In a plain brown wrapper, the yearling colt didn’t go away the identical impression that struck these closest to Secretariat when he was that age. With a good pedigree and a entrance leg that toed out, he didn’t move muster with one gross sales firm and as an alternative was relegated to the upstart different. However this may not deter destiny. Neigh. As a substitute, the long-legged colt with a clumsy stride was obtainable for a worth far under what he would ultimately be price.
Happily for him, 4 younger homeowners had been on the lookout for the best horse for his or her nascent enterprise, scooping him up and including him to their hopes. What he introduced them was the stuff of desires.
Humble Debut
By the point My Charmer was able to breed, Daring Ruler was gone. The sire of Secretariat had died of most cancers in July 1971, however he had left behind a number of good sons for these in search of his bloodlines. Nevertheless, restaurateur Ben Castleman’s price range for My Charmer was restricted and the guide for his preliminary selection, Jacinto, was full. As a substitute, Claiborne’s Seth Hancock steered Daring Reasoning, a grandson. The value of $5,000 was proper. The stallion had a good report on the racetrack, profitable the Jersey Derby and the Withers Stakes. Castleman was offered.
My Charmer was a stakes winner, taking the Honest Grounds Oaks in 1972, and her foal with Daring Reasoning was her maiden being pregnant. The daughter of the Castleman’s foundational mare Honest Charmer, her pedigree additionally included Reine-de-Course Myrtlewood, passing profitable genes to her new foal. He arrived at an inexpensive hour on Feb. 15, 1974, simply after dinner and early sufficient for the 2 to be moved out of the foaling stall to make room for the subsequent mare due. It could take the higher a part of an hour for the colt to regular his new child legs sufficient to nurse.
As soon as he did, he confirmed precocity that hinted at what was to return. Because the younger horses performed within the discipline, My Charmer’s colt didn’t have the smoothest of strides, the others working so simply that he appeared as an alternative like a clumsy teenager who wanted time to develop into his physique. At any time when the feed tubs had been crammed, although, he can be the primary throughout the 13-acre paddock to stay his nostril into the grain. In time, the unnamed colt joined his fellow yearlings in a ritual frequent throughout the Bluegrass. It was time to go to the gross sales ring.
Within the Ring
Upon inspection, the celebrated Keeneland gross sales group declined so as to add My Charmer’s colt to their guide for the upcoming yearling sale. His pedigree was that of a brand new stallion with crops but to race and a maiden broodmare with a workmanlike profession. As well as, the plain brown yearling was not as enticing as a few of his friends. His proper foreleg angled outward barely from the knee, a conformation flaw referred to as ‘toeing out.’ His head was coarse and never as sculpted, missing the class sought by the Keeneland inspector.
Fasig-Tipton, the New York-based gross sales firm, had not too long ago expanded into Kentucky. Its July yearling sale featured the horses that didn’t make it into Keeneland’s September guide, however however the same old names had been ringside as My Charmer’s colt stepped into the lighted enviornment. Whether or not new to the sport or a part of the outdated guard, everybody was on the lookout for one thing from the slate of younger horses passing by. A type of was Mickey Taylor.
The Washington native had his eyes on the colt that companion Dr. Jim Hill, a veterinarian, had recognized in his walks across the gross sales barns. Hill had returned to the colt three or 4 instances, noting his steadiness and dimension in addition to the developed shoulder and the musculature that promised velocity. He handed his notes alongside to Taylor, who would purchase a number of yearlings that day. However this one was the one they needed. How excessive would they must go to get him?
Taylor had made his cash within the logging enterprise, benefitting from a paper scarcity that allowed him and spouse, Karen, to go from residing off her flight attendant wage to investing in racehorses. The couple was not Whitneys, however that they had the means essential to pursue the colt within the ring. The Hills, Jim and Sally, had befriended Mickey and Karen once they sought Jim’s recommendation about horses as early as 1973. By 1975, they had been companions in Picket Horse Investments, sending horses out to both New Mexico or New York relying on their progress.
Because the bidding began, Taylor stored his eye on the ring, on the colt circling nervously underneath the lights. $3,000. Then $5,000, progressing upward regularly. The bids had been incremental, however the hope beneath every flick of Taylor’s hand was not. Castleman needed a minimum of $15,000 for My Charmer’s first foal. At $17,500, Taylor signaled the spotter closest to him. The auctioneer surveyed the room, on the lookout for $18,000. No takers. The gavel resounded on the lectern.
Goals Realized
With that, the colt that will turn out to be Seattle Slew fell to a logger, a flight attendant, a veterinarian, and a businesswoman, who would later be christened because the Slew Crew. Along with coach Billy Turner, the group would go on a journey that will take them from the gross sales ring to the winner’s circle, a crown of immortality their reward for his or her religion in My Charmer’s colt.
Earlier than going into the 1977 Triple Crown undefeated, earlier than a profession that put him into the Racing Corridor of Fame got here that day within the gross sales ring. The flick of Mickey Taylor’s hand was the turning level that despatched the awkward colt on the trail towards immortality not solely on the racetrack but additionally within the breeding shed. In his three seasons on the racetrack, he was a champion yearly, the primary undefeated Triple Crown winner.
His legacy on the racetrack was complimented by his prowess within the breeding shed. From Landaluce to Swale to A.P. Indy, Seattle Slew left his mark on the pedigree of the American Thoroughbred, a long-lasting tribute to an excellent horse with humble beginnings.