Tapit, the most successful sire in the modern history of the Belmont Stakes and looking to secure the race’s sire record outright this weekend, wouldn’t be here without him. Neither would Quality Road, sire of Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure. And nor would four-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, who will have Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous in action this weekend at Belmont Park. All three of those stallions, and more, are from sirelines descended from one of Secretariat’s influential daughters, as Big Red’s indelible flame continues to burn through the decades, 50 years after his dominant performances to end the Triple Crown drought. Just as there will never be another performance like Secretariat’s 31-length victory in record time in 1973, “There will never be another broodmare sire like Secretariat,” said Ryan Norton, stallion director at Gainesway, which stands Tapit. A grandson of A.P. Indy, who was out of Secretariat’s Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise, Tapit has sired four winners of the Belmont Stakes, tying him with the great Lexington in the Civil War era for the sire mark in the race. He is represented by Tapit Trice and Tapit Shoes this weekend. “Secretariat has the greatest Belmont victory in history, and is the broodmare sire of A.P. Indy, winner of the Belmont and one of the most influential stallions in the modern era,” Norton said. “Then you have A.P. Indy as the paternal grandsire of Tapit … The dots are easy to connect that Secretariat through the A.P. Indy line is one of the most influential branches in the stud book today.” Secretariat, who stood at Claiborne Farm from 1974 until his death in 1989, was a perfectly fine sire in the first generation, with Horse of the Year Lady’s Secret and dual classic winner and champion Risen Star highlighting his progeny. But it took time for his true influence to become apparent. A trio of his daughters – a Triple Crown, if you will – in Terlingua, Secrettame, and Weekend Surprise, were particularly responsible for burnishing his legacy. All were stakes performers in their own right, but are much more noteworthy as the dams of influential sires. Their descendants occupy six of the top 10 places on the North American general sire earnings list entering Belmont Stakes weekend. :: Bet the Belmont Stakes with confidence! Join DRF Bets and get a $250 deposit match bonus, $10 free bet, and FREE DRF Formulator! “It’s great that so many top-level stallions are carrying on his legacy through his female side of his family,” Claiborne president Walker Hancock said. Terlingua was the first of this influential trio to arrive, foaled in 1976 for breeder Tom Gentry as part of Secretariat’s second crop. The filly dazzled when she won 4 of 6 starts as a juvenile, including the Hollywood Juvenile Championship (against males), Del Mar Debutante, and Hollywood Lassie. Terlingua went on to win the Santa Ynez and Las Flores at 3 and the La Brea at 4 before retiring to broodmare duty, where her second foal was the Storm Bird colt Storm Cat. Racing for William T. Young’s Overbrook Farm, he flashed early ability, becoming a Grade 1 winner in the Young America Stakes and finishing a close second in the second edition of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Storm Cat, plagued by physical issues that never allowed him to live up to that early promise, retired to stud at Overbrook with modest expectations that, with Young’s support, he wildly exceeded. Storm Cat was the nation’s leading sire in 1999 and 2000. finished among the leaders five other times, and was leading broodmare sire three times. His eight champions worldwide included European Horse of the Year Giant’s Causeway and Eclipse Award champions Storm Flag Flying and Sweet Catomine. His other major winners included Preakness and Belmont winner Tabasco Cat, Kentucky Oaks winner Sardula, and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Cat Thief, who still helps him rank among the event’s leading sires by money won. Several branches of Storm Cat’s sireline have flourished, including through the late Giant’s Causeway, whose top sons included European champion Shamardal. His 20 sons remaining at stud include Not This Time, who is a rising star in the United States. Several of Giant’s Causeway’s top sons stand overseas, including 2019 Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar, who was represented by his first winner from his first starter this month in Japan. Storm Cat’s son Hennessy sired champion Johannesburg, who in turn sired Scat Daddy, whose first son to stud, No Nay Never, was a smashing success in Europe. The demand for the remaining sons of Scat Daddy, who died in 2015, skyrocketed when his son Justify won the 2018 Triple Crown. The branch of the line truly having a moment is that of Storm Cat’s son Harlan – whose son Harlan’s Holiday produced kingpin Into Mischief, who claimed his fourth straight general sire title in 2022. That is the most for a North American stallion since Secretariat’s