Peterson Has Slew of Memories

A horse trainer for most of his life, Doug Peterson, 50, remembers one year, nearly a quarter of a century ago, better than any other.

The star of the Peterson stable that year, 1978, was Seattle Slew, who died Tuesday morning at a farm near Lexington, Ky.

Then 26, Peterson had been hired late in 1977 by owners Karen and Mickey Taylor and veterinarian Jim Hill as the private trainer for Tayhill Stable, replacing Billy Turner.

Peterson recalled being put in charge of more than 30 horses, but the only one who really mattered to the rest of the world was Seattle Slew. The dark bay son of Bold Reasoning had won each of his three starts as a 2-year-old, then become the second Triple Crown winner in four years.

Peterson said he felt no pressure.

“I’d come to New York from Arkansas with a small string of horses,” he remembered. “I got to know Dr. Hill and he came to respect me and my horsemanship. When they decided to make a change, Dr. Hill and the Taylors gave me a week to make up my mind if I wanted to be a private trainer for them.

“I knew right away that was what I wanted to do, but I waited the week and I told them I would take the job. A lot of people, including [late Hall of Fame trainers] Laz Barrera and Woody Stephens wondered if I knew what kind of pressure cooker I was putting myself into, but I was 26, dumb and couldn’t have cared less.”

Given several months off after suffering his first defeat in Hollywood Park’s Swaps Stakes in July 1977, Seattle Slew went to Florida that winter.

Stabled at Hialeah, Seattle Slew and another horse stabled nearby took ill, stricken with a severe form of colic called colitis X.

“He almost died,” said Peterson, who spent countless hours trying to nurse the superstar back to health. “A lot of times, horses don’t make it when they get as sick as he was, and in fact, the other horse who had it at the same time did die.”

Seattle Slew recovered and won five of seven in 1978, earning the Eclipse Award as the champion older male.

“I never saw a horse who wouldn’t take a day off after a race,” said Peterson, currently a trainer on the Southern California circuit. “Usually, after a horse runs, they’ll walk for a few days afterwards, but if you tried to walk him the day after, he would kick the barn down. Once you would put a saddle on him, he would quiet down.”

In his final year of racing Seattle Slew won the Marlboro Cup and Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park, but it was another race there that Peterson recalls best.

In one of the most dramatic races in the history of the sport, Seattle Slew lost by a nose to Exceller over a muddy track in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Among those behind them that day was Affirmed, the 1978 Triple Crown winner who finished fifth.

“Going 11/2 miles, [Seattle Slew] ran six furlongs in 1:094/5,” Peterson said. “Angel Cordero Jr. rode him that day and had him way out in the middle of the track. He never saw or heard Exceller coming down along the inside. He was surprised, but he came back on and just missed. Angel apologized to me after the race and said he blew it. Seattle Slew laid it all out there that day.

“The whole experience with him is something that I can’t put into words. He was an incredible individual.”