title: Transhumanism

text: The first self-described transhumanists met formally in the early 1980s at the University of California, Los Angeles, which became the main center of transhumanist thought. Here, FM-2030 lectured on his "Third Way" futurist ideology. At the EZTV Media venue, frequented by transhumanists and other futurists, Natasha Vita-More presented "Breaking Away", her 1980 experimental film with the theme of humans breaking away from their biological limitations and the Earth's gravity as they head into space. FM-2030 and Vita-More soon began holding gatherings for transhumanists in Los Angeles, which included students from FM-2030's courses and audiences from Vita-More's artistic productions. In 1982, Vita-More authored the "Transhumanist Arts Statement" and, six years later, produced the cable TV show "TransCentury Update "on transhumanity, a program which reached over 100,000 viewers.


title: Transhumanism

text: In 1986, Eric Drexler published "Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology," which discussed the prospects for nanotechnology and molecular assemblers, and founded the Foresight Institute. As the first non-profit organization to research, advocate for, and perform cryonics, the Southern California offices of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation became a center for futurists. In 1988, the first issue of "Extropy Magazine" was published by Max More and Tom Morrow. In 1990, More, a strategic philosopher, created his own particular transhumanist doctrine, which took the form of the "Principles of Extropy," and laid the foundation of modern transhumanism by giving it a new definition:


title: Transhumanism

text: In 1992, More and Morrow founded the Extropy Institute, a catalyst for networking futurists and brainstorming new memeplexes by organizing a series of conferences and, more importantly, providing a mailing list, which exposed many to transhumanist views for the first time during the rise of cyberculture and the cyberdelic counterculture. In 1998, philosophers Nick Bostrom and David Pearce founded the World Transhumanist Association (WTA), an international non-governmental organization working toward the recognition of transhumanism as a legitimate subject of scientific inquiry and public policy. In 2002, the WTA modified and adopted "The Transhumanist Declaration." "The Transhumanist FAQ", prepared by the WTA (later Humanity+), gave two formal definitions for transhumanism:


title: Transhumanism

text: In possible contrast with other transhumanist organizations, WTA officials considered that social forces could undermine their futurist visions and needed to be addressed. A particular concern is the equal access to human enhancement technologies across classes and borders. In 2006, a political struggle within the transhumanist movement between the libertarian right and the liberal left resulted in a more centre-leftward positioning of the WTA under its former executive director James Hughes. In 2006, the board of directors of the Extropy Institute ceased operations of the organization, stating that its mission was "essentially completed". This left the World Transhumanist Association as the leading international transhumanist organization. In 2008, as part of a rebranding effort, the WTA changed its name to "Humanity+". In 2012, the transhumanist Longevity Party had been initiated as an international union of people who promote the development of scientific and technological means to significant life extension, that for now has more than 30 national organisations throughout the world.


title: Transhumanism

text: The Mormon Transhumanist Association was founded in 2006. By 2012, it consisted of hundreds of members.


title: Transhumanism

text: It is a matter of debate whether transhumanism is a branch of posthumanism and how this philosophical movement should be conceptualised with regard to transhumanism. The latter is often referred to as a variant or activist form of posthumanism by its conservative, Christian and progressive critics.


title: Transhumanism

text: A common feature of transhumanism and philosophical posthumanism is the future vision of a new intelligent species, into which humanity will evolve and eventually will supplement or supersede it. Transhumanism stresses the evolutionary perspective, including sometimes the creation of a highly intelligent animal species by way of cognitive enhancement (i.e. biological uplift), but clings to a "posthuman future" as the final goal of participant evolution.


title: Transhumanism

text: Nevertheless, the idea of creating intelligent artificial beings (proposed, for example, by roboticist Hans Moravec) has influenced transhumanism. Moravec's ideas and transhumanism have also been characterised as a "complacent" or "apocalyptic" variant of posthumanism and contrasted with "cultural posthumanism" in humanities and the arts. While such a "cultural posthumanism" would offer resources for rethinking the relationships between humans and increasingly sophisticated machines, transhumanism and similar posthumanisms are, in this view, not abandoning obsolete concepts of the "autonomous liberal subject", but are expanding its "prerogatives" into the realm of the posthuman. Transhumanist self-characterisations as a continuation of humanism and Enlightenment thinking correspond with this view.


title: Transhumanism

text: Some secular humanists conceive transhumanism as an offspring of the humanist freethought movement and argue that transhumanists differ from the humanist mainstream by having a specific focus on technological approaches to resolving human concerns (i.e. technocentrism) and on the issue of mortality. However, other progressives have argued that posthumanism, whether it be its philosophical or activist forms, amounts to a shift away from concerns about social justice, from the reform of human institutions and from other Enlightenment preoccupations, toward narcissistic longings for a transcendence of the human body in quest of more exquisite ways of being.


title: Transhumanism

text: As an alternative, humanist philosopher Dwight Gilbert Jones has proposed a renewed Renaissance humanism through DNA and genome repositories, with each individual genotype (DNA) being instantiated as successive phenotypes (bodies or lives via cloning, "Church of Man", 1978). In his view, native molecular DNA "continuity" is required for retaining the "self" and no amount of computing power or memory aggregation can replace the essential "stink" of our true genetic identity, which he terms "genity". Instead, DNA/genome stewardship by an institution analogous to the Jesuits' 400 year vigil is a suggested model for enabling humanism to become our species' common credo, a project he proposed in his speculative novel "The Humanist – 1000 Summers" (2011), wherein humanity dedicates these coming centuries to harmonizing our planet and peoples.


title: Transhumanism

text: The philosophy of transhumanism is closely related to technoself studies, an interdisciplinary domain of scholarly research dealing with all aspects of human identity in a technological society and focusing on the changing nature of relationships between humans and technology.


title: Transhumanism

text: While many transhumanist theorists and advocates seek to apply reason, science and technology for the purposes of reducing poverty, disease, disability and malnutrition around the globe, transhumanism is distinctive in its particular focus on the applications of technologies to the improvement of human bodies at the individual level. Many transhumanists actively assess the potential for future technologies and innovative social systems to improve the quality of all life, while seeking to make the material reality of the human condition fulfill the promise of legal and political equality by eliminating congenital mental and physical barriers.


title: Transhumanism

text: Transhumanist philosophers argue that there not only exists a perfectionist ethical imperative for humans to strive for progress and improvement of the human condition, but that it is possible and desirable for humanity to enter a transhuman phase of existence in which humans enhance themselves beyond what is naturally human. In such a phase, natural evolution would be replaced with deliberate participatory or directed evolution.


title: Transhumanism

text: Some theorists such as Ray Kurzweil think that the pace of technological innovation is accelerating and that the next 50 years may yield not only radical technological advances, but possibly a technological singularity, which may fundamentally change the nature of human beings. Transhumanists who foresee this massive technological change generally maintain that it is desirable. However, some are also concerned with the possible dangers of extremely rapid technological change and propose options for ensuring that advanced technology is used responsibly. For example, Bostrom has written extensively on existential risks to humanity's future welfare, including ones that could be created by emerging technologies. In contrast, some proponents of transhumanism view it as essential to humanity's survival. For instance, Stephen Hawking points out that the "external transmission" phase of human evolution, where knowledge production and knowledge management is more important than transmission of information via evolution, may be the point at which human civilization becomes unstable and self-destructs, one of Hawking's explanations for the Fermi paradox. To counter this, Hawking emphasizes either self-design of the human genome or mechanical enhancement (e.g., brain-computer interface) to enhance human intelligence and reduce aggression, without which he implies human civilization may be too stupid collectively to survive an increasingly unstable system, resulting in societal collapse.


title: Transhumanism

text: While many people believe that all transhumanists are striving for immortality, it is not necessarily true. Hank Pellissier, managing director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (2011–2012), surveyed transhumanists. He found that, of the 818 respondents, 23.8% did not want immortality. Some of the reasons argued were boredom, Earth's overpopulation and the desire "to go to an afterlife".


title: Transhumanism

text: Certain transhumanist philosophers hold that since all assumptions about what others experience are fallible, and that therefore all attempts to help or protect beings that are not capable of correcting what others assume about them no matter how well-intentioned are in danger of actually hurting them, all sentient beings deserve to be sapient. These thinkers argue that the ability to discuss in a falsification-based way constitutes a threshold that is not arbitrary at which it becomes possible for an individual to speak for themselves in a way that is not dependent on exterior assumptions. They also argue that all beings capable of experiencing something deserve to be elevated to this threshold if they are not at it, typically stating that the underlying change that leads to the threshold is an increase in the preciseness of the brain's ability to discriminate. This includes increasing the neuron count and connectivity in animals as well as accelerating the development of connectivity to shorten or ideally skip non-sapient childhood incapable of independently deciding for oneself. Transhumanists of this description stress that the genetic engineering that they advocate is general insertion into both the somatic cells of living beings and in germ cells, and not purging of individuals without the modifications, deeming the latter not only unethical but also unnecessary due to the possibilities of efficient genetic engineering.


title: Transhumanism

text: Transhumanists engage in interdisciplinary approaches to understand and evaluate possibilities for overcoming biological limitations by drawing on futurology and various fields of ethics. Unlike many philosophers, social critics and activists who place a moral value on preservation of natural systems, transhumanists see the very concept of the specifically natural as problematically nebulous at best and an obstacle to progress at worst. In keeping with this, many prominent transhumanist advocates, such as Dan Agin, refer to transhumanism's critics, on the political right and left jointly, as "bioconservatives" or "bioluddites", the latter term alluding to the 19th century anti-industrialisation social movement that opposed the replacement of human manual labourers by machines.


