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In order for any athlete of any sport to even be considered "the greatest of all-time", he or she must excel at each and every aspect of his or her respective sport, and then be judged accordingly. For example,in the sport of baseball, there have been countless numbers of great sluggers. However, few of them can ever be considered the greatest of all time, because they were just average defensive players at best.

As thoroughbreds are concerned, there are two distinct categories to measure a particular horse's overall greatness. Those categories are: ability on the racetrack and ability in the breeding shed. This has always been the standard by which the true greatness of a thoroughbred is measured. This being the case, when one examines all of the facts, he or she will come to the inevitable conclusion that Seattle Slew was the greatest and most complete thoroughbred in the history of the industry.

On the racetrack, Seattle Slew had few equals. His career was both dynamic and unequaled in so many ways. For example, he won his first nine races. He also ran the single fastest mile ever recorded by a two-year old. That incredible, historical event took place on the afternoon of October 16 1976 at Belmont Park in the prestigous Champagne Stakes. During this race, he broke sharply, shot to the lead like a lightning bolt, and never looked back, winning the race by ten lengths. It was one of the greatest routs in the history of thoroughbred horse racing.

In 1977, Seattle Slew set even more records. The first one came at the Hialeah Racetrack down in Florida. It was a seven furlong warm-up for the Flamingo Stakes. Slew ran the seven furlong race as if it were a walk in the park. He finished with a world record time of 1:20 2/5, a time that still stands to this day, and probably always will. After this, Slew then won the Flamingo in yet another rout, and followed that with a laugher in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. In that race, he overcame a huge challenge. It didn't come from any other horses, though. He was a million times superior to any of them. The challenge he faced on that day came form the extremely heavy track. He overcame it easily, however, just like he would every other challenge he would ever face, on the track and off.

Seattle Slew then concluded the 1977 racing season by sweeping the Triple Crown. He would overcome a slow start at the Kentucky Derby and another very heavy and muddy track at the Belmont Stakes in the process. In between, he ran the second

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