by Charity Nicole Robertson

Created on: June 06, 2010

Near Lexington, Kentucky on February 15, 1974, a dark brown almost black colt named Seattle Slew was born. His owners didn't think that he had or would have much potential as a race horse so they sold him to Karen and Mickey Taylor of Washington. Seattle Slew, whose previous owners had very little faith in him, went on to become the only undefeated Triple Crown winner in history.

Seattle Slew was purchased as a yearling for $17,500, which was more than his owners thought he would bring. The colt was just too ungainly and had long ears which made him look a little like a mule. Even before Slew had run his first race he had earned quite a name for himself for the way he sped around the track. When Seattle was a two year old his half brother sold for a whopping $100,000.

He began his career as a big two-year-old with a maiden race of six furlongs at Belmont. He danced into the starting gate and then won by a brilliant five lengths. Seattle only raced two other times during that season, but won both by large margins. That year he was named the Champion Two Year Old.

When Seattle Slew turned three, he was entered in an allowance race in which he easily ran the seven furlongs and won by  9 lengths. In that race he made a track record for seven furlongs. His next race was the Flamingo Stakes, where he won by four lengths and made stakes history. His last race before the Kentucky Derby was the Wood Memorial Stakes which he won by three and one-half lengths.

The next step in his career was to win the Run for the Roses, and it appeared that he would have a great possibility in winning the most important three year old race of all. Baby Huey, as Slew was fondly known, started off on the wrong foot when the Kentucky Derby started.  He swerved and had to be checked by his jockey, but Seattle Slew wasn't going to let a little mishap like that stop him. During the first mile For The Moment and Seattle Slew fought for the lead, but at the homestretch Slew gallantly pulled ahead to win by one and three-fourths lengths.

Seattle Slew was raring to go two weeks later for the Preakness Stakes. Some had doubts whether Slew would be able to handle this race because he would be running against Cormorant, who was an early speed runner, and they feared that Slew would not be able to keep up with him. In the end it was Cormorant who couldn't handle the pace, and Seattle Slew won by one and one-half lengths.

When the running of the Belmont came around, Seattle’s owners were a little dubious whether or not he would be able to run in mud since he had never done so before. For some reason Seattle Slew was really keyed up in the paddock and that kind of frightened his jockey, because he knew what Seattle was capable of. Slew took to that muddy track as a duck takes to water and nothing stopped him from winning by four lengths.

It was the happiest and most exciting day of the Taylor's lives.  Their $17,500 horse had won the Triple Crown undefeated. Seattle's amazing feat can only be equaled in racing history, but never beaten.

After the Triple Crown, Seattle Slew continued his career, winning many more and losing a few. One of his most famous races was when he raced Affirmed, another Triple Crown winner, at Belmont during the running of the Marlboro Cup, winning by three lengths. It was the first and only time that two Triple Crown winners had met in a match race.

Seattle Slew won fourteen of seventeen races and earned $1,208,726 during his lifetime. When he was retired to stud, Seattle sired 1,000 foals, his owners charging up to $800,000 per foal. Seattle lived to be twenty-eight years old, dying in 2002.

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