Secretariat Park in Paris to be dedicated on Saturday with unveiling of bronze statue
Secretariat Park in Paris will be dedicated Saturday with the unveiling of the life-size bronze statue of the 1973 Triple Crown winner.
Jocelyn Russell of Friday Harbor, Washington, was the sculptor of the bronze statue. Equine artist Jamie Corum painted the Secretariat mural at the park.
The ceremony begins at noon at 525 West Main Street in Paris.
Donna Brothers of NBC Sports will be the emcee. Steve Buttleman, the bugler for Churchill Downs and Keeneland, will do the “Call to the Post” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The Paris and Bourbon County Community Choir will sing “My Old Kentucky Home.”
Shanda Smith of Blue Grass Federal and the Secretariat Park Foundation will speak, as will Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm, Sarah Tweedy, daughter of Penny Chenery, and Jim McIngvale, of Team Runhappy.
The dedication of the park marks the anniversary of Secretariat arriving at Claiborne Farm to stand at stud. Generally considered one of if not the greatest racehorse of all time, Secretariat was the first to win the Triple Crown since Citation in 1948. Secretariat died in 1989.
“We first started (seeing) about five years ago that Claiborne Farm was getting 10,000 tourists annually,” said Lauren Biddle, executive director of the Paris-Bourbon County Chamber of Commerce. “We were asking, ‘How can we capture these tourists in the downtown district to get that economic impact?’ We’re so excited because people truly wanted to see this park happen.”
Russell is also the sculptor of the Secretariat statue at Old Frankfort Pike and Alexandria Drive in Lexington.
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