As a ten year old living in Queens, New York, I had vivid memories of the 1973 Belmont Stakes and legendary horse Secretariat win the final leg of the Triple Crown. We used to live about 15 minutes from the track at the time.
Seeing "Big Red" win on television by a record 31 lengths was one thing, but little did I or any of us know at the time, he'd still have relevance.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the colt's success as the 149th edition of the Kentucky Derby gets going on Saturday. Even 34 years after his death, the race will have eight of his descendants in the race that includes a 3-1 favorite in Forte.
He has ties to the state of Virginia. Born at Meadow Farm in Caroline County just north of Richmond, Secretariat would later move to Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky.
Twenty years ago, I spoke with Secretariat's owner, the late Penny Chenery who described him as the equivalent of a movie star.
"I was terribly lucky to experience the career of a very talented and unusual horse", she said back in 2003.
With Ron Turcotte as his jockey, Secretariat still holds the track records from the Kentucky Derby (1:59.40), The Preakness (1:53) and the Belmont Stakes (2:24).
The late Jennings Culley, who was a Richmond area newspaper reporter, covered all three events and said the horse had plenty of personality.
"You see a horse that has to be pushed into the post and things like that. Secretariat was a calm, quiet stately gentleman", he said in 2003.
Chenery did mention how the mounting pressure of that historic season could take its toll on anyone.
"It is really hell", she said. "You get so much attention and everyone wants your horse to win. They want the completion of the Triple Crown and you just feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to get the job done".
A horse that set a standard that's been hard to follow.