Seattle Slew and conformation faults

[xfactor fan]

I've had the experience of folks going on at me about Seattle Slew, and how he's the downfall of racing, due to his conformation faults. Would anyone like to chime in on this topic?

What's so bad about his build?

And if so how come he ran so well?

http://www.sporthorse-data.com/d?showpi ... 1293060496

[louis finochio]

I have SS grade card that was recorded before he was sold for $17,500. I will post it later.

[Bast]

I've had the experience of folks going on at me about Seattle Slew, and how he's the downfall of racing, due to his conformation faults. Would anyone like to chime in on this topic?

What's so bad about his build?

And if so how come he ran so well?

http://www.sporthorse-data.com/d?showpi ... 1293060496

Seattle Slew appears to be the surviving link in the Bold Ruler line that will survive into the future, by way of his son A P Indy. I saw him at Spendthrift under saddle as a stallion. He handled himself like a well-seasoned riding horse, a pleasant change from some others that come to mind, half-crazy and tending towards carnivorous leanings.

Seattle Slew was a wonderful racehorse, and he sired a number of very, very good racehorses. The negative I have heard is that some of his progeny were very coarse.

[Shammy Davis]

http://www.billyturnerracing.com/remembering-slew.shtml

[Bast]

http://www.billyturnerracing.com/remembering-slew.shtml

Thanks for posting that.

[zinn21]

That was a great read. Thanks Shammy..

[Shammy Davis]

HRTV has recently produced and aired on their INSIDE EDITION, a short perspective on SS. It very interesting. I think that they are going to air another longer segment on July 3rd. After watching the segment, I came to the conclusion that Slew was the only one in the partnership that knew what to do.

From a conformation standpoint, Dr. Jim Hill, one of the original owners and who apparently selected SS for the Taylor/Hill partnership said that Slew was not a particularly attractive horse, but he had all the right angles.

I think he is talking about muscular/skeletal conformation most particularly the shoulder,hock angle and pasterns. Does anyone have any conformation photos of Slew? That would tell us a great deal about what what Dr. Hill was willing to forgive.

In Ross Staaden's WINNING TRAINERS, D. Wayne Lukas talks about examing young horses at sales and he said that the best way to observe a young horse was from an angle, not face on. I have no idea how Jim Hill sized Slew up, but after hearing what he said about "all the right" angles and considering he was equine vet, I think Lukas and Hill are on the same page.

http://www.seattleslew.com/foundation_sires.aspx?fs=2

[bdw0617]

wow 6 posts about seattle slew and no diomed? that has to be a world record

[madelyn]

Seattle Slew = Flat Knees. Some a bit back at the knee.

[Dave C]

People who are good at judging conformation in race horses are like people who make money betting on racehorses: they know they will be wrong more often than they are right but the times that they are right more than make up for the mistakes. People who say they are great at judging conformation are like the people who lose money betting on the racehorses but brag about how great they are after the dead favorite goes wire to wire. It's easy to say a horse has conformational attributes that attracted you after the fact but reality is he probably saw the same things in a hundred other horses that ended up running for bottoms. If someone was actually able to see the differences between champions and cheapos they would only buy the one type and they would buy all of them.

[Zahrah]

Seattle Slew = Flat Knees. Some a bit back at the knee.

I've heard this repeatedly when I wanted to inbreed to Seattle Slew with one of my mares.

[zinn21]

I could have sworn I read somewhere that SS was jogged or did a lot of dressage stuff early because of, I believe, hind end weakness. Does anyone recall reading similar?

[Shammy Davis]

I think he had some neurological problems related to his back.

[diomed]

wow 6 posts about seattle slew and no diomed? that has to be a world record

LOL. Hey, it's kinda hard to be online when you cant be at work and you spend your weekends on a boat. Sundays are usually my only "day" to be lurking and participating in online discussions. Heck, I have no idea of how the weekend races ended. I am in the search mode right now with my DVR. BTW, the weekend was awesome for boating.

[Shammy Davis]

Dave C wrote:

People who are good at judging conformation in race horses are like people who make money betting on racehorses: they know they will be wrong more often than they are right but the times that they are right more than make up for the mistakes. . .

There is not a great deal written about how successful TB horse people are at sales. Most of the feedback we get is anecdotal. Wouldn't you love to know how Tabor and Magnier came to the conclusion to buy Green Monkey? Here's the top ten of expensive TB buys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoroughbred_valuation

The only book I know of that has actually tracked an individual buying at TB sales is LUKAS AT AUCTION by Joe Bagan. After reading it I came to the same conclusion as Dave C posted above. I've forgotten the numbers, but Lukas in general probably just broke even. What kept Lukas' head above water was not purses won, but horse resale and syndications. The book suggests that 92% of all purchases do not return their original sale/auction price. Of the 289 horses Lukas purchased, only 34 made more $$$ than their purchase price. The time frame for this book was the 1980's at peak of prices at TB sales.

Diomed wrote:

. . . I have no idea of how the weekend races ended. I am in the search mode right now with my DVR. BTW, the weekend was awesome for boating.

And I thought you were a super compulsive horse woman.