Secretariat's family tree includes 663 kids and 19 horses in this year's Kentucky Derby

Secretariat's family tree includes 663 kids and 19 horses in this year's Kentucky Derby originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Secretariat's family tree spans almost the entire world of modern thoroughbred horse racing.

That includes the 2026 Kentucky Derby, in which 19 of the 20 horses competing can claim to be descendants of the legendary 'Big Red.'

In fact, it really works out to 22 of the 23. Three horses have scratched as of Friday morning, but all three of their replacements also have Secretariat in their bloodline.

It's actually a downgrade from 2025, when every single horse in the field had Secretariat in their lineage.

At this point, it's hard to find a horse at this level who doesn't hail from Secretariat in some way.

How many kids did Secretariat have?

Secretariat officially sired 663 registered foals.

His stud career began in 1974 and continued until he died in 1989.

Secretariat's direct children themselves weren't necessarily huge winners, but his blood line carried down into more success.

He had better daughters than sons, in general, and that side of the tree began to produce horses like A.P. Indy and Storm Cat, who became great sires themselves after strong racing careers.

Horses with multiple Secretariat roots

Secretariat's family tree is so widespread that many of the horses in the 2026 Kentucky Derby have multiple tracks in their lineage that come from him.

The Puma and Demon Bourbon both feature Secretariat four times in their bloodlines, .