Secretariat Revisited

I was SO excited this afternoon.  I got my copy of Secretariat in the mail.  I loved this movie when I saw it at the theater, and now I can watch it any time I want.  Of course, I had to pop it in the DVD player and watch it again.  It made me cry, again.  Of course, we already knew what the outcome was.  He was probably the greatest racehorse of all time.  No horse has matched his speed at the Belmont -- ever.  The bonus of having the DVD is watching the interviews of the people who actually watched him win the Belmont.  They said his conformation was perfection, and that his intelligence was only outmatched by his speed and his love of running. He loved attention and actually puffed up his body and posed for the cameras.  What a horse!


At the very beginning of the movie and again as Secretariat finishes the last of the triple crown races at the Belmont, Diane Lane who plays Penny Tweedy, his owner, recites several lines from the Book of Job, Job 39: 19-24.  I didn't hear these words when I saw the movie at the theater because the movie was so emotional.  I don't know how I missed the quote because it is so absolutely beautiful.  I wanted to share it with all of you:


            Do you give the horse his strength

or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

Do you make him leap like a locust,

striking terror with his proud snorting?

He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,

and charges into the fray.

He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;

he does not shy away from the sword.

The quiver rattles against his side,

along with the flashing spear and lance.

In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;

he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

If you get a chance to see Secretariat, take the time.  You will love it.

Original photo taken by Ken Mist at Kentucky Horse Park