In an era defined by a dispiriting war and a
surreal Washington scandal, Secretariat gave Americans and their
bruised psyche something to cheer about when the big thoroughbred
captured the Triple Crown in 1973.
     The racehorse considered by many to be the best ever and the
housewife-turned-breeder who soared in a male-dominated sport are
now coming to the big screen.
     ``Secretariat'' has begun filming in Kentucky with Diane Lane
portraying owner Penny Chenery and John Malkovich cast as trainer
Lucien Laurin.
          Randall Wallace, who directed ``We Were Soldiers,'' is
directing. A fall 2010 release is expected.
     Unlike ``Seabiscuit,'' the 2003 movie based on the undersized
thoroughbred who buoyed the spirits of a Depression-era nation,
``Secretariat'' will focus on Chenery's improbable success in the
old money, bourbon-sipping world of horse breeding and the chestnut
stallion's stirring, record-shattering run for the Triple Crown.
Like ``Seabiscuit,'' the nation's mood _ in this case, the era of
Watergate and Vietnam _ is key to the storytelling.
     ``Really, it's Penny's story,'' producer Mark Ciardi said of
Chenery, who left her life in Denver to take over ailing father
Christopher Chenery's faltering horse breeding farm 20 miles north
of Richmond in Doswell.
     ``Her coming into a man's world, learning and rekindling this
love she had of horse racing,'' Ciardi said, shorthanding elements
of Chenery's story. ``She's this woman in a man's world, just doing
what she has to do.''
     Chenery, now 87 and living in Boulder, Colo., is
characteristically low-key about the challenges she faced running
Meadow Farm, now the home of the State Fair of Virginia.
     ``It didn't occur to me that I was a woman in a man's field,''
she said. ``I just thought I've got the best horse.''
     Secretariat was unquestionably that.
     Besides his iconic 31-length win in the Belmont Stakes, ``Big
Red'' set records there and the Kentucky Derby that still stand 36
years later. Others _ including the Daily Racing Form _ insist he
broke the track record at the Preakness. The disputed official time
ultimately was upheld in arbitration.
     ``He's the best horse I've ever seen _ and not just close, but
by lengths,'' said William Nack, the retired Sports Illustrated
writer who wrote ``Secretariat: The Making of a Champion,'' the
book upon which the movie draws heavily. He is a consultant for the
film.
        Secretariat died Oct. 4, 1989, at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky.