Tag Archives: Weekend Surprise

Secretariat Descendants Dominating the 2012 Derby!

Posted on by
2

Secretariat is running in the Derby this Saturday!  Of the 20 contenders in the field, 16 of them can boast Big Red in their bloodlines.  (verified through www.pedigreequery.com)  

The daughters of  America’s Super Horse  whose sons (Secretariat’s grandsons) established these dominant bloodlines are:

Weekend Surprise – A.P. Indy; Terlingua – Storm Cat; and Secrettame – Gone West

Of course other great bloodlines are present in these Derby contenders such as Seattle Slew, Mr. Prospector and Northern Dancer for example.   But for the legions of Secretariat fans, the Big Red flame is still burning bright. This is also a source of great pride to us Virginians, as Secretariat was born and first trained at Chris Chenery’s Meadow Stable in Doswell, VA.

Here is the list of the 20 contenders in alphabetical order.      

Alpha   ( A.P. Indy line)
Bodemeister (A.P. Indy and Storm Cat lines) AND Virginia-bred by Audley Farm
Creative Cause (Storm Cat line)
Daddy Long Legs (Storm Cat line)
Daddy Nose Best (Storm Cat line)
Done Talking  (NO Secretariat connection)
Dullahan (NO Secretariat connection)
El Padrino  (A.P.Indy and Gone West lines)
Gemologist (NO Secretariat connection)
Hansen (A.P. Indy and Storm Cat lines)
I’ll Have Another (NO Secretariat connection)
Liaison (A.P. Indy line)

Optimizer (A.P. Indy and Riva Ridge)
Prospective (A.P. Indy line)
Rousing Sermon (A.P. Indy line)
Sabercat  (Storm Cat line)
Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy line)

Trinniberg (Storm Cat line)

Union Rags (Gone West line)
Went the Day Well  (Gone West line)

We will be at Churchill Downs with Penny Chenery and Kate Tweedy, remembering the 98th running of the Derby, won by Riva Ridge  and of course the 99th won by Secretariat.  His track record of 1:59 2/5 still stands almost 40 years later.  Will one of his descendants dare to try and break it? 

by Leeanne Meadows Ladin

co-author, “Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend”

Secretariat’s Descendants – From the Homestretch to the Home Front: Good Showing at the Eclipse Awards

Posted on by
Reply

 

 

This continuing series looks at some of Secretariat’s most famous progeny and how the mighty stallion of Meadow Stable continues to fire the blood of some of the best racehorses on the track today. We will also look at the descendants whose most important contributions have been made, not on the homestretch, but on the home front as pleasure horses, working horses and simply beloved companions. We are very grateful to the owners who send in the stories and photos of their Secretariat descendants. In this way, “the legend lives on!”

Last time we discussed the Big Red “babies” who had distinguished themselves in the 2011 Breeders Cup races. Some of those same names will reappear in this listing of Eclipse Award winners, announced last night January 16, 2012.

Hansen, who won the Breeders Cup Juvenile,  captured Champion Two Year Old Male.  He’s by Tapit, who is making a good name for himself now as a sire. Hansen’s grandsire is Pulpit and great-grandsire is A. P. Indy, who of course is out of one of Secretariat’s best daughters, Weekend Surprise.

My Miss Aurelia won Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.  This great-granddaughter of Storm Cat won the Juvenile Fillies  race in the Breeders Cup.

Royal Delta won Three Year-Old Filly.  She won the Ladies Classic at the Breeders Cup, beating her “cousins” It’s Tricky and Plum Pretty. This A. P. Indy granddaughter is now gearing up for her 4 YO career and supposedly headed for Dubai!

Cape Blanco took honors as Champion Male Turf Horse.  His damsire was Presidium, a son of General  Assembly by Secretariat. . This Irish -bred has won the Irish Derby, Man O’ War Stakes and the Arlington Million, among many victories.

Congratulations to all the Eclipse winners!

Next time, we will go off topic to give you a sneak preview of our latest project…a special anniversary book celebrating Riva Ridge “the forgotten champion!”

