The "People's Horse", Seattle Slew, Dead At 28
By, William F. Reed
May 7, 2002

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 7, 2002) - The "People's Horse" died in his sleep on Tues., May 7, precisely a quarter of century from the day he won the 103rd Kentucky Derby (GI) at Churchill Downs. He drew his last breath at the Hill n' Dale Farm just outside Lexington, Ky., where he was quietly trying to recover from throat surgery to relieve spinal-cord compression due to arthritic changes in his vertebrae.

As potent in the breeding shed as he was on the track, Slew was bred for the final time on Feb. 23. The mare's name was Dimontina. His owners, Mickey and Karen Taylor, had hoped he would be able to resume his breeding career at Three Chimneys Farm late this spring. So had Slew, who, at age 28, would get so excited when mares were unloaded at the receiving barn that Tom Wade, his longtime companion, had to turn the radio to full volume so Slew couldn't hear the mares whinny.

But now he's gone to wherever Triple Crown winners go when they die. Of the 11 colts who have swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes (GI) and Belmont Stakes (GI), Slew is the only one to do it while still unbeaten. He might have retired unbeaten had the Taylors and their partners, Dr. Jim and Sally Hill, let trainer Billy Turner continue to call the shots.

However, instead of honoring Turner's desire to give Slew a long break after the Belmont, the owners ordered him to ship Slew to California to pick up what appeared to be easy money in the Swaps Stakes (GI). Alas for his many fans, the weary Slew finished a dull fourth to J.O. Tobin. It proved to be his worst finish in a 17-race career that included 14 victories and two seconds.

A son of Bold Reasoning out of My Charmer, Slew was bred in Kentucky by Ben Castleman. He was the "People's Horse" because he was purchased at the 1975 Fasig-Tipton of Kentucky yearling sale for only $17,500 due to perceived flaws in his pedigree and conformation. (The highest price for a Derby winner was the $4 million paid for Fusaichi Pegasus in 1998.)

He was the poor kid from the other side of the tracks thumbing his nose at the bluebloods, and the public ate it up. In the movie business, Secretariat would have been Robert Redford and Slew would have been Al Pacino. But everyone rooted for him because he was the poster boy for the idea that you didn't have to be a multi-millionaire to own a terrific horse.

In addition, Slew was surrounded by a bunch of charming young people who were fresh to the game and overwhelmed by their good luck. Mickey Taylor was a lumberman from White Swan, Wash., his wife a former airlines attendant. Dr. Hill was a racetrack veterinarian in Florida, Turner an unknown former steeplechase rider, and jockey Jean Cruguet a journeyman who had never won a Triple Crown race.

Slew almost lost the Derby when he stumbled virtually to his knees coming out of the starting gate, but Cruguet steadied him, then bulled his way between horses to get his accustomed spot at the front of the pack. Turning for home, Slew siezed the lead from For the Moment, then easily held off Run Dusty Run's late bid for a 1 1/2-length victory.

"It was Slew's greatest performance," Turner said years later. "He got left at the gate, he got blocked, he got shut off. But he ran like a wild horse. He ran over horses. Man o' War couldn't have done it. It will go down as one of the greatest horse races ever."

After the unique rigors and raucus surroundings of the Derby, the Preakness was a stroll in the park for Slew, who held off Iron Constitution by a workmanlike 1 1/2-lengths. But when he headed for the Belmont and his rendezvous with destiny, there were still doubters such as W.E. "Smiley" Adams, the trainer of Run Dusty Run, and Thomas F. Root Jr., trainer of Iron Constitution.

Remembering how the Derby crowd had excited Slew, Turner kept him in the barn until the last minute. His plan was to be the last to arrive at the paddock, saddle Slew quickly, and get him out on the track before he got too worked up by the photographers and the fans. Although he was subsequently fined $200 for being late to the paddock, Turner figured that was a small price to pay for a slice of immortality.

After the field left the paddock, Turner ducked into a grandstand bar to watch the race on TV. He asked the bartender for a vokda-tonic, but was told to get to the back of the line. So a reporter friend (blush) got the drink for him, then called the race for him because Turner's vision was blocked by leaping, screaming fans.

