FREEMAN TOWNSHIP – The resemblance is striking – the solid chestnut coloring, simple star on the forehead and white markings on those long, strong legs.
When Sue Kidd bred her chestnut and white appaloosa mare to a bay stud, she knew the foal could be any variety of colors, and she expected appaloosa markings. That’s why it came as a surprise, albeit a welcome one, when the filly came out looking like her grandfather Secretariat, the famous Triple Crown winner.
The filly, yet to be named, was born May 10, just one month before the Belmont Stakes, the race that Secretartiat won by an unprecedented 31 lengths to clinch the Triple Crown title in 1973.
“She came out with her granddaddy written all over her,” Kidd said.
The foal is related to the big red thoroughbred on both sides. Secretariat is her grandfather on the sire’s side and great-great-grandfather on the dam’s side. On her dam’s side, her great-grandfather is First Secretary, the only appaloosa offspring of Secretariat.
Kidd knew she wanted an athletic foal from her 11-year-old mare Jet’s April Babe (Jetta), a horse she rides in eventing, which combines dressage, cross-country and show jumping. She worked closely with her friend Adrianne Neary, a dressage rider from Wilton who has extensive knowledge in bloodlines, to find just the right mate for Jetta.
“We concentrated on Secretariat because of his attributes,” Neary said. “He’s big, has a fantastic stride, a lot of power and a lot of talent. We knew if we doubled up on Secretariat on the sire, it would give Sue a chance to put a foal on the ground that is very athletic. For the sporthorse industry, he was a natural to focus on.”
Jetta, a cross of thoroughbred, appaloosa and quarter horse, shows her relation to Secretariat in her movement.
“She has that same fling of the shoulder he does,” Neary said. “That big movement is coming down the sire line.”
She and Kidd found a suitable stallion in Innkeeper, a 16.2 hand high thoroughbred stallion sired by Secretariat, who himself has sired winners on the racetrack.
The long-legged filly is already showing potential – in her confirmation and her love of running.
“She has great length in her back, powerful hindquarters and straight legs,” Neary said.
“I couldn’t be happier with her confirmation,” Kidd added.
When it comes to athleticism, the foal was on her feet shortly after the birth and has rarely stopped since.
“That’s another part of her that makes me think of her heritage,” Kidd said. “She just flies around here.”
The filly was raring to go even in the womb. “She’d kick so hard that she would move Jetta,” said Neary, adding that she expected a colt when she saw that power.
Not even a month old, the filly will often wander away from her mother to be with humans.
“Secretariat was very much a people horse,” Neary said, pointing out another similarity with the foal.
With all that personality and looks, the filly will be difficult to let go when the time goes, but Kidd plans to sell her.
“We’ll be pretty selective,” Kidd said. “I want her to go to a farm where she can meet her potential in the world of eventing. She should do really well and could potentially be a very good broodmare, which makes it even more difficult to let her go.”
Secretariat, who passed away in 1989 at the age of 19, sired a number of successful racehorses, but he also left his mark in the hunter jumper arena.
“He had that size, big trot and huge gallop,” Neary said. “And his grandkids are big, beautiful horses.”
Kidd has another foal, born May 8, that shares bloodlines with Secretariat. This foal is a black and white paint from her thoroughbred mare Satin Flag, whose pedigree includes Bold Ruler and Something Royal, the sire and dam of Secretariat.
For more information about Kidd’s foals and their bloodlines, visit www.westfreemansporthorses.com.
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