title: Transhumanism

text: A belief of counter-transhumanism is that transhumanism can cause unfair human enhancement in many areas of life, but specifically on the social plane. This can be compared to steroid use, where athletes who use steroids in sports have an advantage over those who do not. The same scenario happens when people have certain neural implants that give them an advantage in the work place and in educational aspects. Additionally, there are many, according to M.J. McNamee and S.D. Edwards, who fear that the improvements afforded by a specific, privileged section of society will lead to a division of the human species into two different and distinct species. The idea of two human species, one being at a great physical and economic advantage in comparison with the other, is a troublesome one at best. One may be incapable of breeding with the other, and may by consequence of lower physical health and ability, be considered of a lower moral standing than the other.


title: Transhumanism

text: There is a variety of opinions within transhumanist thought. Many of the leading transhumanist thinkers hold views that are under constant revision and development. Some distinctive currents of transhumanism are identified and listed here in alphabetical order:


title: Transhumanism

text: Although many transhumanists are atheists, agnostics, and/or secular humanists, some have religious or spiritual views. Despite the prevailing secular attitude, some transhumanists pursue hopes traditionally espoused by religions, such as immortality, while several controversial new religious movements from the late 20th century have explicitly embraced transhumanist goals of transforming the human condition by applying technology to the alteration of the mind and body, such as Raëlism. However, most thinkers associated with the transhumanist movement focus on the practical goals of using technology to help achieve longer and healthier lives, while speculating that future understanding of neurotheology and the application of neurotechnology will enable humans to gain greater control of altered states of consciousness, which were commonly interpreted as spiritual experiences, and thus achieve more profound self-knowledge. Transhumanist Buddhists have sought to explore areas of agreement between various types of Buddhism and Buddhist-derived meditation and mind-expanding neurotechnologies. However, they have been criticised for appropriating mindfulness as a tool for transcending humanness.


title: Transhumanism

text: Some transhumanists believe in the compatibility between the human mind and computer hardware, with the theoretical implication that human consciousness may someday be transferred to alternative media (a speculative technique commonly known as mind uploading). One extreme formulation of this idea, which some transhumanists are interested in, is the proposal of the Omega Point by Christian cosmologist Frank Tipler. Drawing upon ideas in digitalism, Tipler has advanced the notion that the collapse of the Universe billions of years hence could create the conditions for the perpetuation of humanity in a simulated reality within a megacomputer and thus achieve a form of "posthuman godhood". Before Tipler, the term Omega Point was used by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and Jesuit theologian who saw an evolutionary telos in the development of an encompassing noosphere, a global consciousness.


title: Transhumanism

text: Viewed from the perspective of some Christian thinkers, the idea of mind uploading is asserted to represent a denigration of the human body, characteristic of gnostic manichaean belief. Transhumanism and its presumed intellectual progenitors have also been described as neo-gnostic by non-Christian and secular commentators.


title: Transhumanism

text: The first dialogue between transhumanism and faith was a one-day conference held at the University of Toronto in 2004. Religious critics alone faulted the philosophy of transhumanism as offering no eternal truths nor a relationship with the divine. They commented that a philosophy bereft of these beliefs leaves humanity adrift in a foggy sea of postmodern cynicism and anomie. Transhumanists responded that such criticisms reflect a failure to look at the actual content of the transhumanist philosophy, which, far from being cynical, is rooted in optimistic, idealistic attitudes that trace back to the Enlightenment. Following this dialogue, William Sims Bainbridge, a sociologist of religion, conducted a pilot study, published in the Journal of Evolution and Technology, suggesting that religious attitudes were negatively correlated with acceptance of transhumanist ideas and indicating that individuals with highly religious worldviews tended to perceive transhumanism as being a direct, competitive (though ultimately futile) affront to their spiritual beliefs.


title: Transhumanism

text: Since 2006, the Mormon Transhumanist Association sponsors conferences and lectures on the intersection of technology and religion. The Christian Transhumanist Association was established in 2014.


title: Transhumanism

text: Since 2009, the American Academy of Religion holds a "Transhumanism and Religion" consultation during its annual meeting, where scholars in the field of religious studies seek to identify and critically evaluate any implicit religious beliefs that might underlie key transhumanist claims and assumptions; consider how transhumanism challenges religious traditions to develop their own ideas of the human future, in particular the prospect of human transformation, whether by technological or other means; and provide critical and constructive assessments of an envisioned future that place greater confidence in nanotechnology, robotics and information technology to achieve virtual immortality and create a superior posthuman species.


title: Transhumanism

text: The physicist and transhumanist thinker Giulio Prisco states that "cosmist religions based on science, might be our best protection from reckless pursuit of superintelligence and other risky technologies." Prisco also recognizes the importance of spiritual ideas, such as the ones of Russian Orthodox philosopher Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov, to the origins of the transhumanism movement.


title: Transhumanism

text: While some transhumanists take an abstract and theoretical approach to the perceived benefits of emerging technologies, others have offered specific proposals for modifications to the human body, including heritable ones. Transhumanists are often concerned with methods of enhancing the human nervous system. Though some, such as Kevin Warwick, propose modification of the peripheral nervous system, the brain is considered the common denominator of personhood and is thus a primary focus of transhumanist ambitions.


title: Transhumanism

text: In fact, Warwick has gone a lot further than merely making a proposal. In 2002 he had a 100 electrode array surgically implanted into the median nerves of his left arm to link his nervous system directly with a computer and thus to also connect with the internet. As a consequence, he carried out a series of experiments. He was able to directly control a robot hand using his neural signals and to feel the force applied by the hand through feedback from the fingertips. He also experienced a form of ultrasonic sensory input and conducted the first purely electronic communication between his own nervous system and that of his wife who also had electrodes implanted.<ref name="doi10.1001/archneur.60.10.1369|noedit"></ref>


title: Transhumanism

text: As proponents of self-improvement and body modification, transhumanists tend to use existing technologies and techniques that supposedly improve cognitive and physical performance, while engaging in routines and lifestyles designed to improve health and longevity. Depending on their age, some transhumanists express concern that they will not live to reap the benefits of future technologies. However, many have a great interest in life extension strategies and in funding research in cryonics to make the latter a viable option of last resort, rather than remaining an unproven method. Regional and global transhumanist networks and communities with a range of objectives exist to provide support and forums for discussion and collaborative projects.


title: Transhumanism

text: While most transhumanist theory focuses on future technologies and the changes they may bring, many today are already involved in the practice on a very basic level. It is not uncommon for many to receive cosmetic changes to their physical form via cosmetic surgery, even if it is not required for health reasons. Human growth hormones attempt to alter the natural development of shorter children or those who have been born with a physical deficiency. Doctors prescribe medicines such as Ritalin and Adderall to improve cognitive focus, and many people take "lifestyle" drugs such as Viagra, Propecia, and Botox to restore aspects of youthfulness that have been lost in maturity.


title: Transhumanism

text: Other transhumanists, such as cyborg artist Neil Harbisson, use technologies and techniques to improve their senses and perception of reality. Harbisson's antenna, which is permanently implanted in his skull, allows him to sense colours beyond human perception such as infrareds and ultraviolets.


title: Transhumanism

text: Transhumanists support the emergence and convergence of technologies including nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science (NBIC), as well as hypothetical future technologies like simulated reality, artificial intelligence, superintelligence, 3D bioprinting, mind uploading, chemical brain preservation and cryonics. They believe that humans can and should use these technologies to become more than human. Therefore, they support the recognition and/or protection of cognitive liberty, morphological freedom and procreative liberty as civil liberties, so as to guarantee individuals the choice of using human enhancement technologies on themselves and their children. Some speculate that human enhancement techniques and other emerging technologies may facilitate more radical human enhancement no later than at the midpoint of the 21st century. Kurzweil's book "The Singularity is Near" and Michio Kaku's book "Physics of the Future" outline various human enhancement technologies and give insight on how these technologies may impact the human race.


title: Transhumanism

text: Some reports on the converging technologies and NBIC concepts have criticised their transhumanist orientation and alleged science fictional character. At the same time, research on brain and body alteration technologies has been accelerated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Defense, which is interested in the battlefield advantages they would provide to the supersoldiers of the United States and its allies. There has already been a brain research program to "extend the ability to manage information", while military scientists are now looking at stretching the human capacity for combat to a maximum 168 hours without sleep.


title: Transhumanism

text: Neuroscientist Anders Sandberg has been practicing on the method of scanning ultra-thin sections of the brain. This method is being used to help better understand the architecture of the brain. As of now, this method is currently being used on mice. This is the first step towards hypothetically uploading contents of the human brain, including memories and emotions, onto a computer.


title: Transhumanism

text: The very notion and prospect of human enhancement and related issues arouse public controversy. Criticisms of transhumanism and its proposals take two main forms: those objecting to the likelihood of transhumanist goals being achieved (practical criticisms) and those objecting to the moral principles or worldview sustaining transhumanist proposals or underlying transhumanism itself (ethical criticisms). Critics and opponents often see transhumanists' goals as posing threats to human values.


