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 1¼-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 ½-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.