I am not a horse-racing fan nor a lover of horses, however thoroughly bred into strength and beauty they may be, but a friend of mine and connoisseur of many of life’s artistic achievements, including that of great horse-racing, sent me a piece of marvellous writing which figures right up at the top of my list of the best sports articles I have ever read.
It is an article by John Jeremiah Sullivan – Horseman, Pass By – and it tells the story of the author’s father, the Triple Crown of 2002 and, most of all, the story of Secretariat, Big Red, described by the author as follows:
“He is best described not as the greatest horse, nor as the greatest runner, nor even as the greatest athlete of the twentieth century, but as the greatest creature. The sight of him in motion is of the things that we can present to the aliens when they come in judgement asking why they should spare our world.”