title: Transhumanism

text: Some of the most widely known critiques of the transhumanist program are novels and fictional films. These works of art, despite presenting imagined worlds rather than philosophical analyses, are used as touchstones for some of the more formal arguments. Various arguments have been made to the effect that a society that adopts human enhancement technologies may come to resemble the dystopia depicted in the 1932 novel "Brave New World "by Aldous Huxley.


title: Transhumanism

text: On another front, some authors consider that humanity is already transhuman, because medical advances in recent centuries have significantly altered our species. However, it is not in a conscious and therefore transhumanistic way. From such perspective, transhumanism is perpetually aspirational: as new technologies become mainstream, the adoption of new yet-unadopted technologies becomes a new shifting goal.


title: Transhumanism

text: In a 1992 book, sociologist Max Dublin pointed to many past failed predictions of technological progress and argued that modern futurist predictions would prove similarly inaccurate. He also objected to what he saw as scientism, fanaticism and nihilism by a few in advancing transhumanist causes. Dublin also said that historical parallels existed between Millenarian religions and Communist doctrines.


title: Transhumanism

text: Although generally sympathetic to transhumanism, public health professor Gregory Stock is skeptical of the technical feasibility and mass appeal of the cyborgization of humanity predicted by Raymond Kurzweil, Hans Moravec and Kevin Warwick. He said that, throughout the 21st century, many humans would find themselves deeply integrated into systems of machines, but would remain biological. Primary changes to their own form and character would arise not from cyberware, but from the direct manipulation of their genetics, metabolism and biochemistry.


title: Transhumanism

text: In her 1992 book "Science as Salvation", philosopher Mary Midgley traces the notion of achieving immortality by transcendence of the material human body (echoed in the transhumanist tenet of mind uploading) to a group of male scientific thinkers of the early 20th century, including J. B. S. Haldane and members of his circle. She characterizes these ideas as "quasi-scientific dreams and prophesies" involving visions of escape from the body coupled with "self-indulgent, uncontrolled power-fantasies". Her argument focuses on what she perceives as the pseudoscientific speculations and irrational, fear-of-death-driven fantasies of these thinkers, their disregard for laymen and the remoteness of their eschatological visions.


title: Transhumanism

text: Another critique is aimed mainly at "algeny" (a portmanteau of "alchemy" and "genetics"), which Jeremy Rifkin defined as "the upgrading of existing organisms and the design of wholly new ones with the intent of 'perfecting' their performance". It emphasizes the issue of biocomplexity and the unpredictability of attempts to guide the development of products of biological evolution. This argument, elaborated in particular by the biologist Stuart Newman, is based on the recognition that cloning and germline genetic engineering of animals are error-prone and inherently disruptive of embryonic development. Accordingly, so it is argued, it would create unacceptable risks to use such methods on human embryos. Performing experiments, particularly ones with permanent biological consequences, on developing humans would thus be in violation of accepted principles governing research on human subjects (see the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki). Moreover, because improvements in experimental outcomes in one species are not automatically transferable to a new species without further experimentation, it is claimed that there is no ethical route to genetic manipulation of humans at early developmental stages.


title: Transhumanism

text: As a practical matter, however, international protocols on human subject research may not present a legal obstacle to attempts by transhumanists and others to improve their offspring by germinal choice technology. According to legal scholar Kirsten Rabe Smolensky, existing laws would protect parents who choose to enhance their child's genome from future liability arising from adverse outcomes of the procedure.


title: Transhumanism

text: Transhumanists and other supporters of human genetic engineering do not dismiss practical concerns out of hand, insofar as there is a high degree of uncertainty about the timelines and likely outcomes of genetic modification experiments in humans. However, bioethicist James Hughes suggests that one possible ethical route to the genetic manipulation of humans at early developmental stages is the building of computer models of the human genome, the proteins it specifies and the tissue engineering he argues that it also codes for. With the exponential progress in bioinformatics, Hughes believes that a virtual model of genetic expression in the human body will not be far behind and that it will soon be possible to accelerate approval of genetic modifications by simulating their effects on virtual humans. Public health professor Gregory Stock points to artificial chromosomes as an alleged safer alternative to existing genetic engineering techniques.


title: Transhumanism

text: Thinkers who defend the likelihood of accelerating change point to a past pattern of exponential increases in humanity's technological capacities. Kurzweil developed this position in his 2005 book "The Singularity Is Near".


title: Transhumanism

text: It has been argued that, in transhumanist thought, humans attempt to substitute themselves for God. The 2002 Vatican statement "Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God," stated that "changing the genetic identity of man as a human person through the production of an infrahuman being is radically immoral", implying, that "man has full right of disposal over his own biological nature". The statement also argues that creation of a superhuman or spiritually superior being is "unthinkable", since true improvement can come only through religious experience and "realizing more fully the image of God". Christian theologians and lay activists of several churches and denominations have expressed similar objections to transhumanism and claimed that Christians attain in the afterlife what radical transhumanism promises, such as indefinite life extension or the abolition of suffering. In this view, transhumanism is just another representative of the long line of utopian movements which seek to create "heaven on earth". On the other hand, religious thinkers allied with transhumanist goals such as the theologians Ronald Cole-Turner and Ted Peters hold that the doctrine of "co-creation" provides an obligation to use genetic engineering to improve human biology.


title: Transhumanism

text: Other critics target what they claim to be an instrumental conception of the human body in the writings of Marvin Minsky, Hans Moravec and some other transhumanists. Reflecting a strain of feminist criticism of the transhumanist program, philosopher Susan Bordo points to "contemporary obsessions with slenderness, youth and physical perfection", which she sees as affecting both men and women, but in distinct ways, as "the logical (if extreme) manifestations of anxieties and fantasies fostered by our culture." Some critics question other social implications of the movement's focus on body modification. Political scientist Klaus-Gerd Giesen, in particular, has asserted that transhumanism's concentration on altering the human body represents the logical yet tragic consequence of atomized individualism and body commodification within a consumer culture.


title: Transhumanism

text: Nick Bostrom responds that the desire to regain youth, specifically, and transcend the natural limitations of the human body, in general, is pan-cultural and pan-historical, and is therefore not uniquely tied to the culture of the 20th century. He argues that the transhumanist program is an attempt to channel that desire into a scientific project on par with the Human Genome Project and achieve humanity's oldest hope, rather than a puerile fantasy or social trend.


title: Transhumanism

text: In his 2003 book "Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age", environmental ethicist Bill McKibben argued at length against many of the technologies that are postulated or supported by transhumanists, including germinal choice technology, nanomedicine and life extension strategies. He claims that it would be morally wrong for humans to tamper with fundamental aspects of themselves (or their children) in an attempt to overcome universal human limitations, such as vulnerability to aging, maximum life span and biological constraints on physical and cognitive ability. Attempts to "improve" themselves through such manipulation would remove limitations that provide a necessary context for the experience of meaningful human choice. He claims that human lives would no longer seem meaningful in a world where such limitations could be overcome technologically. Even the goal of using germinal choice technology for clearly therapeutic purposes should be relinquished, since it would inevitably produce temptations to tamper with such things as cognitive capacities. He argues that it is possible for societies to benefit from renouncing particular technologies, using as examples Ming China, Tokugawa Japan and the contemporary Amish.


title: Transhumanism

text: Biopolitical activist Jeremy Rifkin and biologist Stuart Newman accept that biotechnology has the power to make profound changes in organismal identity. They argue against the genetic engineering of human beings because they fear the blurring of the boundary between human and artifact. Philosopher Keekok Lee sees such developments as part of an accelerating trend in modernization in which technology has been used to transform the "natural" into the "artefactual". In the extreme, this could lead to the manufacturing and enslavement of "monsters" such as human clones, human-animal chimeras, or bioroids, but even lesser dislocations of humans and non-humans from social and ecological systems are seen as problematic. The film "Blade Runner" (1982) and the novels "The Boys From Brazil" (1976) and "The Island of Doctor Moreau" (1896) depict elements of such scenarios, but Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" is most often alluded to by critics who suggest that biotechnologies could create objectified and socially unmoored people as well as subhumans. Such critics propose that strict measures be implemented to prevent what they portray as dehumanizing possibilities from ever happening, usually in the form of an international ban on human genetic engineering.


title: Transhumanism

text: Science journalist Ronald Bailey claims that McKibben's historical examples are flawed and support different conclusions when studied more closely. For example, few groups are more cautious than the Amish about embracing new technologies, but, though they shun television and use horses and buggies, some are welcoming the possibilities of gene therapy since inbreeding has afflicted them with a number of rare genetic diseases. Bailey and other supporters of technological alteration of human biology also reject the claim that life would be experienced as meaningless if some human limitations are overcome with enhancement technologies as extremely subjective.


title: Transhumanism

text: Writing in "Reason" magazine, Bailey has accused opponents of research involving the modification of animals as indulging in alarmism when they speculate about the creation of subhuman creatures with human-like intelligence and brains resembling those of "Homo sapiens". Bailey insists that the aim of conducting research on animals is simply to produce human health care benefits.


title: Transhumanism

text: A different response comes from transhumanist personhood theorists who object to what they characterize as the anthropomorphobia fueling some criticisms of this research, which science fiction writer Isaac Asimov termed the "Frankenstein complex". For example, Woody Evans argues that, provided they are self-aware, human clones, human-animal chimeras and uplifted animals would all be unique persons deserving of respect, dignity, rights, responsibilities, and citizenship. They conclude that the coming ethical issue is not the creation of so-called monsters, but what they characterize as the "yuck factor" and "human-racism", that would judge and treat these creations as monstrous. In book 3 of his "Corrupting the Image" series, Dr. Douglas Hamp goes so far as to suggest that the Beast of John's Apocalypse is himself a hybrid who will induce humanity to take "the mark of the Beast," in the hopes of obtaining perfection and immortality.


