I still believe Spectacular Bid was the greatest horse...

[two gun sid]

that was ever foaled. He lost the Belmont as a prohibitive favorite also. His trainer, Bud Delp was as much of an asshole as Rick Dutrow. His jockey, Ronnie Franklin gave him a boneheaded ride in the Belmont too. Delp blamed Franklin just like Dutrow is blaming Desormeaux today. But, you know what? Bid wasn't the best that day. Coastal was. Bid got beat and that's all there was to it. It happens everyday in horse racing. Big Brown got beat. That's Horse Racing.

Bid came back and redeemed himself and I hope Big Brown comes back and proves himself a great horse. Mistakes are made by trainers and owners and jockeys every single day. Great horses overcome those mistakes and win. Spectacular Bid overcame every mistake Delp made and every bad ride Franklin gave him except one. It cost him a Triple Crown. I hope Big Brown's fans are rewarded like I was with the Bid. I hope he wins the Travers and the BC Classic and proves his greatness.

[TZ]

1. That might be the very first TC series I remember

Got me really interested in racing..

[two gun sid]

2. I was not able to follow racing much...

after The Bid retired until I got out of the service in '87. I still can't hardly stand to watch video of the '79 Belmont. That goddamn Coastal.

Did you try those video links I PM'ed you?

[TZ]

5. They don't work

I think there is something wrong with the website.

[two gun sid]

6. OK. Here's the easy way then...

go to http://www.churchilldowns.com/video and sign up (it's free). That will only give you video for that track though. I'll keep looking for a good XML feed for you so you can get video for all the tracks around the country. Before you know it you'll be hooked and will spend your evenings watching 4000 claimers at River Downs.

I hope you're feeling better soon.

[TZ]

7. River Downs....

Hey thats the one track I actually went and spent the day watching races one summer...
That and Thistle Downs the two tracks I've actually been to

[two gun sid]

8. You really need to go up to Saratoga and meet OB....

and her crew. Make a vacation of it. Go on one of the big stakes weekends. Eat fried chicken on the lawn.

[KamaAina]

3. It says a lot that that photo is in black and white

I know, I know, they did have color photography back then. :-)

But, who could possibly have thought that whatever it was the Bid stepped on would be the end of an era? Back then, it was "Well, who's it gonna be this year?" Now, more than two-thirds of my life later :grr: , it's more like "Is there even going to be a next year?" :eyes:

[two gun sid]

4. A safety pin according to Delp...

who really knows though. I think 1 1/2 miles was a little far for Bid to go in very good company. Coastal was a very good horse at that distance. Bid got beat in the JC Gold Cup by Affirmed with Coastal right at his throat latch in 3rd later that year.

It's been a long time. I hope some monster comes along and wins a TC before I die. I've sure enjoyed the ones I've seen in my lifetime. But the horse I've enjoyed the most didn't win a TC. I hope the fans of Big Brown don't lose heart or interest in the sport.

[bread_and_roses]

9. I met Spectacular Bid the year before he died

He was at stud at a farm less than an hour from where I live. He wasn't being bred to many TBs, I gathered, from what the farm manager said, but was still valued for AI for other horses. When TC season rolls around, I always look in the pedigrees to see if he's in there - Scrimshaw is the last one I remember offhand, on the dam's side, I'm pretty sure.

He was so calm we were able to walk right into the paddock and up to him. The farm manager seemed really fond of him; he said he was still a handful in the shed.

There's an article over at the unofficial racing hall of fame that breaks down several of his great races practically furlong by furlong, and makes it clear how true the farm managers comment as we were leaving: "this one, he had heart."

[two gun sid]

10. I enjoyed Bid's career so much...

I am still amazed at the things he was able to do. He could win on the front end, stalking the leaders, from mid pack or from the clouds. Franklin just had to not fall off. When Delp put Shoemaker on Bid it made Bid's life a lot easier.

I'm glad he was a friendly and easy going horse in his later years. I envy you getting to meet him.

Hell, I feel like an old man. When Secretariat burst onto the scene I remember old guys telling me that "yeah, he's a nice horse but he's no Man O War".

[Awsi Dooger]

11. I thought Delp had a warm side to him

Just an impression, based on spring '79 in Miami. Delp did all the sports talk shows, debating with Miami callers, and often drunk at the time. It was a riot. His quotes were always cocky but not condemning in nature.

Then he stuck with Franklin after the hide and seek ride in the Florida Derby.

Meanwhile, that entire scene approaching the saddling area on Saturday was Dutrow and his clan at their finest. Mandatory sunglasses for the lot, to insure everything is cold and impersonal. Even the exercise rider came across as a little bully, shooing away cameramen who were deemed too close. It's almost impossible for an exercise rider not to be a cute simple upbeat story but in this case she managed. "Not too close to the horse!" Dutrow himself, in his very first words, was arrogant and said something like "We need to keep you guys away from him so he can run his race." Such a contrast to last year, when Street Sense's crew was simple and at ease in the Derby and Preakness. That classy bunch deserved a Triple shot, other than Curlin's furious dash at Pimlico.

I don't know if that woman who served as lead escort to Big Brown was with the horse's inner circle, or Belmont or the NYRA or whomever, but I can't think of a less appealing presence. I'd hate to be her toilet.

The famous picture of Big Brown's co-owner comforting him after the race is only believable if he were talking on a cell phone with the other hand.

As Kama Aina mentioned, our lives are slipping away while these horses can't make three correct circles. Spectacular Bid is safe in history as a near legend in the Native Dancer realm. But I keep thinking how I would have laughably dismissed any geezers critiquing Count Fleet and Citation in the late '70s, during the rash of Triples. Yet that 30 year gap is exactly where we are now, and lately I've been commenting on '70s races on YouTube.

Some 2 year old needs to show up late summer at Saratoga, blow one race fairly early as a relaxant, then dominate every pole through the Triple Crown. I don't see a problem.

[two gun sid]

12. Delp was a walking contridiction

Sometimes you thought he was very loyal, especially to Franklin, and other times he seemed like he was just your run of the mill asshole who happened to have a very fast horse. I never had a good handle on his personality. At times he made me chuckle and at others he made me despise him. I will say this in his defense: He never ducked a horse with Bid. Bid ran and he ran often like so many other horses of that era.

When Delp died I felt bad just because of what those years meant to me. When Spectacular Bid died, I'm not ashamed to admit, I shed a few tears.