Dark Secret was an American 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...

. He was bred and raced by Wheatley Stable

Wheatley Stable

Wheatley Stable was the nom de course for the thoroughbred horse racing partnership formed by Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother, Ogden L. Mills. The horses were raised at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky.-History:...

, a partnership between Gladys Mills Phipps

Gladys Mills Phipps

Gladys Livingston Mills Phipps was an United States socialite, sportsperson, and a thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder who began the Phipps family dynasty in American horse racing...

 and her brother, Ogden Mills

Ogden L. Mills

Ogden Livingston Mills was an American businessman and politician.-Biography:The son of Ogden Mills and Ruth T. Livingston, he had twin sisters Beatrice Mills and Gladys Livingston Mills. Odgen L. Mills was the grandson of Darius O...

, the United States Secretary of the Treasury

United States Secretary of the Treasury

The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

.

Dark Secret was the son of 1925 Kentucky Derby winner Flying Ebony

Flying Ebony

Flying Ebony was an American thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by John E. Madden, who had already bred four Kentucky Derby winners, and was raced by New York carpet manufacturer, Gifford A. Cochran....

. His dam was Silencia, a daughter of King James

King James (horse)

King James was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by one of America's most important breeders, John E. Madden, King James was the son of 1898 Kentucky Derby winner, Plaudit...

 who was the American Champion Older Male Horse of 1909.

Among his important wins, in 1933 Dark Secret won the mile-and-half Manhattan Handicap

Manhattan Handicap

The Manhattan Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race raced annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is named for Manhattan, the principal borough of the City of New York...

 and the two mile Jockey Club Gold Cup

Jockey Club Gold Cup

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...

. The following year he won these two races again but after crossing the finish line in the Gold Cup he broke a foreleg and had to be put down. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=B6lQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6CEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4115,5182510&dq=dark-secret&hl=en http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B17F93B5A107A93C4A81782D85F408385F9