Spectacular Bid - 1979 Marlboro Cup

[beast13284]

awesome horse

[thehonzie1]

The Bid is one of my favs along with Easy Goer. Both could run almost any distance.

[Wondermouth1]

NICE!!!

[MrZenyatta]

Regarding the comments about Affirmed beating Bid. I will take a great 4 year old over a great 3 year old straight up any day of the week. Affirmed was 4, Bid was 3. A year earlier a 4 year old named Seattle Slew beat a 3 year old named Affirmed. Affirmed is my all time favorite horse but if you put Affirmed, Slew and Bid in a race when they all were 4 at 1 1/4 miles....I would take the Bid.

[grizzles03]

But - and I do say but - at certain distances there are horses that are UNBEATABLE. Dr. Fager at a mile; you tell me who beats him, especially if he's carrying 126 pounds. The 4 year old Spectacular Bid - who beats him at most any distance??? Comparing horses is a very difficult thing. I still say - and probably won;'t get anyone to agree with me - that Ruffian never lost a race. She broke down before the finish and never got to complete it,so to me, she remains undefeated. Crazy, but.....

[grizzles03]

I'm 56 and have been lucky enough to see most all of them since Kelso, in person. The best 2 year old I ever saw was Raise a Native. Beyond compare and without peer at 2 (though I never saw Lanadaluce in person). At 3 I have to lean to Secretariat because his string of 3 races culminating in the Belmont are a step above and his Belmont is the greatest single athletic performance in recorded - filmed - sports history.

See next post.....

[jhordanian]

What a great performance by the Bid. Displays such as this are why so many include the Bid among the top 10 ever. The field he beat here was first rate. Coastal (Belmont) and General Assembly (Travers) were top year olds that year, Star de Naskra was the champion sprinter who had just won the Whitney, Text was a hard knocking Gr 1 level handicapper, as was Cox's Ridge (weighted at 130 pounds on the 78'Experimental Free Handicap), but Bid made them look foolish. Must be one of his very best races

[joefederico]

I was thinking the same thing. That was an All-Star field of champions Bid beat in a great time as well. There were no "also rans" or last minute junk entries.

[drfager01]

wow! its like the spitting image of holy bulls woodward in 94,but only a tick faster,how magnificent,how spectacular.

[claimboxx]

Are you brain dead, look at the final 1/4 in the race and tell me what he came home in??? Look through his lifetime P.P.'s he DID win at 6 1/2 furlongs. As for beatng Flying Paster, he was a top, top horse that came around in the wrong year.

[claimboxx]

My 23 and change comment was exactly accurate... and the reason Affirmed beat him was he was able to control the pace through very slow splits.. Also, Affirmed was 4, the Bid 3.. You saw how many races the Bid lost at age 4

[fayjhi]

Yeah it was, but u had a typo and called it 23 and chance just like my typo.

Also I don't think Bid ever ran a 6 1/2F race.

Affirmed was able to control the pace but Bid wasn't too far off. He had his chance. Bid was great, In my opinion Affirmed was better

Can't knock a horse who doesn't lose at 4 but 5 victories over Flying Paster is not the stuff of legend.

[jhordanian]

Flying Paster was a very very good horse. However, as a Cali based horse he was, and continues to be, overlooked by the Eastern establishment. at 2 he won the Del Mar Futurity and Norfolk, at 3 won the Santa Anita Derby and Hollywood Derby and went to Kentucky as one of the favorites (I believe he ran 4th). At 4 he ran 2nd to the Bid in 4 straight races (Malibu, San Fernando, Strub, Big Cap) and at 5 he swept the San Carlos, San Pasqual (127 lbs.), and San Antonio Cap'

[fayjhi]

The Bid was great. But, not the best. As a matter of fact, he was at best the 4th best horseof the decade and maybe the 6th.

1.) Secretariat

2.) Seattle Slew

3.)Affirmed

4.) Spectacular Bid

5.) Forego

6.) Alydar

[BE109]

I can't say he was the greatest, but I really want to! this horse was a monster from 61/2 to 10 furlongs! man what a horse!!!!!

[cf1970]

Yes indeed. I have The Bid in my top 4 or 5 of all time. An amazing horse, to be sure!

Take care.

[claimboxx]

Last 3/8th in 35 and change middle 1/4 in 23 and chance... showed why he never lost from 6 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles..

[cf1970]

I absolutely agree.

[fayjhi]

He lost to Affirmed at a mile and a quarter, but watch the race, he would have been 2nd from 6F to 1 1/4. Affirmed was better, ask Alydar.

[claimboxx]

He lost to Afirmed at 1 1/4??? When genius?

[fayjhi]

It was a typo.... "just like your 23 and chance" comment above. settle down claimbox.

If you read the rest of my post, you would have seen that my point was, he could never get in front of Affirmed the whole race.

[Bassman968]

Bid really showed his class....right on the pace and then blowing them away in the stretch.

Bud Delp must still kick himself....like Lucien Laurin did with Secretariat after his first few races, he should have gotten a top rider long before Derby.

[cf1970]

Excellent points, all. I love The Bid. The way the music highlights his run to the wire makes this video one of my all-time favourites.

Thanks for your viewership and comments.

[proveout]

Spectacular Bid was a great one. people blame him stepping on a pin for losng the Belmont but i think as great as he was if Bill Shoemaker had ridden him in that race he would have still one. Ronnie Franklin gave him a terrible ride in that race

[cf1970]

Totally agree with you. Take care.

[JohnFPorcaro]

My theory was Bud Delp wanted to show the world that Spectacular Bid was able to win the Belmont in even greater fashion than Secretariat(as insane as that sounds). That is why Franklin sent The Bid out so early in the Belmont.

I do remember Delp saying before The Belmont, that if it was a year earlier, Affirmed & Alydar would have been battling for second place.

I loved Spectacular Bid, but boy was Delp arrogant.

[cf1970]

Wow, very confident comments from Delp, but yes, hardly surprising coming from him. I'd never heard about that before. He did have quite an air about him. Thanks for the excellent insight, John. Take care.

[AwsiDooger]

Thanks for the great uploads of these Spectacular Bid races. He really was special.

Kind of criminal to watch Bid pulling away so easily from Coastal, on the same track he lost the Triple Crown via the safety pin.

That was a very good field. I didn't remember Text raced so long, into '79. He was one of the three horses to defeat Slew in the '77 Swaps.

[cf1970]

Thank you. I'm very happy to share them with everyone. The Bid showed just how much better he truly was when healthy. He thrashed that quality field. Take care.

[JohnFPorcaro]

Thanks, as always CF. Spectacular Bid, my favorite alltime horse! Saw this race live on TV.

[cf1970]

You're welcome, John. It must have been terrific to see The Bid on TV. Take care.

[gfn02]

That's an impressive stretch drive! He really drew away.

[cf1970]

He sure made it look easy. The Bid was superb. Take care.