Based on the impossible true story, SECRETARIAT chronicles the spectacular journey of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Housewife and mother Penny Chenery (DIANE LANE) agrees to take over her ailing father’s Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge. Against all odds, Chenery—with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (JOHN MALKOVICH)—manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and what may be the greatest racehorse of all time.
The film is directed by Braveheart writer Randall Wallace. The movie stars John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, the former horse jockey who became Secretariat’s trainer. Diane Lane plays Penny Tweedy, owner of Meadow Farm, a horse breeding business in Virginia that was founded by her father Christopher and Walt Disney pictures.
Notes:
* In 1973, Secretariat became the first U.S Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting race that still stand today in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stake
*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.
