Secretariat Park officially opens in Paris
Paris, Ky. (WTVQ) — The wait is finally over, the sculpture of Secretariat at the Secretariat Park in Paris was unveiled Saturday afternoon.
Many across the world know the story of Secretariat and how he became a Triple Crown winner.
To honor the thoroughbred the town of Paris decided to build a park named after the horse and commission a sculpture of him.
“It really took true hear-felt people, community-minded people to come together to put this on,” said Lauren Biddle, the Executive Director for the Paris-Bourbon County Chamber of Commerce.
“This says a lot about our community, our community came together raise the money. And then people from all over the nation came together to send us random donations, just because they love Secretariat. You know, Secretariat is the most well-known race horse of all time, he is the best racehorse of all time and so we just wanted to make sure that we were kicking off celebrating him in the right way.”
The unveiling of the sculpture came on the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s win of the triple crown.
And getting it wasn’t a short journey.
“The first time we did a walk through the park that was July 2022,” said sculptor Jocelyn Russell. “It was on old fountain and some tired trees. But there was a dream and 16 months later you have to say this place is stunning, it really is. And I’m so happy to be part of it.”
Russell and her husband drove the 21-foot sculpture from Utah to Paris, Kentucky.
Along with the sculpture there was a lot of Secretariat merchandise. Some coming all the way from Florida.
“In honor of Secretariat we made a vest with the lineage,” said owner of The Faire Equestrian Edie Baggett. “It’s been so welcomed in this town. You can feel the love of secretariat here.”
And for all who love Secretariat, Russell had these parting words.
“But I have to tell you, this has been the ride of my life and thank you all so much for being a big part of it. I hope you love the monument, I probably can’t change a lot on him right now (laughter).”
