Seattle SlewFamous Racehorses: Seattle Slew Beginnings Seattle Slew was foaled on February 15, 1974 at White Horse Acres Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. He was sired by Bold Reasoning out of My Charmer. He was somewhat awkward as a yearling and nickname Baby Huey after the clumsy cartoon character, but by his first race it was clear to the racing world that he was something special. Two Year Old Season His First Race He made his maiden debut on September 20, 1976 at Belmont Park. The pundits did not make any mention of Seattle Slew as being much of a contender and his 10-1 Morning Line odds reflected that. However, at post time he eventually went off at 2.60-1 as the favorite, so it was clear that somebody knew something.
A bit slow out of the starting gate, he broke 10th of 12, but quickly asserted himself and soon led in the front running fashion that would characterize his running style throughout his career. He made his presence known to the racing world with a 5 length romp which the Daily Racing Form described as “easily”. His second race For his second race he was entered in an Allowance contest at seven furlongs again at Belmont in which he again easily dispatched of his rivals in a 3 ½ length win. It can be seen from the video replay that he wasn’t the quickest out of the gate, but began to distinguish himself a sixteenth of a mile out of the gate at which point he really began to pick up speed. From that point on it was just a matter of how far and how fast. The winning margin was an easy 3 ½ length victory in a time of 122 flat. Seattle Slew was ready to try his hoof at a stakes race and that came in the Champagne Stakes once again at Belmont, in which he was made the favorite, on the basis of the strength of his first two starts. The Champagne Stakes Seattle Slew capped off his 3 for 3 two-year old season with a dazzling 9-3/4 length triumph in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont. Like his previous starts, he wasn’t the quickest out of the gate in the first 4 or 5 seconds, but by the first sixteenth of a mile, his natural speed propelled him to the lead. Eventual runner up For the Moment stalked in second several lengths off of Slews pace and it looked as if by the three-eighths pole he was making a bit of ground against Slew as he pulled within a length and a half, but as it turned out, Slew was just cruising, running just as fast as he willed. Jockey Jean Cruget didn’t ask him to run until the three-sixteenths pole at which point he gave him an unnecessary crack of the whip at which point he really took off. He handrode him the final eighth of a mile and still opened up, eventually winning in a stakes record time of 134 and 2, breaking Count Fleets 34 year old record of 134 and 4. He was awarded the Eclipse award for champion two-year-old colt. (I should think so). Three-Year-Old Season Seven Furlong Hialeah Track Record Rarely are track records set in Allowance races, but Seattle Slew did just that in his three-year-old debut by trouncing the competition with speed to spare in a 7 furlong allowance race at Hialeah by 9 lengths. He completed the 7 furlongs in 120 and 3/5 seconds, which was the fastest time in Hialeah’s 52 year history. The video reveals that as they pass the 1/8 pole, jockey Cruget takes a look back to see how far ahead he is, after which point he simply lets Seattle Slew canter home easily. The Grade 1 Flamingo Stakes In his next start in the Grade 1 Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah he registered an impressive frontrunning effort, setting a very fast pace and winning easily by 4 lengths. The official chart comment for his effort in this race was “speed in reserve”, and the video certainly seems to suggest that. By the time he reached the quarter pole, he had opened up 12 lengths on the overmatched field. The final margin was 4 but it was clear he could have won by many more had jockey Jean Cruget chosen to urge him in the stretch. Nevertheless, his time of 147 and 2/5 seconds was the third fastest Flamingo Stakes run. Wood Memorial Sent off at odds of 1-10, Seattle Slew made his final start in preparation for the Kentucky Derby in the Wood Memorial on April 23, 1977 against six competitors. He went straight to the front, opened up six lengths with a furlong to go. Sanhedrin made a late run but could get no closer than 3 ¼ lengths to Seattle Slew who was under a hand ride. Seattle Slew would stop the clock in 149 and 3/5 seconds and head to Kentucky as the undisputed favorite for the 103rd Run for the Roses. According to Seattle Slew’s own website, he never liked Aqueduct surface, which made his effort all the more impressive. Triple Crown Kentucky Derby Seattle Slew entered the Kentucky Derby undefeated coming off six consecutive wins and was made the 1-2 favorite in a field of 15. He led at every call leading up to his Kentucky Derby win. It was clear he was a dominant sort of horse that never wanted to “follow” another horse’s lead. However, in the Derby, he would break a bit flat footed, but Slew’s natural headstrong instincts pulled him to the lead and just made it to the lead by the first call. For the moment dueled with Slew down at the rail, but Seattle Slew was never under any real pressure. As they turned into the stretch, Slew had built up a two length lead and eventually crossed the wire 1 ¾ lengths in front while ridden out. The final time was 202 1/5 seconds.