title: Transhumanism

text: At least one public interest organization, the U.S.-based Center for Genetics and Society, was formed, in 2001, with the specific goal of opposing transhumanist agendas that involve transgenerational modification of human biology, such as full-term human cloning and germinal choice technology. The Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future of the Chicago-Kent College of Law critically scrutinizes proposed applications of genetic and nanotechnologies to human biology in an academic setting.


title: Transhumanism

text: Some critics of libertarian transhumanism have focused on the likely socioeconomic consequences in societies in which divisions between rich and poor are on the rise. Bill McKibben, for example, suggests that emerging human enhancement technologies would be disproportionately available to those with greater financial resources, thereby exacerbating the gap between rich and poor and creating a "genetic divide". Even Lee M. Silver, the biologist and science writer who coined the term "reprogenetics" and supports its applications, has expressed concern that these methods could create a two-tiered society of genetically engineered "haves" and "have nots" if social democratic reforms lag behind implementation of enhancement technologies. The 1997 film "Gattaca" depicts a dystopian society in which one's social class depends entirely on genetic potential and is often cited by critics in support of these views.


title: Transhumanism

text: These criticisms are also voiced by non-libertarian transhumanist advocates, especially self-described democratic transhumanists, who believe that the majority of current or future social and environmental issues (such as unemployment and resource depletion) need to be addressed by a combination of political and technological solutions (like a guaranteed minimum income and alternative technology). Therefore, on the specific issue of an emerging genetic divide due to unequal access to human enhancement technologies, bioethicist James Hughes, in his 2004 book "Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future", argues that progressives or, more precisely, techno-progressives must articulate and implement public policies (i.e., a universal health care voucher system that covers human enhancement technologies) to attenuate this problem as much as possible, rather than trying to ban human enhancement technologies. The latter, he argues, might actually worsen the problem by making these technologies unsafe or available only to the wealthy on the local black market or in countries where such a ban is not enforced.


title: Transhumanism

text: Sometimes, as in the writings of Leon Kass, the fear is that various institutions and practices judged as fundamental to civilized society would be damaged or destroyed. In his 2002 book "Our Posthuman Future" and in a 2004 "Foreign Policy" magazine article, political economist and philosopher Francis Fukuyama designates transhumanism as the world's most dangerous idea because he believes that it may undermine the egalitarian ideals of democracy (in general) and liberal democracy (in particular) through a fundamental alteration of "human nature". Social philosopher Jürgen Habermas makes a similar argument in his 2003 book "The Future of Human Nature", in which he asserts that moral autonomy depends on not being subject to another's unilaterally imposed specifications. Habermas thus suggests that the human "species ethic" would be undermined by embryo-stage genetic alteration. Critics such as Kass, Fukuyama and a variety of authors hold that attempts to significantly alter human biology are not only inherently immoral, but also threaten the social order. Alternatively, they argue that implementation of such technologies would likely lead to the "naturalizing" of social hierarchies or place new means of control in the hands of totalitarian regimes. AI pioneer Joseph Weizenbaum criticizes what he sees as misanthropic tendencies in the language and ideas of some of his colleagues, in particular Marvin Minsky and Hans Moravec, which, by devaluing the human organism per se, promotes a discourse that enables divisive and undemocratic social policies.


title: Transhumanism

text: In a 2004 article in the libertarian monthly "Reason," science journalist Ronald Bailey contested the assertions of Fukuyama by arguing that political equality has never rested on the facts of human biology. He asserts that liberalism was founded not on the proposition of effective equality of human beings, or "de facto" equality, but on the assertion of an equality in political rights and before the law, or "de jure" equality. Bailey asserts that the products of genetic engineering may well ameliorate rather than exacerbate human inequality, giving to the many what were once the privileges of the few. Moreover, he argues, "the crowning achievement of the Enlightenment is the principle of tolerance". In fact, he says, political liberalism is already the solution to the issue of human and posthuman rights since in liberal societies the law is meant to apply equally to all, no matter how rich or poor, powerful or powerless, educated or ignorant, enhanced or unenhanced. Other thinkers who are sympathetic to transhumanist ideas, such as philosopher Russell Blackford, have also objected to the appeal to tradition and what they see as alarmism involved in "Brave New World"-type arguments.


title: Transhumanism

text: In addition to the socio-economic risks and implications of transhumanism, there are indeed implications and possible consequences in regard to cultural aesthetics. Currently, there are a number of ways in which people choose to represent themselves in society. The way in which a person dresses, hair styles, and body alteration all serve to identify the way a person presents themselves and is perceived by society. According to Foucault, society already governs and controls bodies by making them feel watched. This "surveillance" of society dictates how the majority of individuals choose to express themselves aesthetically.


title: Transhumanism

text: One of the risks outlined in a 2004 article by Jerold Abrams is the elimination of differences in favor of universality. This, he argues, will eliminate the ability of individuals to subvert the possibly oppressive, dominant structure of society by way of uniquely expressing themselves externally. Such control over a population would have dangerous implications of tyranny. Yet another consequence of enhancing the human form not only cognitively, but physically, will be the reinforcement of "desirable" traits which are perpetuated by the dominant social structure. Physical traits which are seen as "ugly" or "undesirable" and thus deemed less-than, will be summarily cut out by those who can afford to do it, while those who cannot will be forced into a relative caste of undesirable people. Even if these physical "improvements" are made completely universal, they will indeed eliminate what makes each individual uniquely human in their own way.


title: Transhumanism

text: Some critics of transhumanism see the old eugenics, social Darwinist, and master race ideologies and programs of the past as warnings of what the promotion of eugenic enhancement technologies might unintentionally encourage. Some fear future "eugenics wars" as the worst-case scenario: the return of coercive state-sponsored genetic discrimination and human rights violations such as compulsory sterilization of persons with genetic defects, the killing of the institutionalized and, specifically, segregation and genocide of "races"" "perceived as inferior. Health law professor George Annas and technology law professor Lori Andrews are prominent advocates of the position that the use of these technologies could lead to such human-posthuman caste warfare.


title: Transhumanism

text: The major transhumanist organizations strongly condemn the coercion involved in such policies and reject the racist and classist assumptions on which they were based, along with the pseudoscientific notions that eugenic improvements could be accomplished in a practically meaningful time frame through selective human breeding. Instead, most transhumanist thinkers advocate a "new eugenics", a form of egalitarian liberal eugenics. In their 2000 book "From Chance to Choice: Genetics and Justice", non-transhumanist bioethicists Allen Buchanan, Dan Brock, Norman Daniels and Daniel Wikler have argued that liberal societies have an obligation to encourage as wide an adoption of eugenic enhancement technologies as possible (so long as such policies do not infringe on individuals' reproductive rights or exert undue pressures on prospective parents to use these technologies) to maximize public health and minimize the inequalities that may result from both natural genetic endowments and unequal access to genetic enhancements. Most transhumanists holding similar views nonetheless distance themselves from the term "eugenics" (preferring "germinal choice" or "reprogenetics") to avoid having their position confused with the discredited theories and practices of early-20th-century eugenic movements.


title: Transhumanism

text: In his 2003 book "Our Final Hour", British Astronomer Royal Martin Rees argues that advanced science and technology bring as much risk of disaster as opportunity for progress. However, Rees does not advocate a halt to scientific activity. Instead, he calls for tighter security and perhaps an end to traditional scientific openness. Advocates of the precautionary principle, such as many in the environmental movement, also favor slow, careful progress or a halt in potentially dangerous areas. Some precautionists believe that artificial intelligence and robotics present possibilities of alternative forms of cognition that may threaten human life.


title: Transhumanism

text: Transhumanists do not necessarily rule out specific restrictions on emerging technologies so as to lessen the prospect of existential risk. Generally, however, they counter that proposals based on the precautionary principle are often unrealistic and sometimes even counter-productive as opposed to the technogaian current of transhumanism, which they claim is both realistic and productive. In his television series "Connections", science historian James Burke dissects several views on technological change, including precautionism and the restriction of open inquiry. Burke questions the practicality of some of these views, but concludes that maintaining the "status quo" of inquiry and development poses hazards of its own, such as a disorienting rate of change and the depletion of our planet's resources. The common transhumanist position is a pragmatic one where society takes deliberate action to ensure the early arrival of the benefits of safe, clean, alternative technology, rather than fostering what it considers to be anti-scientific views and technophobia.


title: Transhumanism

text: Nick Bostrom argues that even barring the occurrence of a singular global catastrophic event, basic Malthusian and evolutionary forces facilitated by technological progress threaten to eliminate the positive aspects of human society.


