Excerpt: Only 'an act of God' could stop Spectacular Bid
Out now from author Peter Lee and published by University Press of Kentucky, "Spectacular Bid: The Last Superhorse of the Twentieth Century," tells of how the $37,000 colt narrowly missed the Triple Crown, then went on to become one of the greatest racehorses of all time. Lee passed on the following excerpt for Horse Racing Nation readers, with his book available at spectacularbidbook.com.
Some six months after ending his convalescence in California from the eye injury, Coastal—the son of 1969 Kentucky Derby winner Majestic Prince who had won the Tyro Stakes as a two-year-old and finished fifth to Spectacular Bid in the World’s Playground Stakes—was showing signs of competitiveness. Trainer David Whiteley decided to take Coastal to New York to test his speed. In his first race in the East, a week before Bid won the Kentucky Derby, Coastal came from off the pace to win an allowance race at Aqueduct Racetrack by one and three-quarters lengths. Two weeks later, before Bid’s win in the Preakness, he won his second straight race—a seven-furlong trial—by eight lengths.
The Peter Pan Stakes (named after the famous turn-of-the-century racehorse) was a popular Grade 3 stakes race for horses not expected to qualify for either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness. A one-and-an-eighth-mile race for three-year-olds, it was held in the second week in May at Belmont Park. The favorite had been a horse named Czaravich, a lightly raced colt that some thought could challenge Bid in the Belmont. But when Czaravich developed a fever and was withdrawn, Whiteley saw a chance for his colt and entered him in the Peter Pan.
On May 25 Coastal went off as the 4 to 5 favorite in the race. Despite bumping his head against the starting gate and smashing the protective plastic blinker covering his previously injured left eye, he ran well. The accident at the start did not seem to bother him. He came from behind, as he had done before, embarrassing the field with a thirteen-length victory and covering the distance in 1:47, four-fifths of a second off the stakes record. It was the fastest time at that distance for a three-year-old that year, and it was Coastal’s fifth win in eight tries. The blinker came off for future races.
But Coastal was still such an afterthought, such a low-rated weapon in Whiteley’s arsenal, that it took several days to convince himself to enter the horse in the Belmont Stakes. After Coastal’s workouts of five furlongs in 1:001/5 and three furlongs in thirty-four and four-fifths seconds, Whiteley began to think seriously about the Belmont.
One week after his victory in the Preakness, Spectacular Bid paraded down the homestretch at Pimlico as fans cheered. It was their last chance to see him before he made the trip to New York and the Belmont Stakes. Bob Maisel noticed that, unlike some horses at this point in a Triple Crown campaign, Bid did not look tired; nor had he lost any weight. “If anything, Bid looked better than ever yesterday, before, during, and after his gallop, prancing, bouncing, biting, kicking, apparently asking to run,” he wrote. In the winner’s circle, exercise rider Robert Smith and groom Mo Hall received special trophies from the Maryland Jockey Club for their contributions to the development of Spectacular Bid.
However, things were not going so well for Ron Franklin; his temper, a problem since childhood, had reared its ugly head again. On May 22, three days after the Preakness, Franklin was fined $100 for whipping a horse on the head and kicking him in the stomach after losing a race at Pimlico. Big Vision, a four-year-old gelding owned by Hawksworth Farm, had run fifth in the race, nine and one-quarter lengths behind the winner. Franklin was not available for comment afterward—he was getting a wisdom tooth extracted—but Richard Delp, Bud’s brother, came to his defense. “I didn’t see the incident, but I know that the horse gave Ronnie a rough trip the whole race. Ronnie was real mad, he just lost his temper. I never knew him to be that way with any horse before.” For a person who loved horses so much, it seemed out of character for Franklin to abuse one. The jockey later apologized for the incident. “I’m sorry I hit him with the whip,” he said. “I know I did wrong.” Delp said when Big Vision got back to the barn, he kicked the horse in the belly, too. “But it didn’t hurt him,” he claimed. “You can’t hurt a horse by kicking him in the belly.”
On May 30 stewards disqualified Franklin’s mount, Croatoan, after another jockey accused Franklin of interfering with his horse coming out of the starting gate. The videotape showed Croatoan veering momentarily into the other horse’s path, and even though Franklin steered him out of the way, the stewards ruled that interference had occurred. Next, they had to decide whether to suspend Franklin for his part in the incident. If suspended, he would begin serving a seven-day sentence that Sunday, and the Belmont Stakes was the following Saturday. Delp howled at the possibility, calling the stewards’ inquiry “another way to show their incompetence.” He said he would appeal “to the highest court in the land” if Franklin were suspended. However, that proved unnecessary when the stewards cleared Franklin of any wrongdoing. Although they saw Croatoan break in sharply at the start, they also saw Franklin grab his horse immediately and try to keep him off the other horse. Franklin would ride in the Belmont.
