January 27, 2022 by Jermaine E. Martin
In a practical sense, it’s quite normal to wonder exactly what GOD’s grace or intervention looks like. Most of us can give examples in our own lives of how a dire or challenging situation has miraculously turned around in our favor regardless of our own doing. This is often referred to as GOD’s grace. No matter how hard we try to explain or understand such miracles in our lives, we typically come up short. Our inability to come up with easy answers to such miracles is only fitting since miracles, by definition, are the handy work of GOD. Human understanding is not required or needed in His world.
If I had to come up with a great example that shows what happens when GOD places his hand on something to produce a miracle, I would have to use the example of the famous world champion racehorse “Secretariat.” The power, strength, and endurance of this Triple Crown winning racehorse were nothing short of supernatural in the world of horse racing. Many consider Secretariat to be the greatest racehorse to ever live. His build, proportions, muscularity, and size were as close as you can get to perfection in a racehorse. The best description I ever heard regarding this amazing horse was given in a book title. The book is called: “The Horse GOD Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World’s Greatest Racehorse” by the author Lawrence Scanlan. Based on a book title like this, it seems like I wasn’t the only one touched by this very special horse.
“For a true winner, the possibility of losing is never allowed to be an excuse for not trying.”
I first learned about Secretariat when Disney put out the powerful film titled “Secretariat,” which depicted the life and journey of this truly remarkable American thoroughbred racehorse. The film tells the courageous story of the Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery, a devoted wife and mother who sacrificed time with her own husband and children in order to look after her family’s horse farm. With her mother passing and her father too ill to take care of himself and the farm, Penny took responsibility for looking after her father and the success of the farm. Unfortunately, her aging father eventually passed away and the fate of the farm would completely rest in Penny’s hands. It was at this point that Penny decided to take it upon herself to do whatever it took to get the farm back on its feet. Unwavering in her commitment and sense of purpose, Penny was determined to find a way to keep her father’s legacy and the family farm alive.
At the start of Penny assuming full responsibility of the family horse farm, there seemed to be few options for resolving the farm’s hefty financial burdens other than selling it. Looking for a sign or something to place her hope in, Penny took an interest in a pregnant mare that was expected to drop her foal very soon. According to the storyline in the movie, the future owner of the foal was yet to be determined due to an agreement her father made with the owner of the sire who mated with the mare. The sire was named “Bold Ruler” and was the leading sire in North America at the time. He was owned by a wealthy man by the name of Ogden Phipps. Before his decline in health and eventual death, her father made a deal with Phipps that they would decide who gets which foal by a simple coin toss. For Penny, to stand in her father’s place at the coin toss was an honor and would serve as the spark she needed to begin rebuilding the proud legacy of her father’s farm.
When that fateful day finally came and the coin was flipped, Penny ended up losing the coin toss, but winning the pick. The colt she received would one day prove itself to be the best second pick anyone could ever ask for. Her journey from this point on would unfold to let her know that she had actually won the toss in more ways than she could have imagined. As the result of fate and a simple coin toss, Penny would come to own one of the greatest racehorses of all times.
On March 30, 1970, fate brought a bright-red chestnut colt into the world and into Penny Chenery’s life. The baby colt went by the name “Big Red” but eventually was given the official racehorse name of “Secretariat.” Those who witnessed the birth say that the baby colt stood up within forty-five minutes of being born! From that moment on, it should have been apparent that this horse was destined to be nothing short of a miracle. When Penny saw her miracle colt for the first time, it marked the beginning of a shared journey towards greatness. This special bond between horse and owner would reveal the undeniable power of faith, love, and commitment.
At the heart of Disney’s fantastic portrayal of the life and journey of Secretariat is the role and importance of faith in our lives. It was faith that gave Penny Chenery the strength and courage to fight for the survival and legacy of her family horse farm. Even without the answers, Penny remained strong in her faith that she would find a way to turn things around. In life, it has been said that GOD doesn’t always give us what we want but often gives us what we need. The miracle of Secretariat showing up in Penny Chenery’s life demonstrates this point so beautifully. The horse that was a second pick in a coin toss gave Penny everything she needed and more. Through fate, this amazing animal enabled her to believe in herself and stay true to the values of a winner that were passed down to her by her father. In turn, Penny have Secretariat everything he needed to become the champion racehorse he was meant to be.
