Secretariat:
The movie.
The horse.
The legend
From Rein, September 2010»
There’s no such thing as a sure thing.
But then came Secretariat.
On June He carried a lot more than jockey Ron Turcotte when he went to
the gate a 1-to-10 favorite. He had the weight of Secretariat Mania on
his back. The international buzz surrounding him was deafening. He was
being counted on to win the race and become the first Triple Crown
champion in 25 years -- the first of the television generation that had
already put him on an unrealistic pedestal.
Secretariat’s response went beyond unreal. He won by a jaw-dropping 31
lengths. His time of 2:24 for 1 1/2 miles set a world record many argue
may never be broken.
“Secretariat is alone. He is moving like a tremendous machine!” track
announcer Chick Anderson yelled. “He’s going to be the Triple Crown
winner. Unbelievable! An amazing performance. He’s 25 lengths in front!”
“I kept hearing Chick Anderson,” Turcotte said. “I finally had to turn
to see where the other horses were. I know this sounds crazy, but the
horse did it by himself. I was along for the ride.”
~ Advertise on reinmagazine.com
~
Everyone needed a hero. They got two. One is a massive, chestnut-colored
horse, known to his friends and family as “Big Red”. Everyone else will
call him Secretariat. The other, a self-described Denver housewife, is
less recognized, but she is as gallant and charismatic as her steed. Her
name is Penny Chenery Tweedy, and her faith in this horse will galvanize
the nation, revolutionize horse racing and, ultimately, change her
life’s course entirely.
The story of Secretariat is not just the story of a great racehorse, but
the story of a woman who had faith in him. Disney brings Secretariat to
‘life’ this October 8th.
Based on the remarkably true story, Disney’s “Secretariat” chronicles
the spectacular journey of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Housewife and
mother Penny Chenery Tweedy (Diane Lane) agrees to take over her ailing
father’s Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing
experience. Against all odds, with the help of veteran trainer Lucien
Laurin (John Malkovich), she manages to navigate the male-dominated
business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years
and what may be the greatest racehorse of all time.
“The story is about heart ~Secretariat’s and the heart of the woman who
owned him. Both were greater than anyone imagined,” says director
Randall Wallace, who is the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated
screenwriter of “Braveheart.” “I believe that when Secretariat was
running the last of his races, he was no longer running against other
horses; he was running for the joy in becoming who he was meant to be.”
Filmmakers tried not to veer from the facts of the story, but Wallace
makes clear that he didn’t want to make a documentary account of
Chenery’s life.
“I have worked on many historical subjects as a filmmaker and I have a
saying: Let’s not let the facts get in the way of the truth. The way I
see that is, in making a movie, you are making an impressionistic
painting. You are choosing which facts to highlight and which facts to
omit. Inevitably, by making that choice, you are writing a story from
the stark facts of journalism to the vivid majesty of myth. So in this
story, what people are going to feel is the deeper truth of what
Secretariat and Penny accomplished.”
~Susan Pennell-Sebekos
Choosing the Champions
Secretariat’s casting call
by Amy Bielby
Disney searched for five equine actors to fill big horseshoes.
The story of Secretariat is familiar to all horse lovers. But now, the
entire world will be able to enjoy the tale when Disney brings
Secretariat to the big screen in October.
This movie is different from all others about Secretariat; it is not a
documentary, but a warm, fuzzy film that explores Secretariat, and his
relationship with owner Penny Chenery. Diane Lane tackles the role of
Penny, but finding the perfect actor to play Secretariat was a little
more interesting.
Leonard Lusky, founder of Secretariat.com, acted as a liaison between
Disney and all things Secretariat. Working closely with Penny Chenery
for over a decade, and as a racing fan, he is one of the leading experts
on Secretariat. He says Disney had three main criteria for who would
play Secretariat. First, they needed a horse with a great temperament.
Secondly, the horse had to be athletic, strong and physical. And
thirdly, they needed the look.
“This wasn’t a non-descript horse, this was the Charles Atlas, Hercules
of horses. And you really want to try to find a horse as close as you
can, because he was a very special horse.” Lusky offered to help by
organizing a search through Secretariat.com. After 800 submissions to
the casting call, one lucky horse was selected; Long Shot Max, from
Oklahoma. A second horse was chosen from another of Lusky’s
events~Charlie Boy, the winner of the Secretariat look-alike-contest in
Lexington, Kentucky. These two horses had most of the screen time,
backed by three others found by Disney.
