Lightning on Four Legs – And a Surprising Lifesaver

Forty years ago this month, a little gray dynamo went wire to wire to win the prestigious Whitney Handicap (G1) at Saratoga. Her name was Lady’s Secret, and the daughter of Secretariat was ready to roll on August 2, 1986.

Four days prior to the race, she worked four furlongs in :48 1/5 Saratoga. Six days before that, she sped five furlongs at Belmont Park in :58 4/5. She was primed to take on the boys for the second time that year. The first was an outstanding performance in the G1 Met Mile on May 26, just nine days after dominating the females once again in the Shuvee Handicap at Belmont. In the Shuvee, Pat Day took over as her regular rider, and in the Met Mile the jockey again let her run her race on the lead.

Lady’s Secret sprinted clear out of the gate in the Met, and led most of the way before grudgingly giving way near the wire. Garthorn won by 1 1/4 lengths (his fifth consecutive stakes win) with consistent stakes performer Love That Mac second. He was just a nose in front of the filly, who edged that year’s champion older male Turkoman for third. Behind them were 1985 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Proud Truth and eventual 1986 champion sprinter Smile. The little gray filly was brilliant in defeat against such a quality field.

The Whitney field wasn’t nearly as deep, but still contained classy horses. Among the Lady’s six male rivals were multiple G1 winner Skip Trial and G1 winner Ends Well; she was giving away weight by scale to all of them.

Lady's Secret dominates the Whitney Handicap.

Earlier in the day, the Saratoga skies opened (a common summer phenomenon) and a thunderstorm turned the track sloppy. That didn’t bother Lady’s Secret; she didn’t need to bring her track with her. She jumped out of the starting gate in front and never looked back, cruising home by 4½ lengths at the wire. She was the fifth female to win the Whitney, and after Personal Ensign won in 1988, she remains one of just six fillies to win the prestigious race. And the only one to be named Horse of the Year.

Lady’s Secret concluded her championship season with two more strong placings against the colts, including the top runner Precisionist, and then won four straight G1 events against fillies and mares. Her Breeders’ Cup Distaff victory clinched the Horse of the Year title, and she was enshrined in racing’s Hall of Fame in 1992. Her complete story is told in my book Secretariat’s Legacy.

A triumphant Pat Day and Lady's Secret after the Whitney.

An Unexpected Impact

The racing exploits of Lady’s Secret are legendary. Only recently, I learned of her remarkable impact on Vietnam veteran Walter Collins. Walter credits three gray horses for helping combat post-traumatic stress disorder in the 1980s – long before equine therapy became a common prescription for an affliction that wasn’t yet understood.

The three horses were Lady’s Secret, her dam Great Lady M., and HER dam Sovereign Lady. He is sure that all of them saved his life.

Walter enlisted in the army at age 16, first spending time in Germany and then four years on combat duty in Vietnam. There, his small size made him perfect as a “tunnel rat,” a soldier who crawled through tunnels to move around undetected. Even though that made him a lesser target for enemy soldiers, it was still the stuff of nightmares.

After returning home, he started taking classes at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, and spent a couple of years there. Yet he was struggling. He started feeding horses for a friend – driving two hours in the morning and again most evenings. “I wasn’t aware of why I was having the problems I was having,” he recalls, “but I fell in love with those horses. I didn’t know it, but I was in equine therapy.”

It seemed only natural that he try to make a living with horses. He went to a nearby farm, and was told that they didn’t hire beginners. Not deterred, he told his story at another farm. He recalls the conversation vividly. “The general manager said ‘young man, you seem to really, really love horses. I’ll give you an opportunity. But I’m letting you know right now that we have very expensive horses here. You will hold our horses with both hands, and we do not allow anyone to make the same mistake twice.’”

He remembers the manager saying he was in the right place if he really loved horses. “I didn’t know what he was talking about.” He’d find out soon enough. The farm was owned by D. Wayne Lukas and Melvin Hatley. Those two men had become friends while racing Quarter Horses in the early 1970s, and as they transitioned to Thoroughbred racing, their Oklahoma farms were temporary homes for plenty of well-bred and high-priced yearlings that were purchased at sales through the 1980s.