But something was happening to Ron Franklin. The usually quiet, carefree boy was turning into a cocky race rider with a bad temper. “Once a friendly little scrambler who was happy if anybody gave him a second look or a chance for a word in the papers or on television, Ronnie Franklin has become as obnoxious with his mouth as with his stick,” wrote Bob Barnet of the Muncie Star Press. “It’s too bad that a kid like Ronnie could so quickly be turned into an individual who not only appears to dislike horses, but people as well It didn’t take him long to forget his humble beginnings. Gratitude for a rags-to-riches obviously isn’t one of his characteristics.” Barnet could not resist taking a shot at Delp as well. “Here surely is a case of what instant success and a trainer and mentor who yields to no man in making stupid speeches can do to a nineteen-year-old kid.”
Andrew Beyer criticized the decision not to suspend Franklin. “Such misadventures typify Franklin rides,” he wrote. “The teenager did not display much aptitude when he launched his career at Pimlico a year ago, but he is riding even worse now. People who watch Franklin on a day-to-day basis at Pimlico have been horrified by his lack of control over the horses he rides.” In Beyer’s opinion, the only reason Franklin had not embarrassed himself in the Triple Crown races was because of Spectacular Bid’s greatness. “[Franklin] was so afraid of getting into trouble that he took Spectacular Bid even farther to the outside. If Cordero had gone into Row A of the parking lot, Franklin would have been in Row B. . . . [Bid] deserves the chance to demonstrate unequivocally how great a horse he is. It will be small consolation to know that he was the best horse when he is eventually beaten because of Franklin’s ineptitude.”
On June 1 Bid arrived at Belmont Park, and Delp was already talking. He was the victor invading enemy territory, ready to take over the town. He sensed that the New York establishment was watching him, and he loved every minute of it. “Damn right,” he said of the establishment’s dislike of him. “I’m representing ninety percent of all horsemen. The other ten percent can go pound sand.” Earlier, when Triple Crown fever was just beginning, right after the Derby, Delp confided to reporters, “I’m an outcast in New York, and I’m a bad guy down here. They want to see me get beat so they can laugh at me.” He added, “Winning a horse race is never a formality, but there’s no way [Bid] can lose the Belmont Stakes unless he runs into some terribly bad luck.”
After being taken off the moving van, Bid was placed in Barn 13. He was going after his thirteenth straight victory. And Delp’s tack-room office, where he worked and kept all his equipment, occupied stall 13. “Hell no, I’m not superstitious,” Delp said when asked about the coincidence. “I’d better not be. Listen, thirteen and thirteen make twenty-six, and that’s one of my lucky numbers. Three thirteens are thirty-nine, and that’s a lucky number.”
That day and the next, Delp scheduled two-mile gallops for Bid, followed by a one-mile workout on Monday and a final blowout the day before the Belmont to sharpen him. Backstretchers wondered whether any of the times would have a thirteen in it.
Most of the Preakness entrants, including General Assembly, Golden Act, and Screen King, would be running in the Belmont. Flying Paster had gone home to California to rest. As race day neared, word circulated that Coastal was a possible contender. “The consensus around the barns is that Coastal is the only horse who could be a real threat to the favorite in the so-called ‘Test of Champions,’” wrote Steve Cady in the New York Times. “At worst, some of the experts are saying, Coastal could probably finish second in the race.” Since he had not been nominated for the race several months earlier, his owner would have to pay a $20,000 supplementary entry fee—$5,000 due when the horse was entered, and $15,000 due on the day of the race. Coastal’s owner balked at the high fee and considered not entering him.
Meanwhile, Bid was not running his best. On Monday, June 4, five days before the Belmont Stakes, Bid went a mile in a sluggish 1:39. Worse was that, the longer he ran, the slower he got, with fractions of :24, :24 2/5, :25, and :25 3/5. “He went well,” Delp said, but even the trainer was not his usual effusive self. “He got a little tired, but it was a tiring track.” To be fair, the track was muddy, and track officials had placed cones toward the middle of it to keep the inner surface from becoming any muddier. Still, the progressively slower numbers led critics to wonder whether Delp had finally squeezed the lemon too hard. Ignoring his critics, Delp talked up his horse as if he were the next coming of Secretariat. “There’s no way Bid can lose the Belmont on Saturday, barring illness or an act of God.”