SWC75
Bored Historian
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SEATTLE SLEW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdKtmsXnVlc
We didn’t have to wait another 25 years for a Triple Crown winner. In 1977, along came Seattle Slew, who became the first undefeated horse to win the Triple Crown, (amazingly the prior nine TC winners had all been beaten before the Kentucky Derby). He also won the first ever race to feature two Triple Crown winners when he beat Affirmed in the 1978 Marlboro Cup. His jockey for that race, Angel Cordero Jr., proclaimed that riding Slew was “like flying an airplane”. They got to race each other because they were the only horses to win the Triple Crown in successive years, ( such horses generally have 2-3 year racing careers and then are more valuable as stud horses).
He was eventually defeated three times, once in a west coast race his trainer, Bill Turner advised against, once by a neck in a warm-up for the Marlboro, and once in a rematch with Affirmed where he easily beat Affirmed but lost a stretch run to another horse, Exceller, ridden by Willie Shoemaker.
Exceller had a tragic history. He had a distinguished racing career but was a failure as a stud. He wound up being bought by a Swedish businessman who went bankrupt and ordered Exceller to be slaughtered and sold for meat. His demise produced outrage and resulted in the establishment of the Exceller fund to find homes for retired racehorses no longer considered to be “valuable”.
Slew turned out to be a great stud and had a happy retirement at Three Chimneys farm in Kentucky. When he died in his sleep at age 28, he was the last of the Triple Crown winners, Affirmed having died the previous year. He had been foaled at White Horse Acres Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. He was co-owned by Jim and Sally Hill and an accountant, Glen Rassmussen. His first trainer was Bill Turner, who was fired in a dispute over the west coast trip. He was followed by Doug Peterson but Turner was the trainer for the Triple Crown races. Jean Cruguet was the jockey for those races but was also fired and replaced by Cordero. So the ‘team’ behind Slew kept changing but the horse just kept charging on. He wound up with a record of 14-2-0 in 17 races.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdKtmsXnVlc
We didn’t have to wait another 25 years for a Triple Crown winner. In 1977, along came Seattle Slew, who became the first undefeated horse to win the Triple Crown, (amazingly the prior nine TC winners had all been beaten before the Kentucky Derby). He also won the first ever race to feature two Triple Crown winners when he beat Affirmed in the 1978 Marlboro Cup. His jockey for that race, Angel Cordero Jr., proclaimed that riding Slew was “like flying an airplane”. They got to race each other because they were the only horses to win the Triple Crown in successive years, ( such horses generally have 2-3 year racing careers and then are more valuable as stud horses).
He was eventually defeated three times, once in a west coast race his trainer, Bill Turner advised against, once by a neck in a warm-up for the Marlboro, and once in a rematch with Affirmed where he easily beat Affirmed but lost a stretch run to another horse, Exceller, ridden by Willie Shoemaker.
Exceller had a tragic history. He had a distinguished racing career but was a failure as a stud. He wound up being bought by a Swedish businessman who went bankrupt and ordered Exceller to be slaughtered and sold for meat. His demise produced outrage and resulted in the establishment of the Exceller fund to find homes for retired racehorses no longer considered to be “valuable”.
Slew turned out to be a great stud and had a happy retirement at Three Chimneys farm in Kentucky. When he died in his sleep at age 28, he was the last of the Triple Crown winners, Affirmed having died the previous year. He had been foaled at White Horse Acres Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. He was co-owned by Jim and Sally Hill and an accountant, Glen Rassmussen. His first trainer was Bill Turner, who was fired in a dispute over the west coast trip. He was followed by Doug Peterson but Turner was the trainer for the Triple Crown races. Jean Cruguet was the jockey for those races but was also fired and replaced by Cordero. So the ‘team’ behind Slew kept changing but the horse just kept charging on. He wound up with a record of 14-2-0 in 17 races.
