Secretariat

October 10.

Stories about horse racing are always interesting to me. Probably because I have a lot of childhood memories at racetracks. Growing up about 5 minutes from Belmont Racetrack with a father who loved the ponies made it so the first time I heard the word fuck was at a racetrack and the first time I gambled was $2 to win on a horse I probably picked because it had the name princess in it or maybe Lauren. My strategy was solid. Cute names, lucky numbers, and pretty colors. I don't have any memories of winning, but I always thought it was fun.

So, when my dad heard Disney was making "Secretariat" he said we had to go even if he didn't have high hopes for how they'd handle the story. After he read a review in The Racing Form, no seriously there was a review of the movie in The Racing Form, he said he was going to hate it but we had to see it anyway.

Neither one of us hated it. I felt it was a little long, Secretariat had only won the first of three Triple Crown races when I started checking the time, but it was a good story and Diane Lane was great as the housewife/horse owner who saves the family stables. Most of the movie my dad whispered – "that's not true" "that's not how it really happened" – but even he liked it, mostly. Maybe they took some creative license, but the essence of the story is there. You root for Big Red (Secretariat) and he wins and you're happy when you leave.