Jason Kelce Michael Owens/Getty Images
Jason Kelce has apologized for saying that the legendary Secretariat’s horse racing records were due to steroids.
“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,” Kelce, 36, wrote via X on Thursday, May 9. “I’m not trying to take away from Secretariat, or anyone from that eras legacy. You’re right, without proof it is unfair to assume these things publicly, I apologize.”
From our partners:
In 1973, Secretariat became the ninth winner of the coveted Triple Crown, finishing first in the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes. He still holds the fastest times in those races and is considered by many experts as the greatest racehorse of all time.
In 2010, Diane Lane and John Malkovich starred in a self-titled film about the famed horse based on William Nack‘s 1975 book, Secretariat: The Making of a Champion.
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Jason’s brother, Travis Kelce, attended the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4, and during the Wednesday, May 8, episode of their “New Heights” podcast, they discussed horse racing.
“All major speed records are still held by Secretariat who set them in 1973,” Jason stated, leading Travis, 34, to comment, “Which was wild.”
Jason responded, “It’s not that wild because Secretariat was juiced to the gills. Secretariat just happens to be right in 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–king juiced to the rafters?”
The former Philadelphia Eagles star agreed that Secretariat was “the fastest horse of all time,” however, he noted that the record-setter was not tested for drugs “the way they did Mystik Dan” (Mystik Dan won the Derby on Saturday by a nose in a photo finish).
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“Nobody talks about it. Secretariat was doping,” Jason added. “There’s no chance Secretariat wasn’t doping.”
There is no record of the iconic horse being officially accused of being on steroids. However, horse breeder Jim Squires previously suggested that Secretariat may have been injected with performance-enhancing drugs.
“There are oldtimers who insist that even the magnificent physical stature of the great Secretariat was not all genetic and his early problem settling mares—that is, breeding—may have been a by-product of steroids,” Squires wrote in this 2009 book, Headless Horseman.
During the same “New Heights” podcast, Travis commented that he was nearly a big winner for his bet at the Derby. He revealed he could have won $100,000 if Forever Young placed second. The Japanese horse placed third, and as the Kansas City Chiefs star said, he was “a nose away” from the second place finisher, Sierra Leone.
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