sire, Bold Ruler, led the list from 1963-69, and again in 1973. Into Mischief, who currently leads the nation by earnings in pursuit of a fifth title, also is emerging as a sire of sires in his own right. Terlingua was dazzling as a 2-year-old, but another of the major daughters, Secrettame, foaled in 1978 for Dr. William O. Reed, by contrast was slower to blossom. She was unraced as a juvenile, second in the Gazelle the following year, and, finally, became a stakes winner at 5. Secrettame was not slow to make her mark as a broodmare, however. Her first foal – from what would eventually be 10 winners from 12 starters – was the Mr. Prospector son Gone West, who won the Grade 1 Dwyer in 1987, along with two other stakes in New York. Gone West, who died in 2009 at Mill Ridge Farm, sired 101 stakes winners and ranked among the leading sires, but his best work has been as a sire of sires. His brilliant son Elusive Quality is perhaps best known as the sire of popular dual classic winner Smarty Jones, but also is the sire of Quality Road. That stallion’s 15 Grade/Group 1 winners are led by Kentucky Oaks winner and Eclipse Award champion Abel Tasman and champion juveniles Caledonia Road and Corniche. National Treasure is his first winner of a Triple Crown race. Gone West also is the sire of Eclipse Award champion sprinter and perennial leading sire Speightstown, who is rapidly developing his own branch of this sireline; his 25 sons at stud include the successful Munnings. Gone West also sired successful stallion Mr. Greeley, as well as Proud Citizen, who was represented by a pair of Kentucky Oaks winners. And then along came Weekend Surprise. The daughter of Secretariat bred by Lane’s End’s William S. Farish III and William S. Kilroy, won the Schuylerville, Pocahontas, and Golden Rod in 1982. She finished third in the Black-Eyed Susan at 3 and was multiple Grade 1-placed at age 4. She then went on to a second career in which she was named a Broodmare of the Year, considered the highest honor for a dam. Her nine winners from 12 starters not only included three graded stakes winners, but a pair of classic winners. The first of those was her first living foal, Summer Squall, winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes in 1989. He went on to finish second in the 1990 Kentucky Derby before winning the Preakness. A nine-time stakes winner overall, he had a stud career at Lane’s End in which he sired dual classic winner and Horse of the Year Charismatic, champion Storm Song, and Kentucky Oaks winner Summerly, among others. In 1989, to the cover of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, giving the resulting foal a double dose of Bold Ruler, Weekend Surprise produced A.P. Indy. He was the rare Thoroughbred who was a star in every stage of his career, as a seven-figure sale yearling, a classic-winning champion on the track, and finally, a breed-shaping sire. A.P. Indy’s career was highlighted by victories in the 1992 Belmont Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic to earn him Horse of the Year honors, and, eventually, induction into the Hall of Fame. Standing at Lane’s End, he was the nation’s leading sire in 2003 and 2006, finished on that list another six times, and was a leading broodmare sire twice. His top progeny, among his 164 career stakes winners, include Horse of the Year Mineshaft; Preakness Stakes winner and champion Bernardini; Kentucky Oaks and Belmont winner and champion Rags to Riches; Eclipse champions Honor Code and Tempera; and Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Status. A.P. Indy’s standout sons at stud have included the likes of Malibu Moon, the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Orb; Bernardini, a steady producer of Grade 1 winners and now a stellar broodmare sire in his own right; and the consistent stallions Congrats, Flatter, Mineshaft, and Pulpit. Pulpit has made his own impact as a sire of sires, with Lucky Pulpit, sire of two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome; perennial leading sire Tapit; and the stalwart Sky Mesa. In addition to Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist (2014), Creator (2016), Tapwrit (2017), and Essential Quality (2021), Tapit’s best runners include 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline. Secretariat also was the broodmare sire of Grade 1 winner Dehere, a successful sire who is making his own influence through Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady. :: DRF Belmont Stakes Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Other runners produced by Secretariat’s daughters in a remarkable career include champions Chief’s Crown, Correggio, Fast Macau, and Perfect Soul; Epsom Derby winner Secreto; French Oaks winner Lacovia; French 1000 Guineas winner Ta Rib; and Grade/Group 1 winners Al Mamoon, Atticus, Balac, Captive Miss, Cherokee Rose, Classic Crown, Dare and Go, Go Deputy, Holy Roman Emperor, Irgun, La Gueriere, Lambent Light, Listening, Spinning Round, and Well Chosen. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.