Lusky says Charlie Boy was amazing. “He really, really looked like
Secretariat. He didn’t need any makeup. That was one of the great things
about him. Long Shot Max needed some makeup on his head, but when he had
the blinkers on, that was a non-issue.”
The director really wanted to make the audience feel like part of the
race. Unlike other racing movies that involve camera work to give the
feeling of racing, this film involves actual racing. Booms were
constructed to put the cameras right in amongst the horses, their feet
and their heads. Instead of tricky camera work, this is the real deal.
In addition to the Secretariat, Lusky feels that Penny Chenery is what
really makes the story special. “Penny has been the voice of the horse.
The two are intertwined,” He says. “They really are almost as one in the
memories people have of the story. Penny was a real [anomaly]. She was a
woman in a man’s game; she was a very approachable owner. She was
elegant, but blue collar. You knew her and wanted to be a part of that
family back in 1973.”
Chenery, now 88 years old, had passed on several film proposals, before
she finally settled on a deal with Disney. Lusky says everyone held
their breath as Chenery watched the film for the first time. Luckily she
adored it. “This is a great film,” she said. “I hope it inspires a whole
new generation of racing fans.”
~Amy Bielby
Fun
Facts
Secretariat Stats
BIG HEART ~ Secretariat’s heart was twice the size of an average horse’s
heart.
RECORD BREAKER ~ Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths and
still holds the record time at 2:24 for 1.5 miles.
COVER BOY ~ In 1973, weekly mags Time, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek
all featured Secretariat on their respective covers the same week.
AMONG THE GREATS ~ Secretariat was ranked the 35th Greatest Athlete of
the 20th Century by ESPN.
A STAR IS BORN ~ During the peak of Secretariat’s career, the William
Morris Agency would book the horse’s appearances the same way they would
any of their other (two legged) mega celebrity clients.
IT TAKES FIVE ~ The production relied on five horses to play
Secretariat—four thoroughbreds and a Quarter horse. Not only did they
have to perform like the champion equine, they also had to look the
part. To replicate Secretariat’s white signature markings, everyday Lisa
Brown (Horse Continuity) painstakingly painted the three distinctive
white socks and the facial white stripe and star on to each of the
horses.
NOSE TO NOSE ~ Nelsan Ellis (Eddie Sweat) experienced a very close
relationship with all the horses ~ sometimes a bit too close. During the
course of production he was nuzzled, bitten in the stomach and stomped
on.
DISCOVERED ~ One of the horses that played Secretariat in the film,
Trolley Boy, was discovered in true Hollywood fashion after winning a
Secretariat Look-Alike contest held at the Secretariat Festival in
Paris, Kentucky. According to Diane Lane, Trolley Boy brought his own
special talent to the role. When shooting close-ups with Lane, Trolley
Boy had a tendency to chew the bit loudly which often caused her to
laugh and break character.
PUZZLED ~ The cast and crew of “Secretariat” were addicted to crossword
puzzles, especially Diane Lane, John Malkovich and Margo Martindale.
Lane was such a super fan of the brain teaser; she created her own
crossword puzzle during production.
PEACHES ~ The fluffy blonde wig that Diane Lane wore in the film was
playfully nicknamed Peaches.
INSPIRED ~ Make-up artist Julie Hewett used Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
as her style icon when designing the look of Penny Chenery in the film.
Photographs of the former First Lady were plastered all over the walls
of the make-up trailer.
AUTHENTICITY ~ The production used the actual Triple Crown trophy, on
loan from the Kentucky Derby Museum. The coveted cup was created by
Cartier in 1978 after Affirmed won the Triple Crown in preparation for
the next winner. It had to be handled with gloves and was hand carried
back and forth between Kentucky and Louisiana.
DOUBLE DUTY ~ The head of the make-up department, Michael Mills, played
a fellow golfer alongside John Malkovich’s character Lucien Laurin. Lead
horse wrangler Rusty Hendrickson not only cast the horses in the film,
but he also portrayed a fry cook in a diner scene.
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