title: Transhumanism

text: One transhumanist solution proposed by Bostrom to counter existential risks is control of differential technological development, a series of attempts to influence the sequence in which technologies are developed. In this approach, planners would strive to retard the development of possibly harmful technologies and their applications, while accelerating the development of likely beneficial technologies, especially those that offer protection against the harmful effects of others.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races. He is regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. He became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and his record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races in history. During his racing career, he won five Eclipse Awards, including Horse of the Year honors at ages two and three. He was nominated to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974. In the List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, Secretariat is second only to Man o' War.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: At age two, Secretariat finished fourth in his 1972 debut in a maiden race, but then won seven of his remaining eight starts, including five stakes victories. His only loss during this period was in the Champagne Stakes, where he finished first but was disqualified to second for interference. He received the Eclipse Award for champion two-year-old colt, and also was the 1972 Horse of the Year, a rare honor for a horse so young.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: At age three, Secretariat not only won the Triple Crown, but he also set speed records in all three races. His time in the Kentucky Derby still stands as the Churchill Downs track record for miles, and his time in the Belmont Stakes stands as the American record for miles on the dirt. His controversial time in the Preakness Stakes was eventually recognized as a stakes record in 2012. Secretariat's win in the Gotham Stakes tied the track record for 1 mile, he set a world record in the Marlboro Cup at miles and further proved his versatility by winning two major stakes races on turf. He lost three times that year: in the Wood Memorial, Whitney, and Woodward Stakes, but the brilliance of his nine wins made him an American icon. He won his second Horse of the Year title, plus Eclipse Awards for champion three-year-old colt and champion turf horse.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: At the beginning of his three-year-old year, Secretariat was syndicated for a record-breaking $6.08 million (equivalent to $ million in ), on the condition that he be retired from racing by the end of the year. Although he sired several successful racehorses, he ultimately was most influential through his daughters' offspring, becoming the leading broodmare sire in North America in 1992. His daughters produced several notable sires, including Storm Cat, A.P. Indy, Gone West, Dehere and Chief's Crown, and through them Secretariat appears in the pedigree of many modern champions. Secretariat died in 1989 due to laminitis at age 19.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat was officially bred by Christopher Chenery's Meadow Stud, but the breeding was actually arranged by Penny Chenery (then known as Penny Tweedy), who had taken over the running of the stable in 1968 when her father became ill. Secretariat was sired by Bold Ruler and his dam was Somethingroyal, a daughter of Princequillo. Bold Ruler was the leading sire in North America from 1963 to 1969 and again in 1973. Owned by the Phipps family, Bold Ruler possessed both speed and stamina, having won the Preakness Stakes and Horse of the Year honors in 1957, and American Champion Sprint Horse honors in 1958. Bold Ruler was retired to stud at Claiborne Farm, but the Phippses owned most of the mares to which Bold Ruler was bred, and few of his offspring were sold at public auction.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: To bring new blood into their breeding program, the Phippses sometimes negotiated a foal-sharing agreement with other mare owners: Instead of charging a stud fee for Bold Ruler, they would arrange for multiple matings with Bold Ruler, either with two mares in one year or one mare over a two-year period. Assuming two foals were produced, the Phipps family would keep one and the mare's owner would keep the other, with a coin toss determining who received first pick.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Under such an arrangement, Chenery sent two mares to be bred to Bold Ruler in 1968, Hasty Matelda and Somethingroyal. She then sent Cicada and Somethingroyal in 1969. The foal-sharing agreement stated that the winner of the coin toss would get first pick of the foals produced in 1969, while the loser of the toss would get first pick of the foals due in 1970. In the spring of 1969, a colt and filly were produced. In the 1969 breeding season, Cicada did not conceive, leaving only one foal due in the spring of 1970. Thus, the winner of the coin toss would get only one foal (the first pick from 1969), and the loser would get two (the second pick from 1969 and the only foal from 1970). Chenery later said that both owners hoped they would lose the coin toss, which was held in the fall of 1969 in the office of New York Racing Association Chairman Alfred G. Vanderbilt II, with Arthur "Bull" Hancock of Claiborne Farm as witness. Ogden Phipps won the toss and took the 1969 weanling filly out of Somethingroyal. The filly was named The Bride and never won a race, though she did later become a stakes producer. Chenery received the Hasty Matelda colt in 1969 and the as-yet-unborn 1970 foal of Somethingroyal, which turned out to be Secretariat.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On March 30, 1970, at 12:10 a.m. at the Meadow Stud in Caroline County, Virginia, Somethingroyal foaled a bright-red chestnut colt with three white socks and a star with a narrow stripe. The foal stood when he was 45 minutes old and nursed 30 minutes later. Howard Gentry, the manager of Meadow Stud, was at the foaling and later said, "He was a very well-made foal. He was as perfect a foal that I ever delivered." The colt soon distinguished himself from the others. "He was always the leader in the crowd," said Gentry's nephew, Robert, who also worked at the farm. "To us, he was Big Red, and he had a personality. He was a clown and was always cutting up, always into some devilment." Some time later, Chenery got her first look at the foal and made a one-word entry in her notebook: "Wow!"


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: That fall, Chenery and Elizabeth Ham, the Meadow's longtime secretary, worked together to name the newly weaned colt. The first set of names submitted to the Jockey Club (Sceptre, Royal Line, and Something Special) played on the names of his sire and dam, but were rejected. The second set, submitted in January 1971, were Games of Chance, Deo Volente ("God Willing"), and Secretariat, the last suggested by Ham based on her previous job associated with the secretariat of the League of Nations (the predecessor of the United Nations).


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat grew into a massive, powerful horse said to resemble his sire's maternal grandsire, Discovery. He stood when fully grown. He was noted for being exceptionally well-balanced, described as having "nearly perfect" conformation and stride biomechanics. His chest was so large that he required a custom-made girth, and he was noted for his large, powerful, well-muscled hindquarters. An Australian trainer said of him, "He is incredible, an absolutely perfect horse. I never saw anything like him."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat's absence of major conformation flaws was important, as horses with well made limbs and feet are less likely to become injured. Secretariat's hindquarters were the main source of his power, with a sloped croup that extended the length of his femur. When in full stride, his hind legs were able to reach far under himself, increasing his drive. His ample girth, long back and well-made neck all contributed to his heart-lung efficiency.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The manner in which Secretariat's body parts fit together determined the efficiency of his stride, which affected his acceleration and endurance. Even very small differences in the length and angles of bones can have a major effect on performance. Secretariat was well put together even as a two-year-old, and by the time he was three, he had further matured in body and smoothed out his gait. The New York Racing Association's Dr. M. A. Gilman, a veterinarian who routinely measured leading thoroughbreds with a goal of applying science to create better ways to breed and evaluate racehorses, measured Secretariat's development from two to three as follows:


