Nijinsky's Secret is a Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 who competed in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Bred by Oxford Stable, he was a son of the great 1970 English Triple Crown champion, Nijinsky

Nijinsky II

The racehorse Nijinsky was one of the greatest horses in Thoroughbred horse-racing history. He won the U.K. Triple Crown of racing. Retired to stud he became the Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland and the Leading broodmare sire in North America.He was bred at E. P...

.

Purchased by Ralph C. Wilson, the prominent American owner of the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 team, Nijinsky's Secret was sent to the training center at Chantilly Racecourse

Chantilly Racecourse

Chantilly Racecourse is a Thoroughbred turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris....

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 where he was conditioned by trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 John Cunnington, Jr. The colt raced at age two and three in France where he was a two-time winner from eight starts.

Sold in June of 1982 to Canadian business tycoon Bud McDougald

John A. McDougald

John Angus "Bud" McDougald was a leading Canadian businessman and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.Born in Toronto, Ontario, he was universally known by the nickname, "Bud". The son of a wealthy investment banker, after working as a stockbroker for Dominion Securities, in 1945 Bud McDougald...

, Nijinsky's Secret was brought to North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 to race. According to the New York Times, during 1983 and 1984 he was the "scourge of Florida turf racing". In addition to his wins in Florida, Nijinsky's Secret also won important stakes races

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 at Toronto's

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

.

Campaigning during the second half 1984, Nijinsky's Secret had no wins in four starts and was retired after finishing eighth in October's Rothman's International

Canadian International Stakes

The Canadian International Stakes is a $2 million Grade I Canadian stakes race on Turf for thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and up held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario....

. Asked by a reporter why the horse had suddenly gone downhill after so much success, trainer Kent Stirling said he thought that that once the regular groom the horse had become very attached to left the job to have her baby, the heartbroken horse seemed to have lost interest in racing.

Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

after being syndicated for $2.4 million, Nijinsky's Secret's offspring met with modest success in racing.