Leading actress Diane Lane has been pegged to star in an upcoming Disney film based on the relationship between the 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse Secretariat and his owner, Penny Chenery.

Chenery, a housewife who takes over her father's thoroughbred breeding farm after he falls ill, is forced to quickly learn the racing business and eventually became known as “The First Lady of Racing.”

Directing the film will be Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplays for epics Pearl Harbor and Braveheart and directed We Were Soldiers and The Man in the Iron Mask. Mike Rich is writing the script - his work includes The Nativity Story, The Rookie, and Finding Forrester.

Initial reports state the movie will hit theatres in 2010.