Fancy good luck charm: Horseshoe worn by Secretariat is on the auction block
A horseshoe worn by Secretariat, the fastest horse in Kentucky Derby history, is up for auction.
The 1973 Triple Crown winner wore the shoe during the time he was standing at stud at Claiborne Farm in Paris, where he lived until he had to be euthanized because of laminitis in 1989.
The shoe, mounted on a wooden plaque with a brass nameplate, is being offered by sports memorabilia auction house Lelands.
The online auction opened with a starting bid of $1,000 Nov. 11, and bidding will close Friday, according to the Lelands website.
As of Wednesday, the bidding was up to $2,593.
Two years ago, a shoe worn by Secretariat shattered the previous record for horseshoe sales, going for $80,736 in a Lelands auction.
But that shoe had something this one does not: Secretariat wore it in the Kentucky Derby. Secretariat’s trainer, Lucien Laurin, had presented that shoe to the family of the horse’s owner, Penny Chenery, after his historic Derby win, and it stayed in Chenery’s private Meadow Stable collection until her death.
In the Lelands winter 2015 sale, a framed horseshoe nail that had been used by Secretariat for his Belmont Stakes win, accompanied by Chenery’s signature, sold for nearly $6,000, according to the auction house’s website.
Several other pieces of Thoroughbred racing history are also on the auction block this fall. Among the other items being offered through Lelands are horseshoes worn by Curlin, Mr. Prospector, Alydar and others; boots and silks worn by jockey Jacinto Vasquez; and pants worn by jockey Mike Smith.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 8:46 PM.