Leeanne Meadows Ladin

www.secretariatsmeadow.com

Visit our Secretariat’s Meadow Facebook page for all the latest info on descendants, events, history and more! 

  This picture of Pulpit, sire of Tapit, was taken at Claiborne Farm in October 2010.

Secretariat’s Descendants…from the Homestretch to the Homefront

Posted on by
2

 

This new series will look at some of Secretariat’s most famous progeny and how the mighty stallion of Meadow Stable continues to fire the blood of some of the best racehorses on the track today. We will also look at the descendants whose most important contributions have been made, not on the homestretch, but on the home front as pleasure horses, working horses and simply beloved companions. Read more at www.secretariatsmeadow.com on how “the legend lives on!”

WEEKEND SURPRISE AND THE X FACTOR

No, you won’t see her on Simon Cowell’s new talent show “The X Factor.”  But Secretariat’s daughter Weekend Surprise (1980- 2001) demonstrated plenty of talent as a broodmare. She was one of the reasons that Secretariat became an outstanding broodmare sire. He bequeathed his dynamic DNA to daughters such as her, who then passed it to their sons.

Weekend Surprise was said to carry the gene to pass on the “big heart” to her offspring. She inherited this “X-factor” from Secretariat, who was found to have a naturally huge heart that was two to three times the size of a normal heart for a racehorse. Other racing greats such as Man o’ War and Eclipse were also said to have the large heart.

In fact, Weekend Surprise is said to be a “double-copy” mare, with the X factor present on both the top and bottom of her pedigree. That means she also got the large heart gene from her dam, Lassie Dear.

Here is what Marianna Haun , who has studied the X factor for many years, said about Weekend Surprise:   “One double copy mare is the Thoroughbred Weekend Surprise, a daughter of Secretariat that is out of a double copy dam. Weekend Surprise’s dam, Lassie Dear, produced all winners and so has her daughter, which produced Horse of the Year A.P. Indy and millionaire Summer Squall. Both sires now are producing outstanding daughters, and when mated with large-hearted mares, are producing outstanding sons.”  You can read more on this at  http://www.horsesonly.com/crossroads/xfactor/heart-1.htm

 A. P. Indy, by Seattle Slew, won the 1992 Belmont Stakes and the Breeder’s Cup Classic, two of his most outstanding victories.  When he took Horse of the Year honors in 1992, Weekend Surprise was named Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. He became one of the most influential stallions of his time. More on A.P. Indy in a future post.

Weekend Surprise’s colt Summer Squall  won the 1990 Preakness. His grandson Summer Bird, “the chestnut thunderbolt,” won the 2009 Belmont and Horse of the Year honors. Summer Squall also sired Rainaway, who now lives at The Meadow, his great-grandfather’s birthplace here in Virginia.

Weekend Surprise also figures in the pedigree of Rags to Riches, the first filly to win the Belmont in 100 years in 2007.   Before becoming a broodmare, Weekend Surprise won three stakes races. One of her last foals, sired by Storm Cat (who was out of Secretariat’s daughter Terlingua) sold for $3 million at the 1999 Keeneland sales in Kentucky.

Weekend Surprise was sired by Buckpasser, 1966 Eclipse Horse of the Year. As noted, her  dam was Lassie Dear.  Interestingly, Lassie Dear’s grandsire was Sir Gaylord, one of Meadow Stable’s champions and a Derby favorite in 1962. And his dam was Somethingroyal, who of course became immortalized as Secretariat’s dam in 1970. 

Weekend Surprise died in 2001 due to complications after giving birth to her 14th foal.   She is buried at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky.

Christopher Chenery, founder of Meadow Stable, who created “an empire built on broodmares” with Somethingroyal, Hildene, Imperatrice and other great mares, always stressed the importance of the mare in the breeding equation.  In terms of the X factor, he may have been ahead of his time.   We owe him, and Secretariat’s daughters such as Weekend Surprise, our heartfelt thanks!

Leeanne Meadows Ladin

co-author of  “Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend”

www.secretariatsmeadow.com

copyright 2011