In the late fall of 2019, Wilhite Crane & Rigging of Lexington, Ky. lifted a bronze statue of famed racing horse Secretariat with their 60-ton (50-mt) HTC-8660 Series II hydraulic truck crane at the center of a traffic roundabout at Alexandria Drive and Old Frankfort Pike outside of Lexington.
An artist in Norman, Okla., Jocelyn Russell, was commissioned by the Triangle Foundation to create the 3,800-pound (1,723 kg) bronze statue of Secretariat racing with its famed jockey, Ron Turcotte. Molds and pouring of the bronze for the statue were completed in Oklahoma and Russell delivered the statue on a flatbed trailer to its final location.
Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and 1973 Triple Crown winner (winning Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes). Secretariat’s record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races in history. Secretariat was foaled in Caroline County, Virginia and buried at Claiborne Farm in nearby Paris, Kentucky
Republished from Marine Construction Magazine Issue V, 2022
