By Elena Pelletier
Elena Pelletier
SAN DIEGO — It was a cloudy, rainy day here in San Diego. Unusual, yes. What to do on a Sunday afternoon. What else – go to the movies. What to see? A documentary – Waiting for Superman. The story of the disintegration of our public school system. No. It was already a dreary day. Red starring Bruce Willis? Maybe. Wait! What about Secretariat”? Oh yes! I knew the outcome. But I wanted to feel good on this gloomy day.
Disney’s Secretariat is the true story of the race horse that many consider the greatest of all time. Secretariat was winner of the Triple Crown in 1973. This is not just the story of the horse, but actually focuses on Penny Chenery Tweety (Diane Lane). She took over the running of her father’s thoroughbred racing operation and horse breeding business after he became ill and incapacitated, eventually passing away in 1973, never seeing his horse do the impossible.
The story follows the history of this giant of an athelete (ESPN listed Secretariat 35th of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century, the highest of three non-humans on the list (the other two were also racehorses: Man o’ War at 84th and Citation at 97th), and the determination of a woman who was “just a housewife” and how she became the guiding light and strength of spirit that allowed Secretariat to become an extraordinary champion.
GCSummit 