Seattle Slew vs. Affirmed: Duels of the Triple Crown Winners

Seattle Slew vs. Affirmed
Duels of the Triple Crown Winners

Joseph Di Rienzi

With American Pharoah (in 2015) and Justify (in 2018) each having won the American Triple Crown series of races (the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes), the occurrence of such an accomplishment is no longer such a rarity. Unique in American racing annals was the concurrence 40 years ago in 1978 of two Triple Crown winners racing against each other. At the fall Belmont Park meet, Seattle Slew, who swept through the Triple Crown undefeated in the previous year, faced the current Triple Crown hero in Affirmed.

The two champions took divergent paths to what would be their first rendezvous - the 9 furlong Marlboro Cup on September 16. Harbor View Farm’s Affirmed was coming off a dramatic series of duels with his arch rival Alydar whom Affirmed had bested narrowly in each of the classics. In his latest effort in August at Saratoga in the Travers Stakes, Affirmed again finished in front of Alydar, however he was disqualified and placed second behind the latter when his substitute rider, Laffit Pincay Jr., caused Affirmed to block Alydar’s path in the run down the backstretch. (Alydar was also scheduled to compete in the Marlboro, but he suffered an injury that forced him to miss racing the rest of the year.)

Seattle Slew’s path to his meeting with Affirmed was much less straight forward. After losing his undefeated status in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park in July 1977, the Tayhill Stable colt did not race the remainder of the year. When he returned as a four year-old in 1978, Seattle Slew had a new trainer in Doug Peterson (replacing Billy Turner Jr.), and, by the time he ran in the Marlboro Cup, Seattle Slew had a new rider in Angel Cordero Jr. (replacing Jean Cruguet). With only two minor sprint wins and a recent defeat by the previously unheralded Dr. Patches in the 9 furlong Patterson Handicap at the Meadowlands Racetrack, there were questions about whether Seattle Slew had retained his 1977 Triple Crown form. The reality is that Seattle Slew had not raced further than 7 furlongs in over 14 months, and the effort in the Patterson was all he needed to show his best, moving forward.

Under the handicap conditions of the Marlboro, Seattle Slew was the actual top weight at 128 lb., but Affirmed was, at 124 lb., actually rated higher considering his younger age allowance. Others in the quality laden field were Cox’s Ridge, Nasty and Bold, Upper Nile and Darby Creek Road.  A key withdrawal on race day was Sensitive Prince who could have provided a strong pace presence. The betting public strongly favored the current Triple Crown winner over the previous year’s victor. However, they did not figure on the racing adage that “pace makes the race”, especially if the pace setter is a Triple Crown winner. As the compact field came out of the starting gate, Angel Cordero had the headstrong Seattle Slew pounce right to the lead. Steve Cauthen, back riding Affirmed, took hold almost immediately being content to let “Slew” have an uncontested lead. Setting moderate fractions for the first part of the race, Seattle Slew had the race won after a ½ mile. When Affirmed tried to mount a challenge around the turn, Cordero urged Slew to run enough to maintain a 3 length lead he carried to the finish. Nasty and Bold finished third, 5 lengths further back. The time was only 2/5 of a second slower than Secretariat’s track record. After this performance, no one could doubt that Seattle Slew was back at his brilliant best.

                                                        

                                                                           

1978 Marlboro Cup
(bloodhorse.com)

     

Two weeks later, Belmont Park offered the 1¼ mile Woodward Stakes at weight for age conditions. Affirmed’s connections decided to sit this race out, conserving the horse for what they presumed would be the climatic race in the series – the 1½ mile Jockey Club Gold Cup. Seattle Slew was the prohibitive favorite in the five horse field, but he faced a worthy competitor in Nelson Bunker Hunt’s five year-old Exceller, a major winner in both Europe and America, who had shipped in from California. Again the absence of pace pressure allowed Seattle Slew to cruise on the lead early. Bill Shoemaker riding Exceller made an early move to press after a ¼ mile, but Cordero let Slew spurt ahead by open lengths which he maintained setting faster fractions. Around the turn, Exceller tried to challenge again, but Seattle Slew was urged on, and at the finish he was 4 lengths ahead. Exceller, in a strong effort considering he was racing out of his usual come from behind style, was nearly 7 lengths in front of third finishing It’s Freezing. The time was a new track record for the race which was now started on the far turn at Belmont.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup (also run under weight for age conditions) on October 14 brought together again the two Triple Crown winners. In addition, Exceller, a previous Gold Cup winner (Great Contractor) and two others were in the field. This was truly “a race for the ages”, that no short synopsis could do it justice. Affirmed’s trainer Laz Barrera entered a “rabbit”, Life’s Hope, to run with Seattle Slew early, trying to prevent what happened in both the Marlboro and Woodward. However, nobody told Life’s Hope’s stablemate Affirmed not to be competitive. On a sloppy racetrack, Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Life’s Hope all went charging for the lead. Setting unreasonably fast fractions, the trio blazed down the backstretch. Life’s Hope was the first to drop back, and then soon after Affirmed lost contact with Seattle Slew due to Cauthen’s saddle slipping under the rider. While this drama was happening on the front end, Exceller some 20 lengths away was getting the fast pace he needed for his explosive charge. Exceller closed spectacularly around the sweeping final turn along the inside to stick his head in front of Seattle Slew as they headed into the stretch. But, Seattle Slew, displaying the courage and determination which only the greatest thoroughbreds have, fought back, and the two battled tenaciously to the finish. Exceller’s nose reached the wire first, but in many ways Seattle Slew was the race’s “victor”. Some 14½ lengths back came Great Contractor, and Affirmed, who lost all chance with the equipment malfunction, finished fifth in a singular career out of the money performance.

                                                     

                                                              

1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup
(NYRA photo by Bob Coglianese)

                                                                                                                  

In the aftermath of these three races at Belmont Park, championship awards were hotly debated. Affirmed was clearly the three year-old champion, but was he horse of the year after losing his last three races? In the older horse division, Seattle Slew and Exceller exchanged victories in the Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup, respectively, so who should be given the title?  Affirmed did not race the rest of year, but Seattle Slew, in a race to burnish his championship credentials, won the 9 furlong Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct carrying 134 lb. against token opposition. Exceller capped off his year with a victory in the Oak Tree Invitational Stakes on grass at Santa Anita. In the year end voting for the Eclipse Awards, Seattle Slew was Champion Older Male and Affirmed Champion Male Three Year-old and despite his late season losses, but by virtue of winning the Triple Crown in the current year, he was also voted Horse of the Year. (In what surely seems, in retrospect, a glaring omission, Exceller, the only horse in history to defeat two Triple Crown winners in the same race, was not accorded any championship.)

Seattle Slew retired at the end of 1978 to begin an illustrious stud career. Affirmed raced through 1979, and, after a couple of early losses, regained his best form to finish the year with a flourish and repeat as Horse of the Year. With the tendency to retire Triple Crown winners at the end of their sophomore year as evident by the respective campaigns of American Pharoah and Justify, it is unlikely there would be an older Triple Crown winner still in training to face the current year’s hero. So the meetings 40 years ago between Seattle Slew and Affirmed, may very well stand as landmark events in the history of thoroughbred racing in the United States.