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat's length of stride was considered large even after taking into account his large frame and strong build. While training for the Preakness Stakes, his stride was measured as 24 feet, 11 inches. His powerful hindquarters allowed him to unleash "devastating" speed and because he was so well-muscled and had significant cardiac capacity, he could simply out-gallop competitors at nearly any point in a race.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: His weight before the Gotham Stakes in April 1973 was . After completing the grueling Triple Crown, his weight on June 15 had dropped only 24 pounds, to . Secretariat was known for his appetite—during his three-year-old campaign, he ate 15 quarts of oats a day—and to keep his muscles in good condition, he needed fast workouts that could have won many a stakes race.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat raced in Meadow Stables' blue-and-white-checkered colors. He never raced in track bandages, but typically wore a blinker hood, mostly to help him focus, but also because he had a tendency to run in towards the rail during races. In January 1972, he joined trainer Lucien Laurin's winter stable at Hialeah. Secretariat gained a reputation as a kind horse, likeable and unruffled in crowds or by the bumping that occurs between young horses. He had the physique of a runner, but at first, was awkward and clumsy. He was frequently outpaced by more precocious stable mates, running a quarter-mile in 26 seconds compared to 23 seconds by his peers. His regular exercise riders were Jim Gaffney and Charlie Davis. Davis was not initially impressed. "He was a big fat sucker", Davis said. "I mean, he was big. He wasn't in a hurry to do nothin'. He took his time. The quality was there, but he didn't show it until he wanted to." Gaffney though recalled his first ride on Secretariat in early 1972 as "having this big red machine under me, and from that very first day I knew he had a power of strength that I have never felt before ..."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Groom Eddie Sweat was another important member of the Secretariat team, providing most of the daily hands-on care. Sweat once told a reporter, "I guess a groom gets closer to a horse than anyone. The owner, the trainer, they maybe see him once a day. But I lived with him, worked with him."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Laurin sent Chenery regular updates on Secretariat's progress, saying that the colt was still learning to run, or that he still needed to lose his baby fat. Chenery recalled that when Secretariat was in training, Lucien once said: "Your big Bold Ruler colt don't show me nothin'. He can't outrun a fat man." But Secretariat made steady progress over the spring. On June 6, he wore blinkers for the first time to keep his attention focused and responded with a half-mile workout in a solid 47 seconds. On June 24, he ran a "bullet", the fastest workout of the day, at 6 furlongs in 1:12 on a sloppy track. Laurin called Chenery at her Colorado home and advised her that Secretariat was ready to race.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: For his first start on July 4, 1972, at Aqueduct Racetrack, Secretariat was made the lukewarm favorite at 3–1. At the start, a horse named Quebec cut in front of the field, causing a chain reaction that resulted in Secretariat being bumped hard. According to jockey Paul Feliciano, he would have fallen if he hadn't been so strong. Secretariat recovered, only to run into traffic on the backstretch. In tenth position at the top of the stretch, he closed ground rapidly and finished fourth, beaten by only lengths. In many of his subsequent races, Secretariat hung back at the start, which Laurin later attributed to the bumping he received in his debut.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: With Feliciano again up, Secretariat returned to the track on July 15 as the 6–5 favorite. He broke poorly, but then rushed past the field on the turn to win by six lengths. On July 31 in an allowance race at Saratoga, Feliciano was replaced by Ron Turcotte, the regular jockey for Meadow Stables. Turcotte had ridden the colt in several morning workouts but had missed his first two starts while recovering from a fall. Secretariat's commanding win as the 2–5 favorite caught the attention of veteran sportswriter, Charles Hatton. He later reported, "You carry an ideal around in your head, and boy, I thought, 'This is it.' I never saw perfection before. I absolutely could not fault him in any way. And neither could the rest of them and that was the amazing thing about it. The body and the head and the eye and the general attitude. It was just incredible. I couldn't believe my eyes, frankly."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: In August, Secretariat entered the Sanford Stakes, facing off with highly regarded Linda's Chief, the only horse ever to be favored against Secretariat in any of his races. Entering the stretch, Secretariat was blocked by the horses in front of him but then made his way through "like a hawk scattering a barnyard of chickens" on his way to a three-length win. Sportswriter Andrew Beyer covered the race for the "Washington Star" and later wrote, "Never have I watched a lightly raced 2-year-old stamp himself so definitively as a potential great."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Ten days later in the Hopeful Stakes, Secretariat made a "dazzling" move, passing eight horses within mile to take the lead then drawing off to win by five lengths. His time of 1:16 for furlongs was only of a second off the track record. Returning to Belmont Park on September 16, he won the Belmont Futurity by a length and a half after starting his move on the turn. He then ran in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont on October 14 as the 7–10 favorite. As had become his custom, he started slowly and then made a big move around the turn, blowing past his rivals to win by two lengths. However, following an inquiry by the racecourse stewards, Secretariat was disqualified and placed second for bearing in and interfering with Stop the Music, who was declared the winner.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat then took the Laurel Futurity on October 28, winning by eight lengths over Stop the Music. His time on a sloppy track was just of a second off the track record. He completed his season in the Garden State Futurity on November 18, dropping back early and making a powerful move around the turn to win by lengths at 1–10 odds. Laurin said, "In all his races, he has taken the worst of it by coming from behind, usually circling his field. A colt has to be a real runner to do this consistently and get away with it."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat won the Eclipse Award for American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse and, in a rare occurrence, two two-year-olds topped the balloting for 1972 American Horse of the Year honors, with Secretariat edging out the undefeated filly, La Prevoyante. Secretariat received the votes of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America and the Daily Racing Form, while La Prevoyante was chosen by the National Turf Writers Association. Only one horse since then, Favorite Trick in 1997, has won that award as a two-year-old.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: In January 1973, Christopher Chenery, the founder of Meadow Stables, died and the taxes on his estate forced his daughter Penny to consider selling Secretariat. Together with Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm, she instead managed to syndicate the horse, selling 32 shares worth $190,000 each for a total of $6.08 million, a world syndication record at the time, surpassing the previous record for Nijinsky who was syndicated for $5.44 million in 1970. Hancock said the sale was easy, citing Secretariat's two-year-old performance, breeding, and appearance. "He's, well, he's a hell of a horse." Chenery retained four shares in the horse and would have complete control over his three-year-old racing campaign, but agreed that he would be retired at the end of the year.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat wintered in Florida but did not race until March 17, 1973, in the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct, where he went off as the heavy favorite. As the trainer of one of his opponents put it, "The only chance we have is if he falls down." Racing boxed in by horses on each side, Turcotte decided to go through a narrow gap between horses rather than try to circle the field. Secretariat broke free and won easily, but one of the other jockeys claimed that Secretariat had committed a foul going through the hole. The stewards reviewed photos from the race and determined that Secretariat was actually on the receiving end of a bump, so let the result stand. The Bay Shore established that Secretariat had improved over the winter and that he could also handle adversity.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: In the Gotham Stakes on April 7, Laurin decided to experiment with Secretariat's running style. With no speed horses entered in the race, Secretariat would be allowed to set his own pace. Accordingly, Turcotte hustled Secretariat from the starting gate and they led easily. Down the stretch though, Champagne Charlie came running and at the eighth pole was almost even. Turcotte tapped Secretariat once on each side with the whip and Secretariat drew away to win by three lengths. He ran the first 3/4 mile in 1:08 and finished the one-mile race in 1:33, matching the track record.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: His final preparatory race for the Kentucky Derby was the Wood Memorial, where he finished a surprising third to Angle Light and Santa Anita Derby winner Sham. Laurin was crushed, even though he had trained the winner, Angle Light, who set a slow pace and "stole" the race. Secretariat's loss was later attributed to a large abscess in his mouth, which made him sensitive to the bit. Before and after the race, there was some ill feeling between Laurin and the trainer of Sham, Pancho Martin, fanned by comments in the press. The dispute concerned the use of coupled entries as Martin had entered two horses in addition to Sham, all with the same owner. There was fear that an entry could be used tactically to gang up on another horse. Stung by such insinuations, Martin wound up scratching the two horses that he had originally entered with Sham, and asked Laurin to do the same, but Laurin could not follow suit as Secretariat and Angle Light had different owners.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Because of the Wood Memorial results, Secretariat's chances in the Kentucky Derby became the subject of much speculation in the media. Some questioned his stamina: in part because of his "blocky" build, more typical of a sprinter, and in part because of Bold Ruler's reputation as a sire of precocious sprinters. Rumors circulated that Secretariat was unsound.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The 1973 Kentucky Derby on May 5 attracted a crowd of 134,476 to Churchill Downs, then the largest crowd in North American racing history. The bettors made the entry of Secretariat and Angle Light the 3–2 favorite, with Sham the second choice at 5–2. The start was marred when Twice a Prince reared in his stall, hitting Our Native, positioned next to him, and causing Sham to bang his head against the gate, loosening two teeth. Sham then broke poorly and cut himself, also bumping into Navajo. Secretariat avoided problems by breaking last from post position 10, then cut over to the rail. Early leader Shecky Greene set a reasonable pace, then gave way to Sham around the far turn. Secretariat came charging as they entered the stretch and battled with Sham down the stretch, finally pulling away to win by lengths. Our Native finished eight lengths further back in third.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On his way to a still-standing track record of 1:59, Secretariat ran each quarter-mile segment faster than the one before it. The successive quarter-mile times were :25, :24, :23, :23, and :23. This means he was still accelerating as of the final quarter-mile of the race. No other horse had won the Derby in less than 2 minutes before, and it would not be accomplished again until Monarchos ran the race in 1:59.97 in 2001.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: In the 1973 Preakness Stakes on May 19, Secretariat broke last, but then made a huge, last-to-first move on the first turn. Raymond Woolfe, a photographer for the "Daily Racing Form", captured Secretariat launching the move with a leaping stride in the air. This was later used as the basis for the statue by John Skeaping that stands in the Belmont Park paddock. Turcotte later said that he was proudest of this win because of the split-second decision he made going into the turn: "I let my horse drop back, when I went to drop in, they started backing up into me. I said, 'I don't want to get trapped here.' So I just breezed by them." Secretariat completed the second quarter mile of the race in under 22 seconds. After reaching the lead with furlongs to go, Secretariat was never challenged, and won by lengths, with Sham again finishing second and Our Native in third, a further eight lengths back. It was the first time in history that the top three finishers in the Derby and Preakness were the same; the distance between each of the horses was also the same.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The time of the race was disputed. The infield teletimer displayed a time of 1:55 but it had malfunctioned because of damage caused by people crossing the track to reach the infield. The Pimlico Race Course clocker E.T. McLean Jr. announced a hand time of 1:54, but two "Daily Racing Form" clockers claimed the time was 1:53, which would have broken the track record of 1:54 set by Cañonero II. Tapes of Secretariat and Cañonero II were played side by side by CBS, and Secretariat got to the finish line first on tape, though this was not a reliable method of timing a horse race at the time. The Maryland Jockey Club, which managed the Pimlico racetrack and is responsible for maintaining Preakness records, discarded both the electronic and "Daily Racing Form" times and recognized the clocker's 1:54 as the official time; however, the "Daily Racing Form", for the first time in history, printed its own clocking of 1:53 underneath the official time in the chart of the race.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On June 19, 2012, a special meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission was convened at Laurel Park at the request of Penny Chenery, who hired companies to conduct a forensic review of the videotapes of the race. After over two hours of testimony, the commission unanimously voted to change the time of Secretariat's win from 1:54 to 1:53, establishing a new stakes record. The "Daily Racing Form" announced that it would honor the commission's ruling with regard to the running time. With the revised time, Sham also would have broken the old stakes record.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: As Secretariat prepared for the Belmont Stakes, he appeared on the covers of three national magazines: "Time", "Newsweek", and "Sports Illustrated". He had become a national celebrity. William Nack wrote: "Secretariat suddenly transcended horse racing and became a cultural phenomenon, a sort of undeclared national holiday from the tortures of Watergate and the Vietnam War."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Chenery needed a secretary to handle all the fan mail and hired the William Morris Agency to manage public engagements. Secretariat responded to his fame by learning to pose for the camera.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Only four horses ran against Secretariat for the June 9 Belmont Stakes, including Sham and three other horses thought to have little chance by the bettors: Twice A Prince, My Gallant, and Private Smiles. With so few horses in the race, and Secretariat expected to win, no "show" bets were taken. Secretariat was sent off as a 1–10 favorite before a crowd of 69,138, then the second largest attendance in Belmont history. The race was televised by CBS and was watched by over 15 million households, an audience share of 52%.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On race day, the track was fast, and the weather was warm and sunny. Secretariat broke well on the rail and Sham rushed up beside him. The two ran the first quarter in a quick :23 and the next quarter in a swift :22, completing the fastest opening half mile in the history of the race and opening ten lengths on the rest of the field. After the six-furlong mark, Sham began to tire, ultimately finishing last. Secretariat continued the fast pace and opened up a larger and larger margin on the field. His time for the mile was 1:34, over a second faster than the next fastest Belmont mile fraction in history, set by his sire Bold Ruler, who had eventually tired and finished third. Secretariat, however, did not falter. Turcotte said, "This horse really paced himself. He is smart: I think he knew he was going miles, I never pushed him." In the stretch, Secretariat opened a lead of almost of a mile on the rest of the field. At the finish, he won by 31 lengths, breaking the margin-of-victory record set by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1943 of 25 lengths.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The time for the race was not only a record, it was the fastest miles on dirt in history, 2:24 flat, breaking by more than two seconds the track and stakes record of 2:26 set 16 years earlier by Gallant Man. Secretariat's record still stands as an American record on the dirt. If the Beyer Speed Figure calculation had been developed during that time, Andrew Beyer calculated that Secretariat would have earned a figure of 139, the highest he has ever assigned.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: A large crowd had started gathering around the paddock hours before the Belmont, many missing the races run earlier in the day for a chance to see the horses up close. Secretariat and Chenery were greeted with an enthusiasm that Chenery responded to with a wave or smile; Secretariat was imperturbable. A large cheer went up at the break, but as the race went on, the two most commonly reported reactions were disbelief and fear that Secretariat had gone too fast. When it was clear that Secretariat would win, the sound reached a crescendo that reportedly made the grandstand shake. "The Blood-Horse" magazine editor Kent Hollingsworth described the impact: "Two twenty-four flat! I don't believe it. Impossible. But I saw it. I can't breathe. He won by a sixteenth of a mile! I saw it. I have to believe it."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The race is widely considered the greatest performance of the twentieth century by a North American racehorse. Secretariat became the ninth Triple Crown winner in history, and the first since Citation in 1948, a gap of 25 years. Bettors holding 5,427 winning parimutuel tickets on Secretariat never redeemed them, presumably keeping them as souvenirs (and because the tickets would have paid only $2.20 on a $2 bet).


