Triple Crown winner: Seattle Slew
Twelve horses have won the American Triple Crown – composed of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes – which was patterned after the English Triple Crown that dates to 1809. When Sir Barton won the three races in 1919, it was not considered a Triple Crown feat. The three races were not acknowledged as being tied together as the Triple Crown until the 1930s. The Thoroughbred Racing Associations commissioned Cartier to craft a Triple Crown trophy – with three sides representing the three jewels – in 1950, and the trophy retroactively was awarded to the eight previous winners of the three races. In 1973, Secretariat was the first horse to be awarded the trophy after he accomplished the sweep.
SEATTLE SLEW - 1977
Dk. b. or br. c., 1974, by Bold Reasoning—My Charmer, by Poker
Owners: Mickey and Karen Taylor, Dr. Jim and Sally Hill
Breeder: Ben S. Castleman (Ky.)
Trainers: William H. Turner (1976-77), Doug Peterson (1978)
Jockey: Jean Cruguet
Race record: 17 starts ages 2-4, 14 wins, 2 seconds, 0 third, $1,208,726.
At 2: Won Champagne.
At 3: Won Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, Flamingo, Wood Memorial.
At 4: Won Woodward, Marlboro Cup H., Stuyvesant H.
Questioned for the company he had kept as a 3-year-old and plagued by assorted misfortunes that limited him to just 17 career starts, Seattle Slew never put together a lengthy campaign in any of his three seasons and struggled somewhat for his share of acclaim. Minor injury delayed his 2-year-old debut, but when he reached the races, he won all three of his starts at 2, being named champion, and he swept his way through the Belmont to become the only horse to win the Triple Crown undefeated. A debacle in the Swaps at Hollywood Park followed, and his 3-year-old season ended on that sour note.
Early in 1978, he became ill and nearly died, and later missed several months due to a stall accident. That year, he defeated Affirmed in an epic Marlboro Cup, the first meeting of Triple Crown winners. To many of his harshest critics, his finest moment was in gallant defeat in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Seattle Slew cemented his greatness by becoming one of the most prominent sires of the latter part of the 20th century, siring 113 stakes winners and eight champions, including the classic winners A.P. Indy and Swale. He died May 7, 2002.