March 30 marks 40 years since the birth of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat at Christopher T. Chenery’s The Meadow near Doswell, Va. It’s a date well worth remembering by any racing fan but especially by those who were around during Secretariat’s racing days and more so by those lucky enough to see the strikingly handsome chestnut colt with three white stockings in action.

Secretariat’s magnetism was evident soon after the colt’s birth. Chenery’s daughter, Penny, was so overwhelmed after getting her first look at the son of Bold Ruler that all she could say was "Wow." That wasn’t the last time that word was used to express admiration or astonishment in Secretariat.

The first hint of Secretariat’s greatness came at Saratoga in 1972. "Nothing so revitalizes our interest in racing as the emergence of real good ones among the 2-year-olds at Saratoga," wrote The Blood-Horse editor Kent Hollingsworth, focusing on Secretariat and the filly La Prevoyante. "Meadow Stable’s Bold Ruler colt, Secretariat, with smashing triumphs in the Sanford and Hopeful, has demonstrated a lick not seen since Damascus approached the last turn trailing by about 13 lengths and came out of it six lengths on top to win the 1967 Travers by 22 lengths in track-record time."

The Hopeful, which Secretariat won by five lengths, was the colt’s fourth win in five starts. Secretariat went on to finish first in the Futurity Stakes, the Champagne Stakes, the Laurel Futurity, and the Garden State Stakes, but he was disqualified for interference in the Champagne and placed second. An easy choice for divisional honors, Secretariat was the first 2-year-old since Colin in 1907 to earn Horse of the Year outright. (La Prevoyante was voted champion juvenile filly