Disney’s Secretariat Out Today Profiles a Housewife Turned Trainer and the Horse She Loved

Secretariat was arguably the greatest racehorse in the history of racing, winning the Triple Crown in 1973. Today Disney’s version of his life and the story of the people who brought him to greatness is released in theaters.

Diane Lane stars as Penny Chenery Tweedy, the Denver mother of four who turned her family’s lives upside down when she moved them back home to Virginia to take over her father’s Meadow Stables after he became too ill to run it.  Chenery, with the help of trainer Lucian Laurin, played by John Malkovich, turn the financially-struggling stable around, conquer the race business and create the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. It’s a housewife-finds-her-confidence-and-makes-history story.

Malkovich’s character, Laurin comes out of retirement at the promise of training an unborn colt, Secretariat. Laurin is flamboyant and quirky, which is a clue to his unorthodox training methods used to bring this legendary horse to greatness.

Secretariat, known as Big Red to those who loved him due to his chestnut red coat, came from a truly “royal” line. His father and mother were Bold Ruler and Something Royal, respectively. Besides eating and snuggling, his favorite activity was running very fast. So fast, he won the third race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths.

By the way, the other two races in the Crown are the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby and only 3-year-old horses are allowed to compete. Secretariat was the first Triple Crown winner since 1948 and only two horses have won since – Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978. There have been none since then, according to www.horse-races.net. 

Disney’s version is directed by Randall Wallace and also stars James Cromwell as a wealthy financier, Dylan Walsh as Chenery’s skeptical husband, and Otto Thorwarth, a real-life jockey who plays Secretariat’s jockey, Ron Turcotte.

“I believe that when Secretariat was running the last of his races, he was no longer running against other horses; he was running for the joy in becoming who he was meant to be,” says Wallace in Disney’s production notes. Wallace is best known as the Oscar® and Golden Globe® winning screenwriter for “Braveheart.”

According to Disney’s production notes, the real Chenery held out for years, turning down many offers to make a movie of her story. For whatever reason, she liked Disney and their approach and even agreed to appear as an extra in the film’s scene when Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby, shot at Churchill Downs.

“It didn’t occur to me that I was a woman in a man’s field. I just thought I had the best horse,” Chenery says in the notes.

Wallace sums it up so well in the notes: “What happens when what we call a miracle occurs? What happens when someone, in this case a horse, does something that no one else has ever done or that they themselves have never done? What happens when someone stops doubting and starts believing? And this story is full of those moments.

I think this movie is about transcendence, about people and animals achieving more than anyone thought possible,” he says. “It has an inspiring theme and story — it’s the powerful story of a horse and a woman who did what no one believed could be done. And it reminds us of the miracle of life, how life is bigger than we believe it can be.”

Check out the film, opening today at theaters everywhere. It is rated PG for brief mild language.