Preakness Famed speed figure guru Andy Beyer picked Cormorant to defeat Seattle Slew and those two hooked up in a speed duel and crossed the 1 mile mark in 134 4/5, which was the fastest mile ever run in the Preakness. He put away Cormorant at the top of the stretch and drew clear to win by a length and a half.
Belmont Stakes On June 11, 1977, the rain came pouring down rendering the track muddy, but the boggy conditions may have actually helped him as he seemed to have an affinity for the mud. Seattle Slew led the entire way and became the 10th Triple Crown winner. Jockey Jean Cruget stood up in the saddle to celebrate even before he crossed the finish line, as evidence that victory was never in doubt. He won the Belmont Stakes by four lengths and remained undefeated after nine starts, becoming the only triple crown winner to accomplish the feat undefeated. Interestingly enough, Run Dusty Run and Sanhedrin, the horses that finished second and third behind Slew in the Derby finished behind him in the Belmont in the same order. Swaps Loss: J.O. Tobin Slays the Giant In retrospect, many including trainer Billy Turner believed that Slew probably needed a rest following a grueling Triple Crown campaign. However, lured by a purse of $100,000, the owners were determined to try him in the Swaps out in California, believing him to be invincible. They fired Turner and headed to California in what would be his only race on the west coast. Seattle Slew suffered the first loss of his career in the Swaps Stakes to European champion J.O. Tobin who he had previously defeated in the Preakness. He did steady mildly during the race, or perhaps the rock hard California surface did not agree with Seattle Slew, but even the combined effect of those factors could not have accounted for a 16 length loss.Horseplayers have speculated that the grueling triple crown campaign had taken its toll on Slew and that he needed some time off. J.O. Tobin appeared to be in complete control the entire race. This would be the first time Slew was not leading. He appeared to be trying to move to the lead but couldn’t reach J.O. Tobin.
The upset was not of as great a magnitude as some other notable upsets such as when Onion defeated Secretariat. J.O. Tobin was second choice at 3-1 odds, so considering that a great deal of casual fan money was being placed on Slew, the odds on J.O. Tobin were low enough to suggest that the seasoned handicappers felt that he had a legitimate upset chance. Following the defeat, he contracted a viral infection that would sideline him for the rest of the year. However, despite his absence the second half of the year, he was still named Horse of the Year. Four-Year-Old Season After a 10 month break, Slew came back relaxed and refreshed and more importantly, improved. His new trainer Doug Peterson proceeded cautiously by entering him in a couple of Allowance races which as expected, he won easily. Seattle Slew's First Race as a 4 Year Old: The Meadowlands Cup Some point to the Swaps as one of the few black marks on an otherwise illustrious career, but Slew may have been suffering the effects of a grueling Triple Crown campaign. The Meadowlands Cup is the one race of his career for which there does not seem to be a good excuse. He lost this one by a nose to Dr. Patches, who proved to be a solid handicap horse. Somehow, he got himself beat a neck at 1-5 odds by Dr. Patches in his first graded race of his 1978 campaign in this Grade 3 race. In evaluating the greatest of all time, losing by a nose isn’t what you want to see. However, if you realize that horses can’t always bring their A+ game every time, then one should just overlook this one as an aberration. After all, Secretariat lost to Onion. It’s acceptable to pick up a loss, but in order to be considered in the top 10 of all time (Bloodhorse magazine ranked him #9 of all time), your best have to be brilliant, and his next three races were. The First Meeting of Two Triple Crown Winners The Marlboro Cup on September 16, 1978 featured the first ever meeting of two Triple Crown winners, with Seattle Slew, the 1977 Triple Crown winner, and Affirmed, the reigning Triple Crown winner. Seattle Slew proved that he not only still had it but that he was better as a 4 year old by holding off the reigning Triple Crown winner Affirmed in the Marlboro Cup on September 16, 1978. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was Affirmed who was made the slight favorite when they went to the post. Surely Seattle Slew would’ve gone favored were it not for the lukewarm performance in the Paterson Handicap. Indeed, Affirmed was made the 1-2 favorite; Seattle Slew went off at 2-1. This was the only race of Slew’s career in which he was not made the favorite. Slew clicked off an opening quarter of 24 seconds flat and many have noted that the race was essentially over at that point. The moderate opening quarter assured Seattle Slew had plenty of speed in reserve to hold off Affirmed.
