Seattle Slew Strides Home by Two

When he came up for auction at a 1975 summer sale of Kentucky yearlings, he was just Hip No. 128, an anonymous colt with an awkward bearing and a slightly skewed front foot. He was gaveled off at the paltry price, by thoroughbred standards, of $17,500, and led away to his new owners, Karen and Mickey Taylor. It seemed hardly an auspicious union--an unassuming yearling and a stable whose racing silks were just two years and a handful of horses old.

The Taylors bid for the big dark bay on the advice of a friend, Veterinarian James Hill. His backstretcher's eye had spotted something special in the gangly colt. The three retired to a motel room and a bottle of bourbon for the joyful chore of naming No. 128 and toasting future victories. They settled on Seattle Slew--after the sibilant city closest to the Taylors' home in White Swan, Wash, (pop. 400), and the swampy Florida bottom lands, or slews, where Hill was raised. Since then, Seattle Slew has given the Taylors seven occasions to hoist a glass in victory celebration, the best of all coming last Saturday at Churchill Downs: mint juleps.

Overcoming a poor start and surviving a head-to-head backstretch duel, Seattle Slew got the first real test of his racing career and handled it courageously to win the 103rd Kentucky Derby by nearly two lengths. His victory was solid, but hardly overwhelming: his time of 2 min. 2 1/5 sec. for the 1 1/4-mile Derby distance, particularly the slow final quarter-mile, was well off the pace of past champions, even though the track was quite fast.

Still, the long-striding dark bay will be a firm favorite for the 1 1/16-mile Preakness in Baltimore later this month, though his competition will stiffen there. He may have serious trouble in New York's Belmont Stakes; the 1 1/2-mile distance could prove too much for him. While his performance may mute Triple Crown talk, Seattle Slew was still the best at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, which makes him this year's colt with a shot at U.S. racing's most coveted sweep.

A Triple contender is a horse owner's fairy tale, and for the Taylors, Seattle Slew is an unlikely Prince Charming. His breeding was one of a kind, but not really royal. He is the great-grandson of Secretariat's sire, Bold Ruler--a line that shows lots of speed but dubious staying power. Slew was the first foal of his dam, My Charmer; his sire, Bold Reasoning, fell while covering another mare shortly after siring Slew and had to be destroyed. On early form, the Bold Reasoning-My Charmer issue was not promising. His hindquarters were oversized and his gait was hardly classic. Exercise Rider Mike Kennedy recalled his early rides on the two-year-old colt: "At first he was awkward when he galloped. It felt like he had five legs and they were going everywhere."

But Veterinarian Hill thought that the colt was perfectly balanced and merely in need of some growing. Says Hill: "He had a great back, long between the legs. The longer the back, the longer the stride. He had long, sloping shoulders and an angular hip. Any of these attributes makes you like a horse, and this one had all of them." Buy him. Hill told the Taylors.

By last summer Seattle Slew stood more than 16 hands high, the foot had straightened so that the flaw was barely noticeable and--as Hill had predicted --the colt had filled in. Said Kennedy: "His front legs caught up to that huge hindquarters of his, and he started to run as smooth as glass." And fast. Trainer Billy Turner, 37, who had never taken a horse to the Derby before, thought that Slew's speed was so great that it could prove self-destructive, as was the case with the big filly Ruffian in 1975. Afraid that the horse would injure himself if allowed to run too often or too fast, Turner chose a light training and racing schedule; for a healthy horse of this caliber to have only six races before the Derby is all but unheard of.

Seattle Slew won his three races as a two-year-old so impressively that he earned the Eclipse Award as the outstanding colt of his class. In the Champagne Stakes at Belmont, he reeled off the fastest time in the 105-year history of the event.

Backstretch Struggle. But Turner continued to keep Seattle Slew under a tight rein. Most horses run more hard workouts before their first real race than Slew has had in his entire career. The Derby was the first time he had ever run 1 1/4 miles. Turner's tender handling, though criticized, brought Seattle Slew to Kentucky sound and fit.

During the post parade at Churchill Downs, Seattle Slew was unusually nervous--lathered up and, apparently, unsettled by the large (124,038) crowd. He broke late--he usually does--and was slow finding his stride. But Jockey Jean Cruguet drove him deftly through tight traffic, then settled into a rousing backstretch struggle with For the Moment. At the head of the stretch, Cruguet whipped him into a four-length lead and kept him on top handily, as Run Dusty Run and Sanhedrin closed to within 1 3/4 lengths at the finish.

In the winner's circle afterward, the Taylors reveled in their fortune. They are far from traditional horse owners. Their home is a trailer on an Indian reservation near the logging business they own. Instead of whisking into Louisville on a private jet, they arrived in a camper and spent as much time mucking around the barn with stable hands as attending parties. They are even promising to return some of their good fortune to the sport by keeping Seattle Slew in action past his 3-year-old season. Says Mickey: "It doesn't matter how much we're offered. If the Slew stays sound, we won't sell him for stud. Racing has given us a lot, and we want to give him back to racing."

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