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Three weeks after his win at Belmont, Secretariat was shipped to Arlington Park for the June 30th Arlington Invitational. Laurin explained: "Even before the Belmont, you remember, I said I really didn't know how I could give this horse a rest. He's so strong and full of energy. Well, this is only a week and a half after the Belmont, and believe me when I tell you, if I don't run this horse he's going to hurt himself in his stall. So we decided it would be nice to race him in Chicago to let the people in the Midwest have a chance to see him run." The race was run at miles with a purse of $125,000. The challengers were grouped as a single betting entry at 6–1: Secretariat was 1–20 (the legal minimum) and created a minus pool of $17,941.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago declared that the Saturday of the race was Secretariat Day. A crowd of 41,223 (the largest at Arlington in three decades) greeted his arrival on the track with sustained applause. Secretariat broke poorly but soon went to the lead, setting slow early fractions. He gathered momentum on the final turn and eventually won by nine lengths in 1:47 flat, just off the track record set by Damascus. George Plimpton commented, "With a better start, a horse to press him and less bow to his turns, Secretariat might have posted a time that would have stood a century."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The July 10, 1973 "New York Times" reported that a number of Chicago fans in attendance did as their New York counterparts had in the Belmont Stakes and $11,170 worth of winning tickets on Secretariat had not been cashed.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat next went to Saratoga, popularly nicknamed "the graveyard of champions", in preparation for the Whitney Stakes on August 4, where he would face older horses for the first time. On July 27, he put in a stunning workout of 1:34 for a mile on a sloppy track, a time that would have broken Saratoga's track record. On race day though, he was beaten by the Allen Jerkens-trained Onion, a four-year-old gelding who had set a track record at furlongs in his previous start. The track condition for the Whitney was labelled fast but was running slow, especially along the inside rail. Secretariat broke poorly and Onion led from the start, setting a slow pace running well off the rail. Down the backstretch, Turcotte chose to make his move along the rail rather than sweeping wide. Secretariat responded more sluggishly than usual and Turcotte went to the whip. Secretariat closed to within a head on the final turn before Onion pulled ahead in the straight to win by a length. A record crowd of more than 30,000 witnessed what was described as an "astonishing" upset.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Despite Jerkens's reputation as the "Giant Killer," Secretariat's stunning loss can possibly be attributed to a viral infection, which caused a low-grade fever and diarrhea. "I was learning then that anything could happen in horse racing," said Chenery. "We knew he had a low-grade infection. But we decided he was strong enough to win anyway, and we were wrong."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat lost his appetite and acted sluggishly for several days. Charles Hatton wrote: "He seemed distressingly ill walking off, and he missed the Travers. Returned to Belmont to point for the $250,000 Marlboro, the sport's pin-up horse looked bloody awful, rather like one of those sick paintings which betoken an inner theatre of the macabre. It required supernatural recuperative powers to recover as he did. He was subjected to four severe preps in two weeks. Astonishingly, he gained weight and blossomed with every trial."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On September 15, Secretariat returned to Belmont Park in the inaugural Marlboro Cup, which was originally intended to be a match race with stablemate Riva Ridge, the 1972 Derby and Belmont Stakes winner. After Secretariat's loss in the Whitney, the field was expanded to invite top horses from across the country. Entries included 1972 turf champion and top California stakes winner Cougar II, Canadian champion Kennedy Road, 1972 American champion three-year-old colt Key to the Mint, Travers winner Annihilate 'Em (the only other three-year-old in the race), and Onion. Riva Ridge was assigned top weight of 127 pounds (one pound over the weight-for-age scale), Key to the Mint and Cougar II were at 126 pounds, scale weight, while Secretariat was at 124, three pounds over scale for his age. The field included five champions, and the seven starters had won 63 stakes races between them.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: It rained the night before, but the track dried out by race time. Secretariat stalked a fast pace in fifth, while Riva Ridge rated just behind Onion and Kennedy Road. Around the turn, Secretariat raced wide and started to make up ground. Coming into the stretch, Secretariat overtook Riva Ridge, while the other early leaders dropped back. Secretariat drew away to win, completing miles in 1:45 , then a world record on the dirt for the distance. Riva Ridge ran second with Cougar II in third and Onion in fourth. Turcotte said, "Today he was the old Secretariat and he did it on his own." The purse for the Marlboro Cup was $250,000, then the highest prize money offered: the win made Secretariat the 13th thoroughbred millionaire in history.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: After the Marlboro Cup, the original plan was to enter Riva Ridge in the mile Woodward Stakes, just two weeks later, while Secretariat put in some slow workouts on the turf in preparation for the Man o' War Stakes in October. It rained before the Woodward and the track was sloppy, which Riva Ridge could not handle, so Secretariat was entered in his place. Secretariat led into the straight but was overtaken by the Allen Jerkens-trained four-year-old Prove Out, who pulled clear to win by lengths despite carrying seven more pounds than Secretariat under the weight-for-age conditions of the race. Prove Out ran the race of his life that day: his time was the second-fastest mile-and-a-half on the dirt in Belmont Park's history despite the sloppy conditions. Prove Out went on to beat Riva Ridge in that year's Jockey Club Gold Cup.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On October 8, just nine days after the Woodward, Secretariat was moved to turf for the Man O' War Stakes at a distance of miles. He faced Tentam, who had set a world record for miles on the turf earlier that summer, and five others. Secretariat went to the lead early, followed by Tentam, who gradually closed the gap down the backstretch. Tentam got to within a half-length before Secretariat responded, pulling away by three lengths. Tentam made another run around the far turn, but Secretariat again drew away, eventually winning by five lengths over Tentam, with Big Spruce seven and a half lengths further back in third. Secretariat set a course record time of 2:24. After the race, Turcotte explained that "when Tentam came up to him in the backstretch I just chirped to him and he pulled away."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The syndication deal for Secretariat precluded the horse racing past age three. Accordingly, Secretariat's last race was against older horses in the Canadian International Stakes over one and five-eighths miles on the turf at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on October 28, 1973. The race was chosen in part because of long-time ties between E.P. Taylor and the Chenery family, and partly to honor Secretariat's Canadian connections, Laurin and Turcotte. Turcotte missed the race with a five-day suspension: Eddie Maple got the mount.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The day of the race was cold, windy and wet, but the Marshall turf course was firm. Despite the weather, some 35,000 people turned out to greet Secretariat in a "virtual hysteria.” His biggest opponents were Kennedy Road, whom he had beaten in the Marlboro Cup, and Big Spruce, who had finished third in the Man o' War. Kennedy Road went to the early lead, while Secretariat moved to second after breaking from an outside post. On the backstretch, Secretariat made his move and forged to the lead. "Snorting steam in the raw twilight", he rounded the far turn with a 12-length lead before gearing down in the final furlong, ultimately winning by lengths. Once again, many winning tickets went uncashed by souvenir hunters.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: After the race, Secretariat was brought to Aqueduct Racetrack where he was paraded with Turcotte dressed in the Meadow silks before a crowd of 32,990 in his final public appearance. "It's a sad day, and yet it's a great day," said Laurin. "I certainly wish he could run as a 4-year-old. He's a great horse and he loves to run."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Altogether, Secretariat won 16 of his 21 career races, with three seconds and one third, and total earnings of $1,316,808.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: For 1973, Secretariat was again named Horse of the Year and also won Eclipse Awards as the American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and the American Champion Male Turf Horse.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: When Secretariat first retired to Claiborne Farm, his sperm showed some signs of immaturity, so he was bred to three non-thoroughbred mares in December 1973 to test his fertility. One of these, an Appaloosa named Leola, produced Secretariat's first foal in November 1974. Named First Secretary, the foal was a chestnut like his sire, but spotted like his dam.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat's first official foal crop, arriving in 1975, consisted of 28 foals, the best of which was Dactylographer, who won the William Hill Futurity in October 1977. The first crop also included Canadian Bound, who at the 1976 Keeneland July sale was the first yearling to break the $1 million barrier, selling for $1.5 million. Canadian Bound, however, was a complete failure in racing, and for several years, the value of Secretariat's offspring declined considerably, especially given the rising popularity of Northern Dancer's offspring in the sales ring.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Ultimately, Secretariat officially sired 663 named foals, including 341 winners (51.4%) and 54 stakes winners (8.1%). There has been some criticism of Secretariat as a stallion, mainly because he did not produce male offspring of his own ability and did not leave a leading sire son behind, but his legacy is assured through the quality of his daughters, several of whom were excellent racers and even more of whom were excellent producers. In 1992, Secretariat was the leading broodmare sire in North America. Overall, Secretariat's daughters produced 24 Grade/Group 1 winners. As a broodmare sire, Secretariat's most notable progeny were:


