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2020 SESSION

20101812D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 70
Offered January 8, 2020
Prefiled January 7, 2020
Commemorating the life and legacy of Secretariat.
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Patrons-- Fowler, Carr, Cole, M.L., Delaney, Guzman, Hurst, Morefield, Orrock, Rasoul, Ware and Wyatt; Senators: Deeds, McDougle, Morrissey, Peake, Reeves, Ruff and Spruill
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WHEREAS, Secretariat, recognized as one of the greatest thoroughbred racehorses in racing history and a winner of the prestigious Triple Crown, was born 50 years ago on March 30, 1970, at Meadow Farm in Caroline County; and

WHEREAS, a strapping chestnut colt, Secretariat was unanimously selected as the American Horse of the Year as a two-year-old in 1972; he was the first juvenile ever to be so honored in the history of the award; and

WHEREAS, while a three-year-old in 1973, Secretariat became the first thoroughbred in 25 years to win horse racing's coveted Triple Crown, achieving victories in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes in Maryland, and the Belmont Stakes in New York; and

WHEREAS, Secretariat accomplished the unprecedented feat of breaking records in all three Triple Crown races, completing the one-and-one-fourth-mile Kentucky Derby in one minute and 59-and-two-fifths seconds; the one-and three-sixteenths-mile Preakness Stakes in one minute and 53 seconds; and the one-and-one-half-mile Belmont Stakes in two minutes and 24 seconds; and

WHEREAS, Secretariat's astonishing 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes is widely considered to be the single greatest performance in the history of the ancient sport of kings; and

WHEREAS, Secretariat was again selected as the American Horse of the Year at the conclusion of the 1973 season; and

WHEREAS, being a breeding stallion, Secretariat had a lasting impact on the thoroughbred breed, especially through his daughters, from whom additional champions have been issued; and

WHEREAS, Secretariat, who died in 1989, is today considered to be the greatest thoroughbred in the modern history of American turf horse racing and the enduring standard of excellence against which all other racehorses are measured; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commemorate the life and legacy of Secretariat on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his birth in Caroline County; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Caroline County Board of Supervisors as an expression of the esteem in which the memory of Secretariat, one of the finest athletes ever born in the Commonwealth, is held by the members of the General Assembly.