Oct

22

I saw Secretariat on the recommendation of the list and had a few comments. A Very direct, 4 square film. Plain vanilla.

To try to get good critical reviews, they didn't use the usual device of turning the radio on to anti republican stuff, or selfish sounding things about people who don't believe the purpose of life is suffering, but they signaled their liberal credentials by having the girls doing anti war stuff throughout, and putting down the father for being a establishment type.

The Mrs. Tweedy, the daughter that inherited the farm, was a very poor loser. After winning 6 races in a row, she was ready to fire the trainer and Turcotte, the jockey, after one third place finish. Only when she found out it was an abcess did she let the trainer off the hook. Sort of like the trading manager or customer who gets angry the first losing month.

The race at the Belmont Stakes where Secretariat wins by 30 lengths was amazing in that he reversed his usual form and went out for the lead instead of staying in back. Sort of like the market that likes to go up at the end of day after being down throughout, then changes tempo the next day, and opens unchanged, and then going up and up and up further each hour of the day. To the amazement of the other side. Racing jockeys is a very tough game as Turcotte suffered a spinal injury and now is in a wheelchair because of his driving to win style, and presumaby the resentment of his fellow jockeys.

It's good to see a woman, Mrs. Tweedy, running a business successfully, but her decisions seemed based on emotion rather than horse sense. Someone helped her with the idea of syndication at a high price which was very good. The husband was a jerk and a petty hanger on, as befits a ivy professor living in the shadow of his wife. He was ready to leave her when he thought she might risk some of his stake. Amazing if they stayed married.


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2 Comments so far

  1. steve on October 22, 2010 11:31 pm

    We had a great discussion on Secretariat on this site some years back. Perhaps in the archives this could be reprinted. There are many bright and articulate people who weighed in. It is well worth the time to revisit and study the great horse to get an insight view on what it takes to be a great performer. I believe the article was titled Heart of a Champion.

  2. Steven Edward Duren on October 23, 2010 11:09 pm

    I recall that Steve. I am not sure how to find old posts. Someone told me that a Russian guy from Stanford created a great research tool for find old items on the internet. I think it’s called fooble or something like that.

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