Customer Reviews

Spectacular Bid: Racing's Horse of Steel (Thoroughbred Legends)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Capps' tale of "the greatest horse to ever look through a bridle" provides the causal reader of horse yarns a page-turning look at the world throughbred breeding and racing. Each chapter draws the reader into the short but incredibly exciting career of an "almost" Triple Crown winner. Despite knowing the ultimate outcome of the Belmont Stakes of 1979 Capps takes the reader to the track and narrates the run of June 9 as if there may indeed be the possiblity that Spectacular Bid will prevail. Even the chapters dealing with races after that disappointment are compelling and give the reader the opportunity to further enjoy the experience of that horse's incredible accomplishments.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it highly.

I already knew a lot of the Spectacular Bid story because he (Bid) is the sire of one of our horses, and we had done significant research into "Dad's" background, history, etc. I wound up getting this book as a premium for renewing our Blood Horse magazine subscription, and wasn't disappointed. The author does a very good job telling all sides of Spectacular Bid's story, including the loss at Belmont. But beyond that - and that's where most people's knowledge of Spectacular Bid ends - the author does a good job covering the many races that followed that solidified the horse's legacy as one of the all-time greats.

I would imagine that with the popularity of the book about Seabiscuit and the upcoming movie, interest in great horses from the past may be on the upswing. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about one of the true racing greats. Spectacular Bid is often overshadowed by Seattle Slew and Affirmed because of not winning the Triple Crown, but the writer does a good job of letting the reader know how good he really was.

The recent death of Spectacular Bid (06/09/2003) marks the end of a wondrous decade of Thoroughbred racing that featured the likes of Secretariat, Ruffian, Forego, Affirmed, Seattle Slew, and of course, the Bid himself. He outlasted all of his great compatriots from the 1970s and was, according to his trainer Buddy Delp, "the greatest horse ever to look through a bridle." You don't have to agree with Mr. Delp to enjoy this book since Bid was also ranked the tenth greatest American Thoroughbred of the Twentieth Century by "The Blood Horse" magazine. Out of his compatriots, only Secretariat (second), Forego (eighth), and Seattle Slew (ninth) were placed ahead of this great, gray race horse. And we could argue all day about whether Affirmed (twelfth) should have been placed ahead of him, too.

Author Timothy T. Capps has served as an executive with Matchmaker, a company that sold stallion seasons and shares, and his book reveals a bias (more so than others in this Thoroughbred Legends series) toward the breeding side of the Thoroughbred business. This emphasis is a bit peculiar in Spectacular Bid's case since this champion on the track was not considered a great success in the breeding shed. He started out strongly, siring twenty-eight stakes winners from his first four crops when his book included some of the nation's finest broodmares. Then his yearling prices and stud fee began their long decline. Bid offspring took a relatively long time to develop and that was the kiss of death as far as the commercial breeders were concerned. They were (and are) looking for brilliant two-year-olds and Classics contenders.

Spectacular Bid also covered sport mares his last several years. He closed out his career standing for $3,500 in New York and covered ten mares this year.

His glory days were on the track, and his racing career is my favorite part of this book. He won 26 out of 30 races and was a champion all three years that he raced. He was held in such high esteem by the betting public that he went off at 1-20 eight times during his career and 1-10 five times.

Bid was the greatest of the 'almost' Triple Crown winners, and Capps handles Delp's story about the safety pin on Belmont Day with great tact. A retired trainer once told me that nobody on the backside believed there really was a safety pin. They reckoned that if Bid had been properly trained up to the Belmont (a too-fast work on the Monday before the Belmont saw "a fatigued horse going back to the barn") and if he had gotten a decent ride during the race itself--well, we would have seen three Triple Crown winners in a row, instead of two.

This book pays fitting tribute to the great son of Bold Bidder and Spectacular, most especially in the author's chapter on Bid's brilliant undefeated, weight-carrying, recording-setting four-year-old season.

NOTE: The oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race is now Coastal (27), the colt who defeated Spectacular Bid in the Belmont.

I was a young man when I went to the 1979 Belmont Stakes, and I was HUGE fan of Spectacular Bid.

Everyone had tried to make a rivalry between Flying Paster, who had won some key races on the West Coast and The Bid, but I was unwavering in my support for him.

After he took both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, many newspaper writers were commenting that the Triple Crown was not that difficult anymore as we had seen Seattle Slew and Affirmed win in back to back years and now the Bid was going to make it three in a row.

I bought my "Extra" $2 ticket to have as a souvenir of the Bid's Triple Crown win, and I was all excited and anxious to see him race at Belmont.

The day was festive and exciting, and then the big race was upon us.

The bid had beaten most of these horses before, and distance was no problem with his breeding.

Well, to all those people who wrote it was getting easy to win a triple crown, it is now 2003 and we have not seen one since 1978.

Coming around the far turn and into the stretch, The Bid clipped heels and almost fell. One of his rivals from the earlier races, Bet Twice, was able to get a big lead coming into the stretch when this happened. The Bid valliantly re railed, but it was not possible to recover from the near fall.

Many people would tell you it was a miracle Bid finished at all and was not injured.

But this book to see what else happened to him, but be prepared to smile and revel in the glory of Spectacular Bid. He was one who was successful on the track and in the breeding shed.

Nice Job Tim Capps ! Buy this book for your collection !

Best Regards to all, MC - TheStickRules.Com

this was my first venture into the thouroughbred legends series. i'm not sure why, but spectacular bid has always stood out as my all time favorite. this horse was so remarkable...had he won the belmont stakes i think he would have challenged secretariet in recognition beyond the racing world. i already knew all the "facts" on Bid's amazing career and was looking forward to a more in depth look behind the scenes. my big complaint was that the book was just plain too short. it felt very rushed -epecially info regarding Bid's 2 year old season. granted it's the most {actully the only if i'm correct} detailed book available on Bid and for that alone i'm thankful and will give up the 4th star-but content wise this die hard fan didn't get nearly enough.