Re: Belmont possibles (617 Views)
Posted by:
FrankD. (IP Logged)
Date: May 24, 2015 07:58PM
On the verge of becoming the sport's third consecutive Triple Crown winner in 1979, following Seattle Slew and Affirmed, Spectacular Bid was derailed by a safety pin and a poor ride by young jockey Ron Franklin in the last leg of the series, the Belmont Stakes.
The colt stepped on a stray safety pin in his stall before the Belmont race and the pin became embedded in his left front hoof. Delp considered scratching the horse but was satisfied with how he jogged.
Ridden with little patience by Franklin, Spectacular Bid weakened to finish third, behind winner Coastal and Golden Act. He developed an infection as a result of the safety pin mishap and didn't race for more than two months.
"I still believe Bid would have won that day had Ronnie ridden a better race," Delp told The Times in 2003 when Spectacular Bid died of a heart attack at 27. "It was the only race in his life where a horse passed him in the stretch."
A champion as a 2- and 3-year-old, Spectacular Bid was even better at 4, having arguably the greatest single year of any Thoroughbred.
En route to 1980 horse-of-the-year honors, Spectacular Bid won all nine of his races under jockey Bill Shoemaker, taking the Strub Series and Santa Anita Handicap as well as stakes in Illinois, New Jersey and New York.
From 2006 LA Times obituary article on trainer Grover G. "Bud" Delp