies. Thank goodness that one particular son resulted!
Anyway, I know you posted this many years ago but I hope you see my comment. As always I adore your writing and will continue to entertain myself with more meandering journeys to read about my favorite breed.
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Sept 2: Hi Tracie. I loved the winding road you took to get here! There’s another on her that I wrote entitled “Off the Radar…Sometimes Forever” about what happened to her winning daughter, Chapel of Dreams. There’s a son of Man O’ War who kicks the piece off, should you be interested. I agree with you about her condition as a senior at Overbrook — we know so much more now. The attitude the farm took, as you heard, was kind of “loose.” I so wish that I’d gone to see her when she was alive, but such was not to be. However, I’ve got a scrapbook of her with many of Patricia’s photos and even some race programs when she was running. Yup, I fell madly for her!!!! Abigail
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P.S. “Conformationally-flawed like her sire” someone wrote above? Wow… IMHO, other than the goose rump (which clearly didn’t hamper him the slightest), Secretariat was practically perfect. He will forever be, in my eye, THE horse, the mirror in which I compare all others.
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Sept. 2 You & I are in total agreement. He will always be THE man in my eyes. Abigail
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