Flashback: Only Secretariat stood in La Prevoyante's way
It’s rare for a 2-year-old to be voted Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards. Usually, racing’s highest honor is reserved for older runners, and since the Eclipse Awards were formed in 1971, only two juveniles (Secretariat in 1972 and Favorite Trick in 1997) have earned the highest distinction.
Remarkably, Secretariat’s key rival for the 1972 title was a fellow juvenile. Not another colt — he’d trounced his own division thoroughly — but a filly, a Canadian sensation with an unblemished 12-for-12 record. Her name was La Prevoyante, and if not for the misfortune of being born in the same year as a future Triple Crown winner, she might well have nabbed Horse of the Year honors.
Looking back, it’s hard to fathom the sheer length, breadth, and domination of La Prevoyante’s juvenile season. Nowadays, star 2-year-olds typically compete three or four times during their championship campaigns. La Prevoytante? She once raced four times in a month.
Owned and bred in Canada by Jean-Louis Levesque, La Prevoyante was always cut out to be a star. As a daughter of 1966 Horse of Year Buckpasser out of a mare by Nearctic, the sire of breed-changing stallion Northern Dancer, La Prevoyante boasted a classy pedigree comparable to any Kentucky blueblood.
Under the care of Joseph “Yonnie” Starr, La Prevoyante debuted on May 31 in a 5 ½-furlong maiden sprint at Woodbine. Facing fellow Canadian-bred fillies, La Prevoyante dashed to a four-length early lead and doubled her advantage in the drive to the finish line, winning easily by 8 ½ lengths.
If La Prevoyante’s talent had been any secret prior to her debut, it most certainly wasn’t afterward. On June 10, she switched to turf and trounced Canadian-bred males by three lengths in an allowance race. On July 2, she exited restricted company and beat a half-dozen fillies in the My Dear Stakes without ever being asked for her best. One week later, she defeated a single male rival by 9 ¾ lengths in the Fleur de Lys Stakes, and on July 22 she parlayed pace-tracking tactics to beat males again in the Colin Stakes.
Having proven her superiority over some of the best juveniles in Canada, La Prevoyante embarked on a road trip to Saratoga, the home of top summer racing in the United States. Theoretically, facing tougher competition in the Aug. 2 Schuylerville Stakes (while running for the fourth time in a month) should have affected La Prevoyante’s dominance. She still cruised by 5 ½ lengths, then demonstrated her victory was no fluke by casually romping to a three-length score in the Aug. 25 Spinaway Stakes.
Just when most horses would be tiring out from a tough season, La Prevoyante returned to Canada, stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, and won for fun by 7 ½ lengths. Back in New York for a two-run jaunt at Belmont Park, she won the Sept. 23 Matron Stakes by the same margin, then never let a rival draw within two lengths of her free-running form in the Oct. 7 Frizette Stakes.
Ten runs and as many victories. La Prevoyante could have been done for the year, but her biggest tests were still to come. Down to Maryland she traveled for the Oct. 28 Selima Stakes at Laurel Park, one of the richest and most prestigious races for juvenile fillies in North America. Racing over a sloppy track for the first time in her career, La Prevoyante splashed through the mud and laughed all the way to a 14-length triumph against three overmatched rivals.
For her show-stopping, season-sealing finale, La Prevoyante tackled the rich $190,000 Gardenia Stakes at Garden State Park. Now here was a test: 10 challengers in the 1970s equivalent to the current day Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. You can argue La Prevoyante rationed out her abundant speed too soon, opening up a five-length lead halfway through the 1 1/16-mile race. But despite growing leg-weary in the homestretch, La Prevoyante held her rivals safe by 1 ¾ lengths to complete an undefeated season.
La Prevoyante was the toast of the racing world. Turf writers expounded on her Horse of the Year potential in newspaper columns, and Starr outlined plans for a big 1973 campaign with the Kentucky Derby as a possible target.
In the end, La Prevoytante fell short in these bids for racing immortality. A week after the Gardenia Stakes, Secretariat won the Garden State Futurity to clinch Horse of the Year honors.
The New York Times' archive details: "In its announcement of this year's division champions, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations offered no point break down. However, it was learned that two of the three participating organizations (the T.R.A. and the staff of the Daily Racing Form) favored Secretariat as horse of the year. The third group, the National Turf Writers Association, voted for La Prevoyante."
La Prevoyante developed a splint issue, and after a slow start to her 1973 season, she ultimately contested the Kentucky Oaks rather than the Derby and finished second under the Twin Spires.
La Prevoyante never quite regained the dominance she displayed as a juvenile. But for one glorious season, she was uncatchable; a fast female like few before or since. In the minds of her fans, if not officially in the history books, La Prevoyante was the Horse of the Year.
J. Keeler Johnson is a writer, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. You can follow him on Twitter at @J_Keelerman.