Affirmed made a determined run at him but Seattle Slew had too much left in the tank that Affirmed just couldn’t reach him. The final time for the Marlboro Cup was 145 and 4/5 seconds, just 2/5 of a second off Secretariat’s mile and one-eighth world record. Slew was back. The Woodward His next race would be the Grade 1 Woodward at Belmont. He would face just 4 other horses but one of them would be the Champion Exceller won 7 Group 1 or Grade 1 races up to that point (eventually winning 9 G1’s in his career) and a worthy adversary. To put Exceller into perspective, top handicap horses like Curlin, Bernardini, and Lava Man would have their hands full trying to get past Exceller. But Seattle Slew didn’t have his hands full, in fact Exceller was no match for Slew as he could get no closer than within four lengths. The video suggests that Seattle Slew barely noticed his presence. Meanwhile, Seattle Slew set a track record in running 2:00 flat, his second track record. Slew was in peak form. The Jockey Club Gold Cup Sometimes the greatness of a horse as with a man, is how you conduct yourself in a loss as these three key points illustrate:1. The video clip below shows that he broke through the gate, which is never a good thing, as the horse expends a little bit of energy beforehand.2. He got into a speed duel with Affirmed and a rabbit, and passed 6 furlongs in 109 and 2/5, as Chic Anderson noted, almost unheard of for 1 ½ miles.3. Exceller who was 20 lengths off the pace at one point got a good ¾ of a length in front of Slew in the stretch, but in the final 1/16, Slew came back and showed the tenacity of a true champion and closed on Exceller to produce a photo finish which showed Exceller holding on by a neck. Given the insanely fast pace, most seasoned horseplayers would forgive him if he faded, and yet he came on again gallantly and probably would’ve won had he another 20 feet of ground. Some had questioned Seattle Slew’s quality noting for example, as Eddie Arcaro did, that he had beaten “the best of an ordinary lot” during his Triple Crown campaign. After his Marlboro victory over another Triple Crown winner, his easy 4 length Woodward victory over 9 time Grade 1 winners Exceller in track record time no less, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, he put to rest any lingering doubts that he was just beating up on a mediocre field. His Final Race His final race was an easy three length victory in the Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack. It wasn’t anything flashy, and he didn’t win by an incredible margin but he did it pretty easily winning by 3 ¼ lengths under 134 lbs. His Legacy Bloodhorse Magazine ranked him #9 of all time and it can certainly be argued that Seattle Slew is Top 10 of all time material. The impressive thing about Seattle Slew is that he had both tremendous early speed and incredible stamina. He set the record for 7 furlong sprint at Hialeah and also won the 1 ½ marathon distance of the Belmont Stakes for an easy score. He set fractions of 109 and 134 in the Flamingo and still won by open lengths. There are not too many horses that could’ve won a Grade 1 race at 7 furlongs and at 1 1/2 miles, and that is the mark of a great horse. His early speed was so great that if he had raced 10 years later, he likely could’ve won the Breeders Cup sprint with a clean trip. His only drawback there might be that he didn’t pop out of the gate like some of the really quick sprinters out there, it took him about 5 seconds to really pick up steam, but after that point, he was as fast as they come. His only drawback is that much like Dr. Fager, he was a confirmed frontrunner, no doubt due to his dominant personality, he felt as if he was the leader and so naturally that came out in his races and like Dr. Fager, could fall victim to a speed duel which caused them to lose a race he might’ve won. His progeny like their sire have often shown that combination of speed and stamina. For example, Swale won the 7F Hutchinson stakes by 8 lengths, the Kentucky Derby at 1 ¼ miles, and the Belmont at 1 ½ miles (and in the excellent time of 227 and 1). Seattle Slew did not come from any great bloodlines, but established his own great line of descendents including A.P. Indy. One might say he was a stud at stud. And Seattle Slew was certainly one of the most brilliant mud runners and in fact his progeny have repeatedly confirmed this. His most prolific offspring, A.P. Indy ran well in the mud as do many of his progeny. Some of his notable offspring include Slew o’ Gold, Surfside, Swale, Capote (Juvenile champion), Landaluce, and Vindication (2 year old BC champion). Seattle Slew was also the sire of Solar Slew, the dam of champion Cigar. Had Seattle Slew been retired after the Swaps loss, he would still go down in horse racing history as one of the greats, but perhaps not one of the top 10 of all time. We had the luxury of seeing him as an improved four year old (an almost inconceivable thing today given the amount of money to be made from stud), and that helped stamp him as a true great. Some of his accomplishments: • Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in 1976
Seattle Slew's career past performances record Return from Seattle Slew to Gift horse racing Homepage
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