SWC75
Bored Historian
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I'll be making a series of posts on the failed attempts to win the Triple Crown over the last 36 years, with the center piece being the original broadcast, if I can find it on You-Tube.
1979: Spectacular Bid
By 1979, Triple Crown winners had become commonplace again, with Secretariat winning it in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978. Now a horse with another great name- Spectacular Bid- was favored to make it three in a row. He was a grandson of Bold Ruler, and other great name and one of the great sires of all time, (Secretariat was Bold Ruler’s son). She was owned by Madelyn Jason and her mother Mrs. William Gilmore, who owned Hawksworth Farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. His trainer was the Hall of Famer Bud Delp. Willie Shoemaker said Spectacular Bid was the best horse he ever rode. But he wasn’t his jockey for the Triple Crown. That was Ronnie Franklin.
In his two year old season he won 5 of 7 races and set two track records, then won 5 in a row as a three year old to make him the odds-on favorite in the Derby and even for the Triple Crown. Per Wikipedia, “Delp was so confident of victory that as the horse paraded in front of the fans, he called, "Go bet! Go bet!" He won by nearly three lengths over General Assembly, a son of Secretariat. He then overcame some early bumping to win the Preakness by 5 ½, lengths in an official time faster than Secretariat, Seattle Slew or Affirmed, (although Secretariat’s time has been disputed). The Belmont seemed like it would be a coronation of our third straight Triple Crown winner and maybe the best yet.
“On the morning of the Belmont Stakes, a freak accident was discovered: Spectacular Bid had stepped on a safety pin. The pin had become embedded in his hoof, later leading to an infection that threatened his life and requiring the hoof to be drilled to cure the problem. However, after the discovery of the injury, Spectacular Bid did not seem lame and was entered into the race. Several days prior to the race, his teenaged jockey, Ronnie Franklin, engaged in a fist fight with Angel Cordero, Jr. in the jockeys' preparation room due to a dispute over an earlier race at Belmont. (Franklin felt Cordero interfered with his horse, causing him to pull up.) In the Belmont, Franklin gunned Spectacular Bid early in the long race. Spectacular Bid faded to third behind Coastal and Golden Act, horses he had defeated in other major races. Franklin was then replaced as Spectacular Bid's jockey.”
How a horse’s hoof can be impaled on a safety pin is beyond me. But Spectacular Bid went on to one of the great careers in the history of horse racing. After taking time off to heal, he raced 13 more times, losing only once- to Affirmed, and then went undefeated in 9 races as a four year old, winning horse of the year honors. In 30 races he had a record of 26-2-1. He then had a spectacular career as a stud horse, producing offspring that won another 253 races. Blood Horse magazine made a list of the top horses of the 20th century and rated Spectacular Bid #10.
Had it not been for that safety pin, he would be the last Triple Crown winner and the subsequent horses would be trying to match his achievements.
I wish they still played "the Sidewalks of New York"...
1979: Spectacular Bid
By 1979, Triple Crown winners had become commonplace again, with Secretariat winning it in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978. Now a horse with another great name- Spectacular Bid- was favored to make it three in a row. He was a grandson of Bold Ruler, and other great name and one of the great sires of all time, (Secretariat was Bold Ruler’s son). She was owned by Madelyn Jason and her mother Mrs. William Gilmore, who owned Hawksworth Farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. His trainer was the Hall of Famer Bud Delp. Willie Shoemaker said Spectacular Bid was the best horse he ever rode. But he wasn’t his jockey for the Triple Crown. That was Ronnie Franklin.
In his two year old season he won 5 of 7 races and set two track records, then won 5 in a row as a three year old to make him the odds-on favorite in the Derby and even for the Triple Crown. Per Wikipedia, “Delp was so confident of victory that as the horse paraded in front of the fans, he called, "Go bet! Go bet!" He won by nearly three lengths over General Assembly, a son of Secretariat. He then overcame some early bumping to win the Preakness by 5 ½, lengths in an official time faster than Secretariat, Seattle Slew or Affirmed, (although Secretariat’s time has been disputed). The Belmont seemed like it would be a coronation of our third straight Triple Crown winner and maybe the best yet.
“On the morning of the Belmont Stakes, a freak accident was discovered: Spectacular Bid had stepped on a safety pin. The pin had become embedded in his hoof, later leading to an infection that threatened his life and requiring the hoof to be drilled to cure the problem. However, after the discovery of the injury, Spectacular Bid did not seem lame and was entered into the race. Several days prior to the race, his teenaged jockey, Ronnie Franklin, engaged in a fist fight with Angel Cordero, Jr. in the jockeys' preparation room due to a dispute over an earlier race at Belmont. (Franklin felt Cordero interfered with his horse, causing him to pull up.) In the Belmont, Franklin gunned Spectacular Bid early in the long race. Spectacular Bid faded to third behind Coastal and Golden Act, horses he had defeated in other major races. Franklin was then replaced as Spectacular Bid's jockey.”
How a horse’s hoof can be impaled on a safety pin is beyond me. But Spectacular Bid went on to one of the great careers in the history of horse racing. After taking time off to heal, he raced 13 more times, losing only once- to Affirmed, and then went undefeated in 9 races as a four year old, winning horse of the year honors. In 30 races he had a record of 26-2-1. He then had a spectacular career as a stud horse, producing offspring that won another 253 races. Blood Horse magazine made a list of the top horses of the 20th century and rated Spectacular Bid #10.
Had it not been for that safety pin, he would be the last Triple Crown winner and the subsequent horses would be trying to match his achievements.
I wish they still played "the Sidewalks of New York"...
