Like many celebrities, Travis Kelce was in attendance for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
That naturally led to the latest episode of New Heights including a conversation about horse racing, with the All-Pro tight end remarking that it’s “wild” that Secretariat’s records from the 1973 race still stand more than 50 years later.
“It’s not that wild,” Jason Kelce responded. “Because Secretariat was juiced to the gills. What are we talking about here? Secretariat just happens to be at the heart of the steroid era — 1973, every NFL player, every baseball player, they were juicing them to the gills.
“You don’t think Secretariat was f***ing juiced to the rafters? Of course it’s the fastest horse of all-time. They didn’t drug test Secretariat the way they did Mystic Dan. Nobody talks about it — Secretariat was doping. There’s no chance Secretariat wasn’t doping. They weren’t testing for steroids in 1973.”
“That’s f***ed up man,” Travis replied while laughing.
Jason is very passionate about his take that Secretariat is a juicer 😂 https://t.co/7kSMXbkuqi pic.twitter.com/SL7ufjgATj
— New Heights (@newheightshow) May 9, 2024
Kelce’s comment drew a response from an apparent Secretariat defender — who knew that was a thing? — who took issue with the former All-Pro center’s accusation. According to the poster, Secretariat’s astonishing speed wasn’t a matter of performance-enhancing drugs, but rather his enlarged heart, which allowed him to pump oxygen significantly faster than the average horse.
Kelce proceeded to question what caused Secretariat’s heart to be three times the size of the average horse. He also proceeded to admit that he didn’t know for fact that Secretariat was on steroids — just that there is a lot of evidence to suggest he might have been.
Just going to put this out there, you know who else has enlarged hearts. People who take copious amounts of steroids. I’ll admit I don’t know whether Secretariat was on steroids or not, it’s impossible to know, because in 1973 when Secretariat won the triple crown there was not… https://t.co/QClbJKSkzD
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) May 9, 2024
“Just going to put this out there, you know who else has enlarged hearts. People who take copious amounts of steroids,” Kelce wrote on X. “I’ll admit I don’t know whether Secretariat was on steroids or not, it’s impossible to know, because in 1973 when Secretariat won the triple crown there was not adequate testing available to find out. But, the fact this horse had unparalleled muscular stature and died with an enlarged heart, and raced at a time when steroids were extremely prevalent, without adequate testing, raises flags in my book.
“Thoroughbred steroid use dates back to the 60s at least. I’m not saying what Secretariat did was unimpressive, because he was likely also racing against other majorly juiced up horses of his time, and if Secretariat was indeed a natural horse, that would make his accomplishments all the more impressive. I just find it highly unlikely given the circumstances of where the sport was at at that time, how dominant the horse was in the era, and the records it still holds to this day.
“The enlarged heart in my mind is actually more evidence that at some point the horse was being juiced. There is a gene that some thoroughbreds carry that causes a larger heart, but this wasn’t just a larger heart, this was a heart large enough for the vet to say it was the largest heart he had ever seen. The horse was undoubtedly born with incredible natural mechanics and ability, and may have been natural, but I also think that it’s unlikely given the time it raced and what was happening with a lot of those horses and the lack of testing available.”
Well then.
I didn’t expect Jason Kelce to have strong opinions about Secretariat’s (allegedly) tainted legacy on his podcast, let alone for him to write a 293-word thesis on the matter on social media. But if this is a sign of what we can count on from the Philadelphia Eagles great when he joins ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown next season, we can expect his takes to be both passionate and well researched.
For what it’s worth, a quick Google search doesn’t display any hard evidence that Secretariat was ever on steroids. That, however, doesn’t mean that Kelce didn’t make a compelling case.
