Late last week, Panini America Brand Manager Mike Payne sent the following missive to me via email, shedding some light on the historic inclusion of rare Secretariat memorabilia (as well as on-card autographs from the people who likely knew the horse best) that will most certainly be an integral part of the upcoming 2012 Golden Age Baseball. I hope you find it to be as fascinating as I did.   

In 1999, ESPN presented its SportsCentury Top 50 Athletes of the 20^th Century list. Coming in at No. 35 was a four-legged runner: Secretariat, the 1973 Triple Crown thoroughbred and considered by many to be the greatest race horse in history. He was the only non-human to appear on ESPN’s list.