Seattle Slew Gallops to a Coronation

Belmont Park race track, a sprawling oasis of green and gentle silence just half an hour from Times Square, has been Seattle Slew's home since he was broken, and its winners circle is familiar ground. There he won the first race he entered, a six-furlong sprint. His dazzling 9 3/4-length victory in the Champagne Stakes last fall--bettering Secretariat's time in the premier race for two-year-olds--earned him the Eclipse Award as the season's best juvenile colt. From a barn on the Belmont backside, he trained for his victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. On the eve of the Belmont Stakes, the final jewel in the Triple Crown, Owner Mickey Taylor said: "This is our gym. Slew has the home-court advantage." Last week Seattle Slew galloped around his gym and came home breezing, the tenth winner of the Triple Crown and the first undefeated Crown Champion in American racing history.

Racing Royalty. Slew's four-length win in the mud was dominating, almost daunting. His pace on the off-track was 5 3/5 seconds slower than Secretariat's stakes record, but the win was electric in its ease: Slew loped over the 1 1/2-mile course as if he were putting in a leisurely workout. He broke cleanly from the gate, and was headed only for a few seconds as the field sorted itself out for the grueling Belmont distance. When the call for the first quarter-mile came, he was rating gently on the lead, relaxed and running smoothly. From then on, he coasted, flicking away in turn brief challenges from Spirit Level, Run Dusty Run and Sanhedrin. It was a hand-ride all the way for the big dark bay. Jockey Jean Cruguet tapped him twice with an uncocked whip in the stretch, looked for contenders over first one shoulder, then the other and, 20 yards from the finish, stood up in the saddle. He went past the wire with his whip held triumphantly aloft.

Seattle Slew thus entered a small enclosure of racing royalty that includes Gallant Fox, War Admiral, Count Fleet, Citation, Secretariat. And with a particular distinction: alone among the Triple Crown winners, Seattle Slew has a perfect record. The Belmont Stakes was his ninth trip to the starting gate and his ninth run to the wire as a winner. In the week before the Belmont, there was little doubt among backstretchers that Seattle Slew would complete his sweep. Secretariat Owner Penny Tweedy Ringquist, whose Spirit Level took his shot at Slew and lost, said: "Seattle Slew is head and shoulders above every other horse his age. He has speed, courage, luck and endurance. And he has been brilliantly trained."

Trainer Billy Turner prepared Seattle Slew for the Triple Crown quest with a cool deliberation that caused more second-guessing than usual along the backstretch. He purposely raced him little, harnessing his show of speed to guard against the fatal misstep that stalks the big, fragile-legged thoroughbreds. Slew's schedule was matched with equally undemanding workouts. Horsemen were quick to point out that he was slightly "short"--not in peak form--for the Kentucky Derby. After that race, Cruguet dawdled briefly up the track before riding into the winner's circle, because Slew was winded. Said the jockey, "I didn't want him panting there like some cheap horse."

But Turner's gentle methods have made Slew, a natural front runner, into a sound horse who "rates kindly," or can tolerate another horse in front of him--at least for a while. Unlike Bold Forbes, last year's speedball, he is amenable to racing tactics. His scanty schedule contrasts with Majestic Prince, who in 1969 also came to the Belmont unbeaten, but was a raced-out, exhausted horse. In a punishing run with Arts and Letters, Majestic Prince placed second; sore-legged and spent, he never raced again. Turner, Owners Karen and Mickey Taylor, and Veterinarian Jim and Sally Hill determined that the same fate would not befall Seattle Slew.

Exactly how good is the new champ, and how does he compare with colts of memory fresh and dim? His light racing experience somewhat handicaps judgment, as does the lack of first-class competition. He has seldom shown the scorching times of Secretariat, nor does he appear to have Big Red's hunger for the killer win, as in Secretariat's unforgettable 31-length victory in the Belmont. Slew seems content to put out enough to win and no more.

Rich Reward. Seattle Slew will take a few months off. In the fall, fans and handicappers should have a chance to judge his greatness when he goes back to work at Belmont in the rich handicap and weight-for-age races like the Woodward and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. There is a good possibility of a dream race against Forego, the seven-year-old gelding that has been Horse of the Year for the past three years and is--unless Slew can beat him--the best horse now running. If Slew stays sound, his owners insist, they will race him next year as well. If they persevere, the decision to race as a four-year-old is a bold one. The Taylors and Hills have turned down stud-syndication offers ranging as high as $14 million; the premiums on Slew's $3.5 million insurance policy run a huge $2,000 per week. Those are, heady figures for a colt bought at auction for a bargain-basement $17,500. But Slew's owners want to return some of their good fortune to the sport. For racing fans, a four-year-old campaign by a Triple Crown Champion would be rich reward indeed.

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