Spectacular Bid

[The Bid]

Thanks for posting that freaks PPs

[slotdirt]

Two things:

1. He lost.
2. Ergo, he stinks.

Plus, come on, did he run in the last 40 years? Then he really couldn't have done much for horse racing, 24-24 between 7-10f or not.

[cakes44]

Some of those fractions and final times are amazing. I can't imagine how much time a Pletcher horse would have to take off after any one of those efforts in California.

I guess they never heard of the "bounce" back then.

[Indian Charlie]

Can you please post Zenyatta's PPS to show just how much better she is than Spectacular Bid?

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Can you please post Zenyatta's PPS to show just how much better she is than Spectacular Bid?

Zenyatta has a great cut in terms of her PP's ... she falls a long way short in a lot of different other areas though.

Here are cuts of a few good in-form So. Cal horses The Bid dismantled when he went out West.

* Beau's Eagle (19-9-3-4 lifetime) didn't fare so well in his two meetings:



* Flying Paster (13-for-27 lifetime and voted California horse of the year in '78) he was basically owned by The Bid. Aaron Hesz swears Flying Paster was a sensationally good horse.



* Relaunch (not exactly the best of horses - but a damn good sire. He sired a Breeders Cup Classic winner in Skywalker - and was the dam sire of BC Classic winner Ghostzapper) He got destroyed by the Bid in two meetings.



* Valdez (8-for-16 lifetime classy Grade 1 winner)




Obviously, The Bid faced a lot better competition in the East ... but he just shipped out to So. Cal and absolutely curb stomped all of the best horses out there. He went 1:20 flat in the Malibu off a layoff.

[randallscott35]

You weren't here when I posted the same breakdown 4 years ago. Its in the archives somewhere. The Bid is unmatched.

[OldDog]

What a monster!

[ArlJim78]

the Bid is number one for me. In my book there have been none better.

look at his SA campaign in 1980. 7F to 10F, he ran everyone off their feet. smoked 'em

[smuthg]

thanks for posting; pretty f'n amazing!

how far was the Jockey Club Gold Cup he lost to Affirmed in 1979?

[The Bid]

The spacing of the races is amazing. I mean he just ran, took zero out of him and hed come back and jerk them again. Monster

[Duvalier]

Originally Posted by smuthg

thanks for posting; pretty f'n amazing!

how far was the Jockey Club Gold Cup he lost to Affirmed in 1979?

1 1/2 miles

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by smuthg

thanks for posting; pretty f'n amazing!

how far was the Jockey Club Gold Cup he lost to Affirmed in 1979?

As mentioned earlier - it was 12 furlongs.

It was also a 3-year-old Spectacular Bid VS a 4-year-old Affirmed.

Len Ragozin wrote a book many years ago called 'The Odds Must Be Crazy' - it was a very good read - but he comes across as a braggart of epic proportions. I'm talking multiple 100/1 shots winners - scoring huge on an imposter horse at 57/1 in a famous betting coup - and even making a $51,000 boxing bet against his idol Muhammed Ali in the fight Holmes destroyed him.

Anyway, he writes about proposing a deal with Affirmed's owner for a $50,000 bet between the two - double booking - with Ragozin taking The Bid. He mentioned that Spectacular Bid was actually consistently faster as a 3yo than Affirmed was as a 4yo...and Affirmed was obviously one of the great 4yo's of all-time.

Spectacular Bid's dam was a Northern Cal sprinter - and he was shockingly beat at 12fs in the Belmont by horses he owned. If you watch the race with Affirmed - it was a total tactical defeat and Bid really ran the better of the two. Affirmed was allowed unpressed on the lead through a 25 flat first quarter. Basically, the trainer and jockey of the Bid were more worried about him getting the distance than they were about Affirmed.

Pincay rode a brilliant race and floated the Bid out on both turns .. he actually seemed to cross into his path turning for home..and the Bid had to dive inside of Affirmed for the stretch run despite being floated wider both turns .. he made up some ground through the stretch but came up less than a length short.

Secretariat and Affirmed both suffered defeats to older horses at age 3 on two occasions each. Seattle Slew put in a non-effort in his only start after the triple crown when drubbed out West in the Swaps. A great 4-year-old should be able to beat a great 3-year-old the majority of the time.

[richard]

His wins were almost all by open lengths . He is laid to rest in his entirety at Milfer Farm, atop a scenic, windswept hill in upstate NY.

Feb 17, 1973 - June 9, 2003

[lemoncrush]

Since this was way before I started following the sport, what was the reason for not going for the triple crown?

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by lemoncrush

Since this was way before I started following the sport, what was the reason for not going for the triple crown?

He did. He lost the Belmont - which is a 1 1/2 mile race.

Coastal beat him:



Coastal was a close 3rd to Affirmed and Bid in the 12f race following the last one shown on the pp cut above.

[Thunder Gulch]

I have always thought he was top 5. Traveling all over and setting record after record at different distances, much of the time under Ronnie Franklin. WOW

[tiggerv]

Drugs - I know you made the cutoff 1970, but do you have PPs for Dr. Fager? It was before my time, but I always thought that Dr. Fager had the best 4yo season ever in 1968.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

As mentioned earlier - it was 12 furlongs.

It was also a 3-year-old Spectacular Bid VS a 4-year-old Affirmed.

Len Ragozin wrote a book many years ago called 'The Odds Must Be Crazy' - it was a very good read - but he comes across as a braggart of epic proportions. I'm talking multiple 100/1 shots winners - scoring huge on an imposter horse at 57/1 in a famous betting coup - and even making a $51,000 boxing bet against his idol Muhammed Ali in the fight Holmes destroyed him.

Anyway, he writes about proposing a deal with Affirmed's owner for a $50,000 bet between the two - double booking - with Ragozin taking The Bid. He mentioned that Spectacular Bid was actually consistently faster as a 3yo than Affirmed was as a 4yo...and Affirmed was obviously one of the great 4yo's of all-time.

Spectacular Bid's dam was a Northern Cal sprinter - and he was shockingly beat at 12fs in the Belmont by horses he owned. If you watch the race with Affirmed - it was a total tactical defeat and Bid really ran the better of the two. Affirmed was allowed unpressed on the lead through a 25 flat first quarter. Basically, the trainer and jockey of the Bid were more worried about him getting the distance than they were about Affirmed.

Pincay rode a brilliant race and floated the Bid out on both turns .. he actually seemed to cross into his path turning for home..and the Bid had to dive inside of Affirmed for the stretch run despite being floated wider both turns .. he made up some ground through the stretch but came up less than a length short.

Secretariat and Affirmed both suffered defeats to older horses at age 3 on two occasions each. Seattle Slew put in a non-effort in his only start after the triple crown when drubbed out West in the Swaps. A great 4-year-old should be able to beat a great 3-year-old the majority of the time.

it was also the bid's final defeat. he was an amazing, awesome, truly great horse who belongs on any top ten list. it's because of horses like him that i shake my head when people say the same about zenyatta. they don't know exactly what they're saying when they make comments like that. he ended one of the greatest decades in the sport, and racing hasn't been the same since he left the scene.

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

The "walkover"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9JYygqNfgE