By Maryjean Wall
Jocelyn Russell – Sculptor
Secretariat: Larger-Than-Life Bronze Sculpture of Big Red Arrives in Lexington
An annual Secretariat Festival, now in its 11th season, brings Secretariat fans together and was held through the weekend at Keeneland this year. Unveiling of the bronze was the high point of the festival.
It also was a high point in Russell’s career.
“I always wanted to sculpt a thoroughbred,” she said.
And to sculpt Secretariat? She could not have begun with a more appropriate horse. Russell is known for her outsize wildlife sculptures, such as a collection of animals she created for Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. She also sculpted the little mare known as Reckless, who assisted the U. S. Marines in the Korean War.
The obvious question for Russell upon arriving at Keeneland was how traffic reacted to Secretariat and Turcotte as the pair rode the Interstate highways from Oklahoma to Kentucky.
Russell told of vehicles rolling up alongside them, with drivers looking over to take photos with their phones. “Almost everybody that went by him had their camera out,” Russell said. “A few people honked. Her husband, Dubail, did most of the driving.
The only alarming moments occurred when they rolled over blemishes in the roads. “Wrinkles in the roads, the trailer gets bucking,” she said. But Secretariat, always the steady one, stayed on his feet.
Maryjean Wall is the former turf writer for The Lexington Herald-Leader. She retired from that publication following a career that spanned four decades and included three Eclipse Awards and an AP Sports Editors Award. She holds a Ph.D. in U. S. History, has taught history at University of Kentucky, and continues to write about horse racing as a free-lancer. She has been published in Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal, Forbes Life, Cincinnati, and Keeneland, among other publications. She has authored two books focused on horses and racing: How Kentucky Became Southern: a Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders; also, Madam Belle: Sex, Money, and Influence in a Southern Brothel. When she is not writing, she is photographing, always pursuing the creative muse.