missmacphisto
Refugee
He was 28...
And then there were none...
******************************************
Seattle Slew Dies at 28
May 8, 2002
By JOE DRAPE
It was Sept. 16, 1978, and Angel Cordero finally landed the
ride of his life: he was aboard Seattle Slew for the
Marlboro Cup Handicap. The colt swept the Triple Crown the
previous year and had won 11 of 13 races over all with the
jockey Jean Cruguet, but now it was Cordero's turn atop a
horse he had long admired.
Seattle Slew emerged from the breezeway at Belmont Park and
immediately began his pre-race dance, high-stepping like a
Radio City Rockette, eyeballing the other horses and even
glancing up at rival jockeys. The legendary Cordero had
been on the receiving end of Slew's withering gaze many
times and was hardly surprised.
But Cordero was startled when the horse got in the starting
gate, stilled his feet and began breathing deeply. Never
before had Cordero felt a horse get lost in concentration.
Seattle Slew's chest expanded, his neck got taut and he
stared through the gate, just raring to go.
And he did go, leading every step of the mile-and-an-eighth
race, and dusting by three lengths a pretty good horse
named Affirmed, who happened to be that year's Triple Crown
winner.
"If Seattle Slew was human, he'd be Muhammad Ali," Cordero
said yesterday. "Jumping, strutting and cocky, but good -
the best horse I've ever been on."
Early yesterday, 25 years to the day that he won the
Kentucky Derby, Seattle Slew died in his sleep at Hill 'n'
Dale Farm near Lexington, Ky.
The 28-year-old son of Bold Reasoning, Slew was the last
living Triple Crown champion, as well as the only winner of
the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes to sweep
the prestigious series as an undefeated colt. He had won
all six of his races before the spring classics.
His death leaves the thoroughbred racing world without a
living Triple Crown winner for the first time since Sir
Barton first accomplished the feat in 1919.
"He was the most complete thoroughbred the industry has
seen," his owner, Mickey Taylor, said of Seattle Slew. "He
just kept raising the bar with every record he broke."
Taylor; his wife, Karen; and a former partner, Jim Hill,
bought Seattle Slew for a modest $17,500, then watched as
he won 14 of 17 races - two of the three he lost were by a
neck and a nose - and earned $1,208,726 in purses.
He was equally dominating as a stallion, siring 102 stakes
winners - including 1984 Kentucky Derby winner, Swale, and
the 1992 Horse of the Year, A. P. Indy. His offspring won
more than $75 million in purses, and at the apex of his
breeding popularity, Seattle Slew commanded $750,000 per
coupling.
The horse had been suffering from arthritis the past two
years and underwent two delicate spinal fusion operations,
the most recent of which was last month. For the past week,
the Taylors, who moved to Kentucky from the state of
Washington two years ago to be closer to the horse, had
been sleeping in the stall with Seattle Slew. Just after
midnight Monday, Seattle Slew said his goodbyes and lay
down for good.
"He basically was tired and figuring out what to do,"
Taylor said yesterday. "He came up and he sniffed the dog,
Chet. They licked tongues, and he laid down and went to
sleep. He went from energy to saying thank you and knowing
it was time to let go. He looked me square in the eye."
Just last week, Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew
through his Triple Crown campaign, celebrated the 25th
anniversary of that feat by remembering a "big, gangly
colt," blessed with intelligence but sometimes difficult to
handle because of his burning desire to run.
"Everything he did on the racetrack was phenomenal, and it
was the same as with his stud career," Turner said
yesterday. "He was just amazing."
The sadness was palpable throughout Kentucky's Bluegrass
yesterday, especially at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway,
where Seattle Slew spent the bulk of his retirement. The
horse was the farm's star stallion from September 1985 to
this past February. In April he was moved to Hill 'n' Dale
because his barn at Three Chimneys was too close to the
breeding shed, which tormented Seattle Slew when the mares
arrived.
Before he was too ill, Seattle Slew still carried a
$300,000 stud fee, said Dan Rosenberg, the president of
Three Chimneys.
"He saw himself as king of the world," Rosenberg said. "He
held himself royally here. He knew he was the Babe Ruth,
the Michael Jordan, the Wayne Gretzky of racing."
In his Kentucky Derby victory, he smacked into the starting
gate and slammed into a horse next to him, but quickly
recovered and ended up winning by nearly two lengths.
"All you would have to do is keep quiet and be smooth,"
said Cruguet, his jockey that day. "The only time I ever
moved on him was when he came out of the gate. I wouldn't
even have to make a move after that. He would just take
off.
"He wanted people to know how good he was."
Unfortunately, Seattle Slew may have been eclipsed a bit in
the public's consciousness at the height of his racing
prowess. He followed Secretariat, whose 1973 Triple Crown
was punctuated by a 31-length victory in the Belmont, and
he preceded by one year Affirmed, a colt that had the
advantage of memorable, and triumphant, Triple Crown duels
with Alydar.
Neither was better than Seattle Slew, in Cordero's
estimation. One of racing's greatest jockeys, and now an
agent for John Velazquez, Cordero rode the horse in his
final four starts, three of them victories, the other a
loss by a nose to Exceller in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
But it is Cordero's memory of being vanquished by Seattle
Slew in the 1977 Kentucky Derby that most embodies the
horse's character and drive. Cordero's mount, For the
Moment, led the field when Seattle Slew motored past, but
not before taking a look at Cordero and his horse.
"Goodbye, soul brother," Cordero remembers calling out.
Goodbye, indeed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/08/sports/othersports/08SLEW.html?ex=1021841268&ei=1&en=52fb377d4ee7760d
[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 05-07-2002).]
