The Stride of the Century

James Phua’s “Secretariat” masterpiece:

“‘The Stride of the Century’ symbolizes a brave and energetic stride crossing the milestone of challenge……..”

Sin Chew Daily, 2 Feb 2014

Many thanks to the Chief Editor and editorial staff of Sin Chew Daily for a full page feature writing about my horse paintings and my art journey in its Metro Edition cover on 2 Feb 2014.

More importantly, I feel thankful to Sin Chew Daily because the newspaper had published ‘Secretariat: The Stride of the Century’, a horse painting of mine in an extra- large size and headlined my feature article as ‘The Horse of the Century’.

Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 25 years. He set race records in all three events in the series – the Kentucky Derby (1:59 2/5), the Preakness Stakes (1:53), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24) – records that still stand today.[2][3] He is considered to be one of the greatest Thoroughbreds of all time. In 1999, ESPN ranked Secretariat the 35th-best athlete of the 20th century, the highest-ranking racehorse on the list.

As a Secretariat fan of Malaysia, I hope that more and more Malaysian horse lovers will get to know Secretariat through the publication of my Secretariat-artworks.

What a co-incidence, my birth year (1970) is exactly the same as the birth year of the greatest horse of the Century: Secretariat. Yet, my birth date (9 June) also falls on the most important and historical date for Secretariat as it was on this date that this horse won the celebrated Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes.

James Phua and Secretariat, The Legendary Horse

I guess I must have a predestinated relationship with Secretariat. It all started from a book “Secretariat” by Raymond G. Woolfe Jr. By chance, I grabbed this last- stock -book which displayed on the bookshelf of a bookshop I visited in 2011. Since then I has become a fan of Secretariat. More importantly, Secretariat has become one of my main subjects in my horse paintings.

In fact, I am planning to hold my first world tour exhibition of Secretariat –artworks.

Best regards,

James Phua