Chafee rips Trump’s knowledge of horse racing

by Mark Hensch - 08/22/15 5:02 PM ET

A slew of Democrats are publicly disagreeing with GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on a variety of issues, but Lincoln Chafee has a special bone to pick.

The former Rhode Island governor’s contention: Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to great racehorses.

Chafee, a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, said Trump does not understand Secretariat’s place in the sport’s history, according to The Guardian.

{mosads}“This statement is another splash of nonsense that comes out of Trump’s mouth,” Chafee said of Trump’s dismissal of the famed racehorse Friday.

“Every true horseman recognizes Secretariat as one of the best racehorses ever,” he added.

Trump attacked Secretariat’s legacy during his massive rally Friday night at Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala.

“[He] wasn’t one of the best,” Trump said of the 1973 Triple Crown winner.

Chafee, an avid equestrian, takes issue with that analysis.

The animal still holds the records for fastest runs during the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

“The only thing Trump could be referencing here is Secretariat’s record as a sire, where he didn’t leave a great legacy,” said Chafee, who has spent seven years as a farrier, or horseshoe maker, at various tracks nationwide.

Trump invoked Secretariat’s memory Friday in quip about his family’s genetic success.

“Like they used to say, ‘Secretariat doesn’t produce slow horses,’ ” Trump joked that evening, citing his uncle’s tenure as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

[I believe] in the gene thing,” Trump added, pointing to his own success in real estate and his eventual billionaire status.

Chafee’s remarks come as he wages a longshot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination next year. The former Rhode Island governor has struggled for attention since launching his 2016 bid from George Mason University in Arlington, Va., last June.

Multiple national polls now indicate that Chafee has nearly 0 percent support among potential Democratic voters next year.

Comedian Conan O’Brien announced in a skit Wednesday evening that he is stumping for Chafee until he gets at least 1 percent voter support.

“Let’s be honest — I’m not trying to get him elected,” O’Brien said of Chafee. “I’m personally not going to vote for him, OK? But I think we should at least get him on the board so he is not humiliated.”

Tags Donald Trump Lincoln Chafee