Andy Rooney Goes to the Races

I go to the movies about as often as I go to the horse races, maybe once a year. I saw the movie "Secretariat" the other night. They had great pictures of the real horse and I loved it. It was unusual because you're often disappointed with the way anything or anyone you know is portrayed in a movie. The pictures of Secretariat were not disappointing. He looked like the great horse he really was.

I'm one of the few people who ever saw Secretariat beaten, too. It was at Saratoga after he won the Triple Crown race.

I'm not a big horse race fan and I couldn't care less about most races, but my parents grew up near the Saratoga race track and I've gone there about once a year all my life.

I saw Whirlaway, Jim Dandy, Man O'War, War Admiral, Seattle Slew, Citation, Dr. Fager and Secretariat. I've seen most of the great horses of the past run at Saratoga.

My parents were born and grew up in Ballston Spa, just a few miles from there in upstate New York.

I don't usually care much who wins a horse race but Secretariat was special to watch. He was big, reddish brown and took huge, strides as I recall, and I was always rooting for him.

The trouble with any horse racing film is that it's never about either the horses or the races. The film has to be fattened up with a story and the story doesn't usually ring true.

A movie about a race horse isn't a substitute for actually being at the race track and watching the horse run, but this movie comes close.

Written by Andy Rooney