As soon as he saw Slew's black-and-gold silks flash past in front, Turner ran out of the bar, jumped a fence to the tunnel leading to the track, and had to convince a Pinkerton guard that he was, indeed, the trainer of the Triple Crown winner. Then, for the first time all year, he got in the winner's circle photo.

The next day, Turner showed up at his barn in a black 1932 Franklin, a luxury car from the Bonnie-and-Clyde era equipped with running boards, oversized head lamps, and white sidewall tires.

"When you win a horse race," Turner said, "a racetracker always gets a big, new car. I'm just trying this one out. What do you think?"

"Well," said Mick Kennedy, Slew's exercise boy, "I bet it doesn't run as smooth as Slew."

After doing his interviews, Turner retired to his "office," which is what he called Esposito's Tavern, located across the street from Belmont's back stable gate. The Esposito brothers, John and Junior, already had painted the jockey standing on the bar's front yard with Slew's colors.

The fiasco in California turned out to be Turner's last race as Slew's trainer. It had knocked the nearly-black colt out of the Travers Stakes (GI) at Saratoga, a point that Turner made so often and so loudly that the owners finally canned him in favor of Doug Peterson, who was perfectly willing to be a "yes-man" trainer.

Under Peterson, Slew didn't return to the track until 1978, He made seven starts as a 4-year-old, winning five and finishing second twice. The owners fired Cruguet after a nose lose to Dr. Patches at Monmouth and replaced him with Angel Cordero, Jr. for his last four races, one of which was a three-length win over 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed in the Marlboro Cup (GI).

His final loss came to Exceller in the 1 1/2-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) on Oct. 14, 1978, and it also may have been one of Slew's greatest performances. On a "sloppy" track, he led throughout the early going, was overtaken by Exceller at the top of the stretch, then fought back to lose by only a nose. It was a classic example of his speed, strength, stamina, and will to win.

"I think that race is the one that really sold the breeders on him," Taylor said.

Initially, Slew was sent to Spendthrift Farm because Brownell Combs had paid $6 million for half of him. It was here that he hooked up with Tom Wade, who followed him to Three Chimneys when Spendthrift began having financial problems.

As a sire, the "People's Horse" produced a lot of racing aristocrats. His offspring include more than 100 stakes winners, including champions A. P. Indy, Swale, Slew o'Gold, Landaluce, Capote, and Surfside. He also is the broodmare sire of Cigar, a two-time Horse of the Year, and appears in the broodmare pedigrees of Tiznow, Kona Gold, and Golden Ballet.

All told, his offspring earned more than $75 million.

The other Triple Crown winners, for the most part, were owned by pillars of the racing establishment, so their lives didn't change much. But Slew's tour de force definitely changed the lives of his connections, especially the Taylors. When Slew underwent his first surgery in 2000, they moved from Washington State to be near him.

And after his second surgery, they parked a silver Airstream trailer next to his barn that served as a sort of mobile office. They moved him from Three Chimneys to Hill n' Dale only a few weeks ago to provide Slew more privacy and serenity as he coped with his recovery and with the aging process.

Every year, the "People's Horse" received a slew of notes, cards, and flowers from fans who remembered seeing him run. He was truly great, easily one of the eight-or-10 best horses ever produced in America.

The sadness over his death is more than counterbalanced by the richness of his legacy. As Mickey Taylor recently put it, "He was the real McCoy, the best of the best. He's done it all, at every level."

Native Kentuckian William F. "Billy" Reed has been a sports writer in various capacities for 42 years and has missed covering the Kentucky Derby a mere two times since 1966. He has been a high-profile sports writer in Kentucky for the Commonwealth's two largest daily newspapers, the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader and was a national columnist for Sports Illustrated, covering among other sports, Thoroughbred horse racing and college basketball. Reed currently pens a column for the Louisville Sports Report , contrbiutes features to the Keeneland program and will be, among varied other assignments, filing Kentucky Derby installments on www.kentuckyderby.com.

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