Lady's Secret (OK)

Although she was small for a racehorse — weighing in at about 900 pounds — Lady's Secret had an abundance of talent and heart that set her apart from her peers.

Inducted

1992

Foaled

1982

Sire

Secretariat

Dam

Great Lady M.

Damsire

Icecapade

Breeder

Robert H. Spreen

Owner

Mr. and Mrs.
Eugene Klein

Trainer

D. Wayne Lukas

Career

1984-1987

Earnings

$3,021,425

Racing Record

45

Starts

Year	Starts	First	Second	Third	Earnings
Year	Sts	1	2	3	$
1984	8	3	0	1	$92823 $92,823
1985	17	10	5	0	$994349 $994,349
1986	15	10	3	2	$1871053 $1,871,053
1987	5	2	1	0	$63100 $63,100

Biography

Although she was small for a racehorse — weighing in at about 900 pounds — Lady's Secret had an abundance of talent and heart that set her apart from her peers.

Bred by Robert H. Spreen at Lucas Farm in Oklahoma, Lady’s Secret was purchased for $200,000 by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Klein and sent to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas for conditioning.

A gray daughter of Secretariat out of the Icecapade mare Great Lady M., Lady’s Secret showed some promise as a 2-year-old, winning the Moccasin Stakes, before truly coming into her own as a sophomore in 1985. As a 3-year-old, Lady’s Secret compiled a record of 10-5-0 from 17 starts and earned $994,349. All 10 of her wins were in stakes races, including victories in five consecutive graded events — the Test, Ballerina, Maskette, Ruffian, and Beldame — before finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff to stablemate Life’s Magic.

In 1986, 4-year-old Lady’s Secret won 10 of her 15 starts and earned $1,871,053. All of her victories were in graded stakes, including eight Grade 1 wins: the La Canada, Santa Margarita Invitational, Shuvee, Whitney, Maskette (running a mile in 1:33⅖, setting a record for a filly or mare at Belmont Park), Ruffian (by eight lengths under 129 pounds), Beldame, and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Lady’s Secret’s eight Grade 1 wins established a record for the most in a single year since the grading of races began in 1973.

During her remarkable 1986 season, Lady’s Secret defeated males four times, including the Whitney Handicap, in which she became the first filly or mare to win the race since Gallorette in 1948. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” Lady’s Secret concluded her season with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita to wrap up the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female.

Returning at age 5 in 1987, Lady’s Secret won a pair of allowance races before being retired with a career record of 25-9-3 from 45 starts and earnings of $3,021,325. In 1989, she was sold to Fares Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, as a broodmare. Lady's Secret never produced any runners of particular note. She died in 2003 at the age of 21.