Secretariat Memorabilia Remains a Hot Ticket
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Items worn by Secretariat was one of three items recently offered at auction. (Photo by HorsePhotos, other photos courtesy of Lelands.com)
Proving to still be one of the most popular racehorses ever, an auction held recently with three items that Secretariat wore brought a combined price of $81,612.65 in a Lelands.com auction.
The item most desired by bidders proved to be a shoe Secretariat wore in the Whitney Stakes. Bringing $36,542.50, the shoe is still filled with dirt from Secretariat’s time wearing it. The shoe was replaced just prior to the Marlboro Cup when Secretariat got new shoes for that race on Sept. 13, 1973. It was gifted to Phillip Morris’s official photographer Buck Peters by Penny Chenery after she met him in the lead up to the Marlboro Cup.
SECRETARIAT HORSESHOE
Secretariat’s famous morning workout saddle cloth, talked about in Bill Nack’s “Secretariat: The Making of a Champion” book proved to be just a little less popular than the shoe when selling for $23,900.
SECRETARIAT SADDLE CLOTH
Coming with pictures signed by Secretariat’s exercise rider Jim Gaffney, the saddle cloth was photographed many times throughout Secretariat’s 2- and 3-year-old seasons. After it was retired from the service in May of 1973, the saddle cloth was owned by Gaffney until 2004.
The last item up for auction was Secretariat’s halter from 1979. Bought for $250 at the time, the halter was sold to a woman who visited Claiborne in 1979 and asked if she could buy the halter Secretariat was wearing.
SECRETARIAT HALTER
The auction held last week received seven bids with the winning buyer paying $21,170.15 for the halter and two pictures of Secretariat in retirement.
“We couldn’t be happier. The sales were amazing. Secretariat is an American cultural icon and interest and demand for Secretariat memorabilia continues to grow by the day,” said Joshua Evans, Founder and Chairman of Lelands.com.
This isn’t the first time Lelands has sold equine memorabilia, as the company sold more than 150 Seabiscuit items earlier this year.