WEDNESDAY, MAY 8,2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5B
1977 Triple Crown winning horse dies
The Associated Press
Seattle Slew always had a sense of timing. Winner of the 1977 Triple Crown and sire of more than 100 stakes winners, the big black stallion died yesterday — 25 years to the day after his victory in the Kentucky Derby.
For the first time since Sir Barton won the Derby, the Preakton and Belmont Stakes in 1919, there is no living Triple Crown winner stabled anywhere in the world.
A big gangly yearling who turned into a muscular colt with "blinding speed and burning determination," Seattle Slew died in his stall at the advanced age of 28. He was buried an hour later, beneath a statue in a courtyard at Hill'n' Dale, a 319-acre farm near Lexington, Kv.
Slew, as he was affectionately known, was the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated and his three-year racing career produced 14 wins in 17 races and earnings of $1,208,726.
"He was the most complete thoroughbred the industry has seen," owner Mickey Taylor said. "He just kept raised the bar with every record he broke."
Bought for a bargain-basement $17,500 by Taylor, a former lumberman from Washington, and former partner Jim Hill, Slew sired 102 stakes winners.
They include 1984 Kentucky Derby winner Swale, A.P. Indy,
Capote and Slew o' Gold, and have earned more than $75 million in purses.
Affirmed, who became the 11th and last Triple Crown winner in 1978, died in January 2001 at 26.
Battling the ravages of arthritis, Slew had two spinal fusion operations the past two years, the most recent in March. He was moved from Three Chimmneys in Midway, Ky., his home for nearly 17 years, to the quieter Hill 'n' Dale on April 1.
Taylor said the change was made because Slew was too close to the breeding shed and it caused him to become agitated when mares arrived.
In his final months, the stallion was a bit wobbly because of the second operation. The first one, the owner said, "saved his life."
As word spread of Slew's death, floral arrangements began arriving at Hill 'n' Dale, with cards reading: "For Slew" and "For the Taylers."
"When he arrived on the farm, it was like seeing the Grand Canyon in person after just seeing it in pictures — very awe-inspiring," Hill 'n' Dale owner John Sikura said. "He came here in a state of older age and had just gone through major surgery, but you could still see a brightness in his eye and that vigor that let you know that he was different from other horses."
Taylor and his wife, Karen, were constantly with Slew the past two years, moving from their Montana home to Lexington to be with him after the first operation.
"He had the greatest heart. He was a fighter to the end," Karen Taylor said.
Last month, she seemed to sense the end was near for Slew, but had a hard time talking about it. She stood only a few yards away from his huge stall and spoke softly:
"We'll just take things day to day with him, and help along the best we can," she said, tears swelling in her eyes. "If the time comes, we'll just do what we need to do. We'll need to go on."
On Saturday, Derby day at Churchill Downs, Karen Taylor and Jean Cruuget, Slew's jockey, presented a trophy after the first race — the Seattle Slew Tribute.
In an interview last week with The Associated Press, Slew's trainer Billy Turner called the colt one of the toughest to hit the race track.
"I knew I had a horse who was different from the rest," Turner said. "I knew when you see a horse go that fast with no effort, that's different. He was a good student with tremendous energy and phenomenal ability. All I had to do was control it ... He had blinding speed and burning determination. My job was to get
"He was the most complete thoroughbred the industry has seen."
Mickey Taylor Owner
him to accept competition and other horses."
Slew's retirement in 1978 at age 4 seemed premature, but as a stallion his earning power was easily into the tens of millions of dollars. The Taylors made a fortune breeding Slew, earning fees well over $100,000 per mare.
After Slew's first operation, he was pulled from the breeding line, but he was back in business last year, with 43 of 46 mares in foal. His last breeding session was Feb. 23.
Mickey Taylor described Slew's walk recently, saying: "He looks like a crab, a bad crab," when his front legs go one way and his hind legs another.
But Slew sure could run in his hevday.
He won his first six races and had never trailed heading to the Derby on May 7, 1977. When the Derby began, Slew smacked the gate and slammed into a horse next to him.
Ridden by Cruguet, Slew regained his stride, and by the time the field hit the first turn, he was on his way to a 13/4-length victory.
Agent sentenced to five years for swindling money from players
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sports agent William "Tank" Black was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday for swindling millions of dollars from NFL players he represented.
The Associated Press
Black was convicted by a jury on Jan. 31 of defrauding Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, New York Giants receiver Ike Hilliard, and others.
U. S. District Judge Stephen
Mickle ordered Black to serve the new sentence after finishing the 6-year, 10-month sentence he is serving for laundering $1.1 million for a drug ring in Detroit. Black began that jail term in June 2001.
Black's attorney, Jon Uman,
said he plans to appeal.
Black's co-defendant, Linda Wilson, also was sentenced to five years by Mickle for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and defrauding the government.
Her sentence is concurrent with a 31/2-year sentence she is serving from the same Detroit case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry Sanford said during trial that Black abused his clients' trust and stole between $12 million and $14 million from them.
Taylor testified in January that
NFL players testified that Black used his position as their agent to steal millions from them through bogus investments.
he lost most of his $5 million signing bonus to Black, while Hilliard testified he was bilked out of $2.5 million.
Former player Robert Brooks said he lost $2.5 million by investing in a bogus car-title loan company called Cash 4 Titles.
The Securities and Exchange Commission shut down the company in 1999, calling it an illegal pyramid scheme.
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