Lady’s Secret herself, though, was born on one of those farms. Her breeder of record, Robert Spreen, was getting out of the business, so Lukas and Hatley acquired his horses, including baby Lady’s Secret. They sold her as a weanling to newcomer Eugene Klein, but the filly stayed in Oklahoma until she was ready for initial training as a yearling.

Meanwhile, Walter was learning his own lessons at the farm, making sure he didn’t repeat a mistake. He worked under the watchful eye of a man named Charles. “He was one of the greatest people in my life, because he let me learn without pressure.”

He described Sovereign Lady and Great Lady M. as classy mares, and the latter got a little more protective after foaling Lady’s Secret. “Lady’s Secret was a little runt, and I called her ‘Little Bit.’ But she had the biggest heart – she didn’t want anything in front of her,” whether she was in a turnout paddock or running with the fillies or with her mama. “She just kept running until she got in front.”

It was an attitude that worked to her advantage through most of her racing career.

After she was done racing, Klein tried to sell her at Fasig-Tipton twice. Walter remembers everyone at the farm was thrilled when Lady’s Secret failed to sell and returned to Oklahoma. The mare’s first foal, by Alydar, was born on the farm in 1989.

Walter Collins at the Secretariat Center celebrating Lady's Secret.

Walter stayed at the farm for several years, only leaving to go back to Cleveland (where he grew up) to assist his ailing father. He left knowing that the horses on the farm – Lady’s Secret, Great Lady M. and Sovereign Lady in particular – likely saved his life. “I was suffering from PTSD and did not know it, because PTSD hadn’t been recognized as an illnesses at the time.”

With a glowing recommendation from the farm, he got a job at Thistledown Race Track in Cleveland, working his way up and ultimately getting his trainer’s license. When he decided to reconnect with his ex-wife and children in New Mexico (where he originally did Army training), he relocated and took that license with him. Without a horse, though, he started at the bottom once again, and worked his way through the ranks. From working with horses to positions in security, as a clocker, and a handicapper, Walter ultimately served as a State Investigator for the New Mexico Racing Commission – the first black man to hold that important position in the state.

He returned to Cleveland in 2000, where he has become a tireless champion for veterans. His dedication has earned him the affectionate nickname “Uncle Walt,” and among his projects is the work-in-progress development of the Walter Collins Housing and Service Facility. When completed, the project will provide veterans in need with stable housing and access to crucial resources, including counseling, job training, and healthcare services.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that Walter finally had a chance to thank Lukas for the life-changing opportunity at the farm. Visiting his niece in Hot Springs, Arkansas, he learned that the trainer was signing books at Oaklawn Park. When his turn in line came, Walter explained that he was the one who worked with Lady’s Secret at the farm. “You should have seen the man’s face. The first words out of his mouth were ‘You were with the greatest! Wasn’t she tough?’” They started talking, and could have gone on for ages but for the rest of the people waiting in line. “I finally had a chance to thank Mr. Lukas and to publicly thank the horses.”

Now 86 years old, Walter recently visited with Lady’s Secret’s last foal, the 23-year-old Cool Valley Cowboy. The gelding and his owner, Paul Meyer, were the special guests (along with Walter, of course) at a June event honoring Lady’s Secret at the Secretariat Center on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park; the event was organized by Tina Cates. “I had a marvelous time – there was so much energy from the people who attended," says Walter. He immediately recognized the love Paul has for his horse – he could see it in the way the man handled the brush. “Anyone who spends time as a groom or otherwise rubbing horses knows that stroke. It says ‘I’m part of this horse.’”

Just as the horses he handled will always be part of Walter.

Cool Valley Cowboy at the Secretariat Center with owner Paul Meyer (left) and Walter Collins.

Credit for the “Lightning on Four Legs” phrase in the title of this article goes to writer Russ Harris, who used the magical – and accurate – phrase to describe Lady’s Secret as she left the starting gate for the 1986 Whitney coverage in The Blood-Horse.