Jason Kelce thinks Secretariat is a cheat.
And before you say it, yes, this is a real thing in 2024.
The ex-Eagles center unleashed a bizarre rant Wednesday accusing the most famous horse of all-time — who can’t even defend himself — of being nothing more than a steroid-fueled cheat while he set Triple Crowns records in 1973 that still are in place 51 years later.
Kelce ultimately apologized Thursday after many called him out for his wild accusations.
“Secretariat was juiced to the gills. Secretariat just so happens to be right in the heart of the steroid era,” Kelce said on the latest edition of the “New Heights Podcast” he co-hosts with brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
“(In) 1973, every NFL player, every baseball player, they were juicing them to the gills. You don’t think Secretariat was f–king juiced to the rafters? Of course it’s the fastest horse of all-time. They didn’t drug test Secretariat the way they did Mystik Dan. Nobody talks about it. Secretariat was doping, there’s no chance Secretariat wasn’t doping.”
You may be wondering why Jason, an NFL expert, channeled his Aaron Rodgers and became a conspiracy theorist, particularly about a horse from the 1970s.
Well, it just so happens Travis, alone with Taylor Swift preparing for her overseas tour, visited Churchill Downs for last Saturday’s 150th running of the Kentucky Derby.
That led the brothers to a discussion of horse racing, which resulted in Jason making his outlandish accusations against a horse that died in 1989.
Secretariat is the most famous racehorse of all-time, and a good argument can be made he’s the greatest to ever do it after setting the records for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
He clinched the 1973 Triple Crown with a record time of 2:24 in the Belmont Stakes while winning by an out-of-this-world 31 lengths.
To Jason, though, those numbers are artificial.
He went into more depth — a lot of depth — on his take Thursday on X after a user responded to him stating that Secretariat was not using steroids and had an enlarged heart.
It’s a known fact that Secretariat had an enlarged heart, and the doctor who performed the necropsy said it was not “pathologically enlarged,” according to the Courier Journal.
“Just going to put this out there, you know who else has enlarged hearts. People who take copious amounts of steroids,” Jason posted. “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.”
After two more posts, Jason eventually backed down and apologized
“I’m sorry everyone, wasn’t trying to get people riled up, I really thought it was just known that in the 70s steroid use was rampant,” he posted on X. “I’m not trying to take away from Secretariat’s, or anyone from that eras legacy. You’re right, without proof it is unfair to assume these things publicly, I apologize.”
There is no word yet on whether Secretariat’s fellow horses are outraged by these claims.
