Don’t mess with the GOAT.
Ok, Secretariat was a horse, not a goat, but the beloved thoroughbred is widely considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time.
The 1973 winner of the Triple Crown set records in all three of the races that he won to capture the elusive title, and still holds the record for the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes. In fact, Secretariat’s run in the Belmont Stakes is widely considered one of the best runs by a horse of all time in any race after winning by a record-breaking 31 lengths.
And though Secretariat passed away in 1980, he’s still very much beloved today, being commemorated with everything from statues to postage stamps and, of course, Hollywood movies.
So when Jason Kelce made some juicing accusations about the legendary horse, people weren’t happy.
On an episode of his New Heights podcast, the newly-retired Philadelphia Eagles center claimed that Secretariat holds so many records because he was on steroids:
“It’s not wild because Secretariat was juiced to the gills. Secretariat just so happens to be right in the heart of the steroid era.
1973, every NFL player, every baseball player, they were juicing them to the gills. You don’t think Secretariat was f*cking juiced to the rafters? Of course it’s the fastest horse of all time. They didn’t drug test Secretariat the way they did Mystik Dan.
Nobody talks about it. Secretariat was doping. There’s no way Secretariat wasn’t doping.”
Quite the allegations there, Jason.
And after people started coming for him on Twitter, he initially doubled down, pointing out that Secretariat’s heart was found to be nearly 2.5 times that of an average horse after his death, something that’s generally attributed to a genetic condition called “x-factor” that was passed down to Secretariat’s offspring as well.
But Jason has another theory:
“Just going to put this out there, you know who else has enlarged hearts. People who take copious amounts of steroids.”
But after being attacked online for his take, Kelce eventually apologized and walked it back, admitting that he doesn’t have proof that Secretariat was pumping those ‘roids.
“I’m sorry everyone, wasn’t trying to get people riled up, I really thought it was just known that in the 70s steroid use was rampant. I’m not trying to take away from Secretariat’s, or anyone from that eras legacy. You’re right, without proof it is unfair to assume these things publicly, I apologize.”
Gotta be careful when you come for the GOAT…er, horse, Jason.