And then there were none...
******************************************
Seattle Slew Dies at 28
May 8, 2002
By JOE DRAPE
It was Sept. 16, 1978, and Angel Cordero finally landed the
ride of his life: he was aboard Seattle Slew for the
Marlboro Cup Handicap. The colt swept the Triple Crown the
previous year and had won 11 of 13 races over all with the
jockey Jean Cruguet, but now it was Cordero's turn atop a
horse he had long admired.
Seattle Slew emerged from the breezeway at Belmont Park and
immediately began his pre-race dance, high-stepping like a
Radio City Rockette, eyeballing the other horses and even
glancing up at rival jockeys. The legendary Cordero had
been on the receiving end of Slew's withering gaze many
times and was hardly surprised.
But Cordero was startled when the horse got in the starting
gate, stilled his feet and began breathing deeply. Never
before had Cordero felt a horse get lost in concentration.
Seattle Slew's chest expanded, his neck got taut and he
stared through the gate, just raring to go.
And he did go, leading every step of the mile-and-an-eighth
race, and dusting by three lengths a pretty good horse
named Affirmed, who happened to be that year's Triple Crown
winner.
"If Seattle Slew was human, he'd be Muhammad Ali," Cordero
said yesterday. "Jumping, strutting and cocky, but good -
the best horse I've ever been on."
Early yesterday, 25 years to the day that he won the
Kentucky Derby, Seattle Slew died in his sleep at Hill 'n'
Dale Farm near Lexington, Ky.
The 28-year-old son of Bold Reasoning, Slew was the last
living Triple Crown champion, as well as the only winner of
the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes to sweep
the prestigious series as an undefeated colt. He had won
all six of his races before the spring classics.
His death leaves the thoroughbred racing world without a
living Triple Crown winner for the first time since Sir
Barton first accomplished the feat in 1919.
"He was the most complete thoroughbred the industry has
seen," his owner, Mickey Taylor, said of Seattle Slew. "He
just kept raising the bar with every record he broke."
Taylor; his wife, Karen; and a former partner, Jim Hill,
bought Seattle Slew for a modest $17,500, then watched as
he won 14 of 17 races - two of the three he lost were by a
neck and a nose - and earned $1,208,726 in purses.
He was equally dominating as a stallion, siring 102 stakes
winners - including 1984 Kentucky Derby winner, Swale, and
the 1992 Horse of the Year, A. P. Indy. His offspring won
more than $75 million in purses, and at the apex of his
breeding popularity, Seattle Slew commanded $750,000 per
coupling.
The horse had been suffering from arthritis the past two
years and underwent two delicate spinal fusion operations,
the most recent of which was last month. For the past week,
the Taylors, who moved to Kentucky from the state of
Washington two years ago to be closer to the horse, had
been sleeping in the stall with Seattle Slew. Just after
midnight Monday, Seattle Slew said his goodbyes and lay
down for good.
"He basically was tired and figuring out what to do,"
Taylor said yesterday. "He came up and he sniffed the dog,
Chet. They licked tongues, and he laid down and went to
sleep. He went from energy to saying thank you and knowing
it was time to let go. He looked me square in the eye."
Just last week, Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew
through his Triple Crown campaign, celebrated the 25th
anniversary of that feat by remembering a "big, gangly
colt," blessed with intelligence but sometimes difficult to
handle because of his burning desire to run.
"Everything he did on the racetrack was phenomenal, and it
was the same as with his stud career," Turner said
yesterday. "He was just amazing."
The sadness was palpable throughout Kentucky's Bluegrass
yesterday, especially at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway,
where Seattle Slew spent the bulk of his retirement. The
horse was the farm's star stallion from September 1985 to
this past February. In April he was moved to Hill 'n' Dale
because his barn at Three Chimneys was too close to the
breeding shed, which tormented Seattle Slew when the mares
arrived.
Before he was too ill, Seattle Slew still carried a
$300,000 stud fee, said Dan Rosenberg, the president of
Three Chimneys.
"He saw himself as king of the world," Rosenberg said. "He
held himself royally here. He knew he was the Babe Ruth,
the Michael Jordan, the Wayne Gretzky of racing."
In his Kentucky Derby victory, he smacked into the starting
gate and slammed into a horse next to him, but quickly
recovered and ended up winning by nearly two lengths.
"All you would have to do is keep quiet and be smooth,"
said Cruguet, his jockey that day. "The only time I ever
moved on him was when he came out of the gate. I wouldn't
even have to make a move after that. He would just take
off.
"He wanted people to know how good he was."
Unfortunately, Seattle Slew may have been eclipsed a bit in
the public's consciousness at the height of his racing
prowess. He followed Secretariat, whose 1973 Triple Crown
was punctuated by a 31-length victory in the Belmont, and
he preceded by one year Affirmed, a colt that had the
advantage of memorable, and triumphant, Triple Crown duels
with Alydar.
Neither was better than Seattle Slew, in Cordero's
estimation. One of racing's greatest jockeys, and now an
agent for John Velazquez, Cordero rode the horse in his
final four starts, three of them victories, the other a
loss by a nose to Exceller in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
But it is Cordero's memory of being vanquished by Seattle
Slew in the 1977 Kentucky Derby that most embodies the
horse's character and drive. Cordero's mount, For the
Moment, led the field when Seattle Slew motored past, but
not before taking a look at Cordero and his horse.
"Goodbye, soul brother," Cordero remembers calling out.
Goodbye, indeed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/08/sports/othersports/08SLEW.html?ex=1021841268&ei=1&en=52fb377d4ee7760d
[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 05-07-2002).]
