He was the subject of a 2006 book by Lawrence Scanlan titled The Horse God Built: Secretariat, His Groom, Their Legacy.
Laurin offered Sweat a job after he saw the wide-eyed teen frequently peeking at the horses through a fence to the property.
In 1957, at age eighteen, Sweat accepted the offer of full-time work as groom for the Laurin stable of racehorses with a small fixed salary plus 1% of the horse's earnings.
Six years later, Sweat gained national media attention for his abilities in handling Thoroughbreds when sportswriter William Nack spent many hours with him during 1972 and 1973 outside the Laurin stable stalls of Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge and Secretariat.
In a Sports Illustrated feature article, Nack said he took notes compulsively, endlessly, feeling for the texture of the life around the horse.