There was a powerful scene in the movie “Secretariat” in which Penny first introduced “Big Red” to her father. During the touching introduction, Penny’s father, who was wheelchair bound, slowly got up from his wheelchair to admire and gently rub the beautiful horse’s nose. Soon afterwards, he slowly turned to his daughter and whispered the words “Let him run his race.” Incredibly, those few poignant words would spark the journey for the miraculous life of Secretariat. As fate would have it, he would indeed be allowed to run his race.
For a true winner, the possibility of losing is never allowed to be an excuse for not trying. Secretariat was raised, nurtured, and trained in the absence of “fear.” As a result, fearlessness and faith unleashed the full potential of this miracle horse and its courageous owner.
If you weren’t born yet or too young at the time to remember when Secretariat dominated the world of horse racing, such as myself, Disney does an amazing job creating a present-day affection for this special animal. Anyone watching the movie for the first time and unfamiliar with the story of Secretariat like I was, the scene of the final lap of the Belmont in the race for the Triple Crown is a serious nail-biter. The way Disney builds the suspense of not knowing if Secretariat survives the final lap is done masterfully.
The jockey that rode Secretariat during the Belmont and throughout the quest for the Triple Crown, Ron “Ronnie” Turcotte, was known in the world of horse racing for pushing a horse to its limit. In fact, he was known for pushing a horse so hard that it caused its heart to burst. Penny knew this when she chose him, but resisted her fears and picked him anyway. She wanted a jockey that would not hold back, that would bring out the champion racehorse that she knew Secretariat was destined to be. During the final lap of the Belmont, Secretariat would indeed be pushed.
As the dramatic last lap unfolds with Secretariat increasing his tremendous lead, blowing past all of the other horses, the film pans back and forth between the race and the cheering crowd. Amongst the cheers, there were many gasping in disbelief. No one could believe what they were witnessing. Penny was torn between cheering Secretariat to victory and an overwhelming fear for the horse’s well-being. The scene was shot perfectly as the movie audience witnesses Penny’s internal battle between her faith and succumbing to fear. Faith would eventually win over as Penny’s voice penetrates the voices and cheers of the crowd and yells out to Ronnie – ”Let him run!” Faith immediately went to work. The result would be the unleashing of the most powerful racehorse the world had ever seen.
The race for the Triple Crown is the emotional high point of the movie. This is the critical moment in the journey in which Penny releases all of her fears and truly lets Secretariat “run his race.” All the while knowing that her jockey will push a horse to potentially dangerous limits if that’s what it took to win. Penny refused to be held back by fear and lays it all on the line. Secretariat continues at a ferocious pace and continues to increase his lead. As the suspense continues to build, the camera pans over the crowd, showing people cheering but at the same time gasping in disbelief. Suddenly, the camera switches to a view of the final bend of the last lap and stays there, keeping the audience in suspense. All of the racehorses are outside of the camera view. The movie audience is now unaware of who is in the lead. The music and the cheering come to a complete halt, putting the viewer on the edge of their seat.
As someone who didn’t know the story of Secretariat or whether or not he survived this final race for the Triple Crown, I was horrified of how this race and movie might end. My fear was that Secretariat wasn’t coming around that bend. All I could think of was that jockey and his reputation for pushing horses to their limit. The suspense was killing me. My excitement of Secretariat winning quickly switched to fear of him not surviving.
As soon as I was about to give up hope of him coming around the bend, that’s when I saw something on the movie screen that I will never forget. What I saw was one of the most powerful movie scenes I had ever seen in a movie. Breaking the screen silence and suspense, Secretariat comes blasting around the bend in full speed! Not only was he still alive, but way ahead and blowing away every other horse in the race. The thunderous pounding of his hooves hitting the mud, the sheer power and length of his strides, and the speed of this beautiful animal that only GOD could create are captured perfectly in true Disney Magic.
Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes. He won that race by 31 lengths, setting a world record with a time of 2:24 for 1-1/2 miles. In real life, everything that this horse was meant to be was put on display for the world to see that day at the Belmont. It was as if GOD picked this horse for that day to show off what He can do when we take the limits off of Him and push our faith.
Thanks to Penny Chenery pushing her faith, Secretariat was not allowed to be held back in fear. He was allowed to run his race to victory. Just think, the world would never have known this miracle horse if Penny would have given in to fear. The greatness in “The Horse that GOD Built” had been unleashed because someone was willing to test their faith.
Jermaine E. Martin is an empowerment leader, speaker and author of “American Mindset: Unstuck & Unstoppable” (Amazon), out now.