Several strands of ‘race-worn’ chestnut hair removed from the mane of legendary Thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat on October 29, 1973, one day after the three-year-old stallion capped off his career with a first-place finish at the Canadian International Stakes at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The rings of hair, which roughly measure 1.5″ x 2.75″, were hand removed by Ray DeStefano of Murty Brothers Horse Transportation, after he loaded the horse onto a van bound for Belmont Park, Secretariat’s brief residency before retiring to Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky. These hairs derive from the original mass of Secretariat hair that was sold at RR Auction in March 2021, and which was previously exhibited for three years at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (NMRHOF), where it was displayed as part of the Ride On! exhibit from May 2006 until December 2009. The hair is laminated with a color picture of Secretariat to an overall size of 2.5″ x 3.5″. Most other examples of Secretariat hair were obtained when he was much older and in retirement at Claiborne Farm.
