IMHO : ORB never got into the race. And he didn't like track.

[BeatTheChalk]

And the "::" OTHER O ":": WON THE RACE. Stevens rode a fantastic race and I think his part in the HBO movie -- Took him to a higher place. WTG

[nijinski]

It's happened before that a horse didn't take to a particular track .

Every year that goes by makes the past triple crown winners that much
more special !

[ArlJim78]

as they were loading, watching NBC in hi-def one thing that struck me was how deep the track looked. I'm not sure who that helped or hurt, but it's easy to think that some horses might not have cared for it.

[BlueChip@DRF]

Originally Posted by nijinski

It's happened before that a horse didn't take to a particular track .

Every year that goes by makes the past triple crown winners that much
more special !

And for this reason alone is why they should not change the format for the Triple Crown races.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by BlueChip@DRF

And for this reason alone is why they should not change the format for the Triple Crown races.

Exactly - champions don't need to bring their track with them. the fact that we have not hat a TC winner in so many years is a testimony of the greatness of the few there are.

[keithw84]

Originally Posted by Tom

Exactly - champions don't need to bring their track with them. the fact that we have not hat a TC winner in so many years is a testimony of the greatness of the few there are.

And it's interesting how hindsight has shown that the TC winners truly were champions, while many of the near-misses were flashes in the pan. Compare Seattle Slew's and Affirmed's post TC careers to Real Quiet's inconsistent career, or Big Brown's two races, or in other cases, no races!

Of course, some of the Triple Crown hopefuls who fell short (The Bid, Alysheba) maybe would've been deserving of being mentioned in the same breath as the TC winners... but the great thing about the TC is how challenging it is. It is a measure of greatness because a fluke horse can't win.

[BlueChip@DRF]

Originally Posted by keithw84

And it's interesting how hindsight has shown that the TC winners truly were champions, while many of the near-misses were flashes in the pan. Compare Seattle Slew's and Affirmed's post TC careers to Real Quiet's inconsistent career, or Big Brown's two races, or in other cases, no races!

Of course, some of the Triple Crown hopefuls who fell short (The Bid, Alysheba) maybe would've been deserving of being mentioned in the same breath as the TC winners... but the great thing about the TC is how challenging it is. It is a measure of greatness because a fluke horse can't win.

True. And it better stay that way.

[RXB]

Originally Posted by keithw84

And it's interesting how hindsight has shown that the TC winners truly were champions, while many of the near-misses were flashes in the pan. Compare Seattle Slew's and Affirmed's post TC careers to Real Quiet's inconsistent career, or Big Brown's two races, or in other cases, no races!

Of course, some of the Triple Crown hopefuls who fell short (The Bid, Alysheba) maybe would've been deserving of being mentioned in the same breath as the TC winners...

No "maybe" required for Spectacular Bid.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by keithw84

And it's interesting how hindsight has shown that the TC winners truly were champions, while many of the near-misses were flashes in the pan. Compare Seattle Slew's and Affirmed's post TC careers to Real Quiet's inconsistent career, or Big Brown's two races, or in other cases, no races!

Of course, some of the Triple Crown hopefuls who fell short (The Bid, Alysheba) maybe would've been deserving of being mentioned in the same breath as the TC winners... but the great thing about the TC is how challenging it is. It is a measure of greatness because a fluke horse can't win.

Omaha and Sir Barton and Assault were not that good. Count Fleet and Seattle Slew had short careers.

And Spectacular Bid was probably better than any Triple Crown winner, and certainly better than nine of them (including the one he lost to). Native Dancer was better than a lot of them too.

The Triple Crown is a showcase, but it isn't a measure of greatness. And there is a serious question whether we should keep paying so much attention now that the races are full of horses with 5 starts.

[nijinski]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Omaha and Sir Barton and Assault were not that good. Count Fleet and Seattle Slew had short careers.

And Spectacular Bid was probably better than any Triple Crown winner, and certainly better than nine of them (including the one he lost to). Native Dancer was better than a lot of them too.

The Triple Crown is a showcase, but it isn't a measure of greatness. And there is a serious question whether we should keep paying so much attention now that the races are full of horses with 5 starts.

Slew suffered a life threatening illness during his racing career and
also had persistent back problems . His cocky owners sent him west after the TC and did him an injustice . I have tremendous admiration for him and believe he deserves the great honor he gets . Every bit of it .
I agree the Bid was a phenomenal racehorse . totally agree !

[Maximillion]

Ironic that at this time last year it looked like we had two budding 3yo stars.

Little did we know we would never hear from them again.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by nijinski

Slew suffered a life threatening illness during his racing career and
also had persistent back problems . His cocky owners sent him west after the TC and did him an injustice . I have tremendous admiration for him and believe he deserves the great honor he gets . Every bit of it .
I agree the Bid was a phenomenal racehorse . totally agree !

And I agree Seattle Slew deserves his accolades (although I don't think his connections were responsible for his problems). Heck, he deserves them for the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup alone! All I mean is that he's sort of hard to rate against the pantheon of great horses because he had a shortened career.

Of course, if we ever had a Triple Crown winner now, he'd probably have between 0 and 2 starts after winning it, so maybe Slew's career isn't abbreviated at all by modern standards.

[pandy]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Omaha and Sir Barton and Assault were not that good. Count Fleet and Seattle Slew had short careers.

And Spectacular Bid was probably better than any Triple Crown winner, and certainly better than nine of them (including the one he lost to). Native Dancer was better than a lot of them too.

The Triple Crown is a showcase, but it isn't a measure of greatness. And there is a serious question whether we should keep paying so much attention now that the races are full of horses with 5 starts.

The three Triple Crown winners I saw, Affirmed, Slew and Big Red were certainly three of the greatest horses of all time.

[nijinski]

Originally Posted by pandy

The three Triple Crown winners I saw, Affirmed, Slew and Big Red were certainly three of the greatest horses of all time.

I find it amazing that we had three of them in the 70's . I also don't have any
less respect for those who won two and couldn't win all three . That short time span for a three year old to win at three different tracks with three different distances . Beginning with the calvary charge that the Derby is and ending with enough wind and stamina to win the Belmont . Any horse that can do that is a solid champion worthy of the highest honors .

[nijinski]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

And I agree Seattle Slew deserves his accolades (although I don't think his connections were responsible for his problems). Heck, he deserves them for the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup alone! All I mean is that he's sort of hard to rate against the pantheon of great horses because he had a shortened career.

Of course, if we ever had a Triple Crown winner now, he'd probably have between 0 and 2 starts after winning it, so maybe Slew's career isn't abbreviated at all by modern standards.

If you haven't read Haskin's Life and Death of Slew , you may enjoy it and change your mind about the connections .
I do not blame them for his physical aliments but they did some dumb things with him . That article points out the insisting of him to run in Cali three weeks after the Belmont and the Xerox nonsense . They were lucky he lasted
as long as he did , with thanks to Billy and his groom Polsten .