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Through Weekend Surprise and Terlingua alone, Secretariat appears in the pedigree of numerous champions. Weekend Surprises's son A.P. Indy was the leading sire in North America in 2003 and 2006, and is the sire of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft and 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches. He has also established a successful sire-line that leads to Kentucky Derby winners Orb and California Chrome. A.P. Indy's leading sire-line descendant is Tapit, who led the sire list in 2014–2015 and is the sire of Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist and Creator. Terlingua's son Storm Cat is also a two time leading sire, whose offspring include Giant's Causeway, three-time leading sire in North America. Storm Cat also sired Yankee Gentleman, who is the broodmare sire of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Both Storm Cat and A.P. Indy appear in the pedigree of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Inbreeding to Secretariat has also proven successful, as exemplified by numerous graded stakes winners, including two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, as well as sprint champion Speightstown.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat's paddock at Claiborne Farm bordered three other stallions: Drone, Sir Ivor, and Hall of Fame inductee Spectacular Bid. Secretariat did not pay much attention to Drone or Sir Ivor, but he and Spectacular Bid became friendly and occasionally raced each other along the fence line between their paddocks.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: In the fall of 1989, Secretariat became afflicted with laminitis—a painful and debilitating hoof condition. When his condition failed to improve after a month of treatment, he was euthanized on October 4 at the age of 19. Secretariat was buried at Claiborne Farm, given the rare honor of being buried whole (traditionally only the head, heart, and hooves of a winning race horse are buried).


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: At the time of Secretariat's death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat's heart, but stated, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn't believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine." Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham's heart, and it was . Based on Sham's measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated Secretariat's heart probably weighed , or about 2.5 times that of the average horse ().


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: An extremely large heart is a trait that occasionally occurs in thoroughbreds, hypothesized to be linked to a genetic condition, called the "x-factor", passed down in specific inheritance patterns. The x-factor can be traced to the historic racehorse Eclipse, who was necropsied after his death in 1789. Because Eclipse's heart appeared to be much larger than the hearts of other horses, it was weighed, and found to be , almost twice the normal weight. Eclipse is believed to have passed the trait on via his daughters, and pedigree research verified that Secretariat traces his dam line to a daughter of Eclipse. Secretariat's success as a broodmare sire has been linked by some to this large heart theory. However, it has not been proven whether the x-factor exists, let alone if it contributes to athletic ability.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1974, the year following his Triple Crown victory. In 1994, "Sports Illustrated" ranked Secretariat #17 in their list of the 40 greatest sports figures of the past 40 years. In 1999, ESPN listed him 35th of the 100 greatest North American 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). Secretariat ranked second behind Man o' War in "The Blood-Horse"'s List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century. He was also ranked second behind Man o' War by both a six-member panel of experts assembled by the Associated Press, and a "Sports Illustrated" panel of seven experts.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On October 16, 1999, in a ceremony conducted in the winner's circle at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, the U.S. Postal Service honored Secretariat with a 33-cent postage stamp bearing his image. In 2005, Secretariat was featured in ESPN Classic's show "Who's No. 1?" in the episode "Greatest Sports Performances". He was the only nonhuman on the list, with his run at Belmont ranking second behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game. On May 2, 2007, Secretariat was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, marking the first time an animal received this honor. In 2013, Secretariat was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in honor of his victory in the Canadian International 40 years earlier. Secretariat was also the focus of a 2013 segment of "60 Minutes Sports". In March 2016, Secretariat's Triple Crown victory was rated #13 in the "Sports Illustrated" listing of the 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Due to Secretariat's enduring popularity, Chenery remained a prominent figure in racing and a powerful advocate for thoroughbred aftercare and veterinary research until her death in 2017. In 2004, the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center, dedicated to reschooling former racehorses and matching them to new homes, opened at the Kentucky Horse Park. In 2010, Chenery developed the Secretariat Vox Populi ("voice of the people") Award, which is voted for by racing fans. It is intended to acknowledge "the horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the American public and gained recognition for thoroughbred racing." The consideration of the racing fan's engagement is what distinguishes the Vox Populi award from others. The first honoree in 2010 was Zenyatta, that year's Horse of the Year, while the second award went to Rapid Redux, a former claimer who went on to win 22 consecutive races at smaller racetracks. Paynter received the 2012 award for his battle with laminitis, the same condition that led to Secretariat's death. "Paynter's popularity stems from his ability to battle and exceed expectations, making him the perfect choice as the recipient of this year's Vox Populi Award", said Chenery. "After seeing firsthand the devastating effects of this disease, I am even more convinced that the industry must continue to diligently fight laminitis. The progress we have made to date clearly benefited Paynter—a beautiful colt with a tremendous spirit."


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The Secretariat Stakes was created in 1974 to honor his appearance at Arlington Park in 1973. The Meadow, the farm at which he was born, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now known as The Meadow Historic District.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: According to ESPN, 263 roads in the United States are named after him, more than any other athlete. Secretariat Drive is the most common option.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: In 1974, Paul Mellon commissioned a bronze statue, sometimes known as "Secretariat in Full Stride", from John Skeaping. The life-size statue remained in the center of the walking ring at Belmont Park until 1988 when it was replaced by a replica. The original is now located at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: The Kentucky Horse Park has two other life-sized statues of Secretariat. The first, created by Jim Reno in 1992, shows Secretariat as an older sire, while the second, completed by Edwin Bogucki in 2004, shows him being led into the winner's circle after the Kentucky Derby.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: In 2015, a statue of Secretariat and Ron Turcotte crossing the finish line at the Belmont Stakes was unveiled in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Turcotte's hometown.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: On October 12, 2019, a new monument was unveiled during the Secretariat Festival at Keeneland in Lexington. The bronze statue by Jocelyn Russell shows Secretariat and Turcotte winning the Kentucky Derby. After the Festival, it was permanently relocated to the center of the traffic circle at Old Frankfort Pike and Alexandria Drive. Keeneland was a set location for several racing scenes in the Secretariat movie.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat was sired by Bold Ruler, who led the North America sire list eight times, more than any other stallion in the 20th century. He also led the juvenile (two-year-old) sire list a record six times. Before Secretariat's Triple Crown run, Bold Ruler was often categorized as a sire of precocious juveniles that lacked stamina or did not train on past age two. However, even before Secretariat, Bold Ruler actually had sired 11 stakes winners of races at 10 furlongs or more. Ultimately, seven of the ten Kentucky Derby winners in the 1970s can be traced directly to Bold Ruler in their tail male lines, including Secretariat and fellow Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Secretariat's dam was Somethingroyal, the 1973 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Although Somethingroyal was unplaced in her only start, she had an excellent pedigree. Her sire Princequillo was the leading broodmare sire from 1966 to 1970 and was noted as a source of stamina and soundness. Her dam Imperatrice was a stakes winner who was purchased by Christopher Chenery at a dispersal sale in 1947 for $30,000. Imperatrice produced several stakes winners and stakes producers for the Meadow. Prior to foaling Secretariat at age 18, Somethingroyal had already produced three stakes winners: Sir Gaylord, First Family and Syrian Sea, the latter a full sister to Secretariat. Sir Gaylord became an important sire, whose offspring included Epsom Derby winner Sir Ivor.


title: Secretariat (horse)

text: Breeders speak of a "nick" occurring when a sire or grandsire produces significantly better offspring from the daughters of one particular sire than with mares from other bloodlines. The breeding of Bold Ruler with Somethingroyal is an example of a famous nick between Bold Ruler's sire Nasrullah and daughters of Princequillo. The goal was to balance the speed, precocity, and fiery temperament provided by the Nasrullah side of the pedigree with Princequillo's stamina, soundness, and sensible temperament.


title: Battle of Plassey

text: The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, who was Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah's commander in chief. The battle helped the British East India Company take control of Bengal. Over the next hundred years, they seized control of most of the rest of the Indian subcontinent, including Burma.