HRTV Inside Edition's SEATTLE SLEW

[Shammy Davis]

Has anyone seen this episode of Inside Edition? The episode really characterizes the connections as dysfunctional and out of touch. I knew back then that there were problems. I knew that Billy Turner was a hard drinker at the time of the TC, but Mickey Taylor comes off on the program as a loose cannon himself. Taylor makes a few comments about nefarious goings on like the assistant starter holding on to SS when the gate opened in KD and another comment about someone throwing alfafa flakes into SS stall the night before the KD. Almost sounds like Pharlap deja vu. The Hill's apparently left the partnership because they just didn't want to deal with the Taylors any more. I thought both the Taylors and Hills were from the west coast, but apparently the Hills were on the east coast. Wonder how they got together to form the partnership? Hill reflects on his veterinary internship at New Bolton so, as I thought, he had experience with racehorses. Who was the trainer who took over SS after Turner? Petersen?

Apparently, there is going to be HRTV presentation on SS on July 3 at 8:30 PM.

[TJ]

Hi Shammy,
Yes, it was Doug Peterson. TJ

[karenkarenn]

I see that HRTV IS doing a I. I. on Big Brown.
Shammy did you see anything on Lost in the Fog yet?

[Shammy Davis]

Karen: I haven't seen anything about Lost In The Fog. The July 3rd Inside Edition is the second part on Seattle Slew. The first part seemed to be all about the nutty whacky connections. Hopefully part 2 will be about the horse's racing and stud career. On one of the HRTV trailers, the comment was made that 28% of all Thoroughbreds living today have Seattle Slew in their pedigree. That is quite a stud career.

[griff]

Hi Shammy

What do you think the % is for mr P ?

Or Native Dancer?

griff

[Shammy Davis]

I'm guessing, but I'd think it is 60% or better. Where would you get the statistics on something like this?

[Joltman]

Karen: I haven't seen anything about Lost In The Fog. The July 3rd Inside Edition is the second part on Seattle Slew. The first part seemed to be all about the nutty whacky connections. Hopefully part 2 will be about the horse's racing and stud career. On one of the HRTV trailers, the comment was made that 28% of all Thoroughbreds living today have Seattle Slew in their pedigree. That is quite a stud career.

I think the quote was 28 percent of stakes winner.

Part II like part 1, not bad, but too much about the personal drama and less about the horse himself.

jm

[Shammy Davis]

JM is right. It was 28% of winners. I'm going to have my hearing checked.

[majxmom]

Steven Crist did an excellent chapter on the Seattle Slew ownership in his book, "The Horse Traders." It's recently back in print in softcover. I recommend it highly.

If you look at the Ky Derby footage, the assistant starter did hang on to SS for a moment. I doubt it was intentional so as to throw the race. It's more like the horse struggled a nanosecond before the gates flew open and the guy turned his head a little. It didn't matter to Slew, though. He just said, "Get out of my way!" and bulled his way up front.

Dr. Hill was given a lot of credit for picking out Slew to begin with, but let's face it, they benefited from the fluke of all time. If it was all talent, he would have been able to choose at least one more great horse, and I don't think he did.

I've always had a lot of admiration for the Taylors. It can't have been easy to come from Washington as middle class people and bounce into the upper crust of KY bluegrass. Clarence Schaubauer told my neighbor once that he felt sorry for his mother at the post-Derby balls because no one would talk to them; that the KY bluebloods were unhappy that Texans had won the race and gave them a cold shoulder that night. So it had to be much worse for the Taylors who weren't from any money at all. But they stayed true to the horse, always maintained control of him (very rare in syndications), always did what they felt was in the horse's best interest (not that others always felt that way), and when he was old, they moved to be close to him, handwalked him every day when he was close to the end, and were in the stall with him when he died. As opposed to other major owners who still have the Grade 1 trophies on their mantles but sold their horses off to die in foreign slaughterhouses like livestock.

They also stayed in racing. I saw a horse of theirs run at Pln just last week. I like the Taylors. Racing could use more of them.

[bdw0617]

I gotta say I just watched the second part of the seattle slew Inside information... it kinda painted the taylor's in a prickish sorta light. they seemed to have pissed off every last person they worked with is kinda the undertone of the show