Belmont possibles

[FrankD.]

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

[joemama]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/horse_racing/20150525_Spend_A_Buck_and_the_Jersey_Derby_shook_up_racing_in_1985.html

[belmont3]

Joe,

Thanks for the link.
Remember that day well.
I had a front row clubhouse seat for that Jersey Derby compliments of my late great friend Albert Hurren. Al was a Brit who, along with Mrs. McAnally ran many trips to the classic Euro races such as the ARC etc.

The next time I would be at Garden State was for the dispersal sale!

Spend a Buck certainly looked like a beaten horse during the race but he prevailed.

If I recall, the Buck might have been First Time Latex in the both the Kentucky and Jersey Derby that year.

Other than Woody\'s CF, the rest of that field was still eligible for non winners of a ham sandwich.

Brennan....totally crooked. Should have been a lifer....him, his helicopter and the appropriately named Due Process Stable.  

That\'s another story.

Bob

[joemama]

I was surprised to see such a in depth article regarding this track and horse.

 At the time I lived less than 10 miles from GS Park.  Didn\'t go to the race but watched it on TV as a local network carried it. Intense photo.

  Was surprised to find out how much money they put into building that track.  It was like walking into a shopping mall. The place is now a big strip mall with townhouses.
 
Recently found a Youtube video of a patron that went through the building after it had been shut down before they demolished it completely. Freaking shame.