1977 Flamingo Stakes - Seattle Slew

[gcy911]

Horse racing is watching the gambling dollar slip away but when you watch one of the greats run at the grandest of all race tracks it makes one forget about it for the moment

[disciple90633]

wow talk about playing for second. I love the Slew and the Blood Horse needs to revise it's top 100 of the 20th century. They have The Slew 9th and The Bid 10th??? What a joke. Seatlle Slew was definately my fave horse of alltime, but Spectacular Bid was by far the most dominant. Had The Bid won the Belmont he could arguably be called the greatest horse of all time. It's too bad those 2 never hooked up. The Slew defeated Affirmed twice, would have loved to see him run against The Bid.

[AwsiDooger]

@disciple90633

I don't know how everyone is so comfy to dismiss Spectacular Bid's losses in the two most important races he ever ran -- the Belmont with Triple Crown immortality on the line, and his only other race against a true legend, Affirmed. Sorry, but that's not the way it works. Subjective projections are cute but at some point the bottom line trumps them. Same thing with Dr. Fager skipping the Classics yet some analysts acting as if it means nothing. I wish Blood Horse set the odds.

[joelok48]

I was at this race standing at the rail in mid stretch with my camera. I got a perfect picture of Slew flying with all four feet off the ground. To this day, by far the best picture I've ever taken. It was on Kodachrome slide film and the day I picked it up at the lab after being developed, I inspected it on the light tray and immediately ordered ten 16X20 Cibachrome prints. When I went to get the order the lab said they LOST the slide. WTF!!!. End of story. Thank God for digital cameras!

[thelongshot99]

Hialeah was truly a beautiful track. They should tear down Calder and use Hialeah instead. I was there the last year they raced and it is a great track with unbelievable history. They were approved for slots so they will probably be back to racing soon. "Slew was a unique horse that could ran as fast as possible to get the lead. If you chased him it was suicide.

[joefederico]

This race could have easily turned into Secretariat-esqe like performance with regards to margin of victory. The way Slew opened up so easily and effortlessly was amazing. And as stated before, Cruguet was just riding him out, probably a smart thing to do. It may look good in the DRF for the runner-up but the fact of the matter is Slew was down shifted into 1st gear off the turn and won for fun.

[all66books]

Ghostzapper, of course, was another freak from that mold. He was a blur from 7f to 1 1/4, [and perhaps beyond]. A shame he was so brittle.

[mybigredhorse]

I just met Seattle Slew's Jockey, Jean Cruguet, at the Secretariat Festival this weekend in Paris, Ky. He was so friendly & signed autographs for anyone who asked. Thank You, Mr. Cruguet!

[yipyappyyip]

What a complete tour-de-force!

[ronibugs]

Always was my favorite. One of the three greatest ever!!!

[jhordanian]

Here's a perfect race to demonstrate how speed figures can sometimes be misleading. I'm sure the final Beyer speed fig for this race was not particularly high given that Slew only beat what was a largely mediocre field by 4 while running a pokey last eighth of 13 and 2. What statistics wouldn't be able to capture is that Cruget virtually eased Slew the entire stretch. Who knows how many lengths he could have won by or the time (most likely would have shattered the track record).

[AwsiDooger]

Excellent point. I've emphasized that on racing message boards and the speed figure goofs happily giggle in ignorance.

I've worked in sports stats and it's similar in other sports. For example, power rankings in football and basketball are skewed towards teams that explode in the second half. Teams that build big first half leads then coast with declining margins are inevitably underrated in those numbers. The doubters finally come around when they try to bet against those teams and fail.

[BE109]

This race illustrates how great Seattle Slew was. His weapon was his ability to lay down wicked fractions and just keep doing it furlong after furlong. I have always loved horses with this running style,like Dr. Fager and Native Diver. They also could win at classic distances,that makes them very unique. Most horses who run like they did,are sprinters,because they just cannot sustain that torrid pace beyond 7 or 8 furlongs.

[jess4metoo]

You people in the east need to save this park.  So many champions ran here including our beloved Slew, it shouldn't even be an option to tear down. It's not just a race track, it's history. Just makes me want to cry. Please save it!

[AwsiDooger]

I share your sentiment but it doesn't look promising. The two historic sporting venues in the Miami area were the Orange Bowl and Hialeah. Right now the Orange Bowl is sadly being torn apart day by day, and Hialeah most likely will meet a similar fate. Boggles my mind, particularly since the replacement venues are so bland.

[jess4metoo]

Our local track(Bay Meadows) will have its last race day May 11 and the track will be torn down to make room for a commercial and real estate development. The board voted unanimously. It's the only track I've ever been to, I'm sure gonna miss it. Fans fought for it's preservation, but we lost.

[terjer01]

2 legends: Seattle Slew and track announcer Ross Morton, may their souls rest in peace.

[jess4metoo]

I wasn't aware Ross Morton passed, he was a great announcer. Thank you for passing that on. May he RIP.

[AwsiDooger]

He passed away a couple of months ago, rather suddenly. I saw a blurb in the Miami Herald.

Ross Morton had a great voice and distinctive style. Along with his Gulfstream and Hialeah years in the '70s through '90s, he was the track announcer at Finger Lakes for 46 years, beginning in 1962. He called Funny Cide's last win in 2007.

[MDCSWildcats86]

when can we see his 1977 Preakness run?

[AwsiDooger]

I've been reluctant to post the Preakness video I have because it is incomplete, missing about 10 seconds at the head of the stretch. But since I can't find the full version, and seemingly no one else can either, I'll post the incomplete version when I get a chance.

[rltman]

Thanks for the great memory. That was my first day at the races and I had to talk my Dad into sneaking me in the track as I was only 16. Fortunately, I didn't get carded and we had a wonderful time. Hialeah was magical and I'm greatful I got to see Seattle Slew win the Flamingo on his way to the Triple Crown. That is how I remember Hialeah and a day at the races.

[aaronbees]

A tremendous race, and so nice to see one at Hialeah. :)

[cf1970]

Fantastic! Slew....gotta love him. He absolutely crushed that field and what terrific fractions he put up in doing so!

Great post. Thanks a lot!

[AwsiDooger]

You're welcome, cf1970. Hialeah was my favorite track so I love watching old races from there. I hope somehow they can save it and restore racing on the venue, but it doesn't look promising.

[Calumet1978]

I am from Miami Beach and Hialeah Park was a great place for racing, the best in fact. I was young at the closing(age 11). I attended my first races there in 1997 and enjoyed going to Hialeah Park till its closing. I drive by it almost every day when I go into Hialeah to eat at the Cuban restaurants. I would love to see this great track reopened so that Hialeah Park can once again reign as the king of South Florida.