Secretariat is a story of female struggle and hard-won triumph in a male dominated environment and is based on actual events surround the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Diane Lane plays Penny Chenery who is a housewife and mother who is the last person anyone would expect to be involved in horse-racing. Yet she agrees to take over her father’s Virginia-based Meadow Stables due to his failing health. Partnering with an experienced trainer named Lucien Laurin played by John Malkovich, Chenery is able to surmount intimidating obstacles and achieve ultimate success with the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and possibly the greatest racehorse in history.
Fun Facts:
- In 1973, Secretariat became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting race records that still stand today in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.
- Penny Chenery, now 87, is an integral resource in the making of the film. She also appears as an extra in one of the film’s scenes.
- In 1973, Secretariat graced the covers of three magazines the same week: Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated.
- Director Randall Wallace, whose directorial credits include “We Were Soldiers,” is the Oscar®- and Golden Globe®-nominated screenwriter of “Braveheart.”
- In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a 33-cent postage stamp with Secretariat’s image.
Secretariat stars Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Dylan Walsh, James Cromwell, Kevin Connolly, Nelsan Ellis, Dylan Baker, Margo Martindale, Otto Thorwarth, Fred Thompson, AJ Michalka and Scott Glenn. Look for it in theaters October 8, 2010.
Trailer
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