This race is already on YouTube, courtesy of cf1970 and neojappy. I'm posting this version
This race is already on YouTube, courtesy of cf1970 and neojappy. I'm posting this version because it includes additional post race comments by Jim McKay, and a very good isolated analysis of Slew bullying his way into contention after he broke slowly. Slew co-owner Mickey Taylor narrates that segment.
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Added: 3 weeks ago
Views: 136
This race is already on YouTube, courtesy of BeefSupremeX. This version has somewhat diffe
This race is already on YouTube, courtesy of BeefSupremeX. This version has somewhat different angles and camera work, particularly a great closeup on the final turn.
Slew asserted himself as the 2 year old champion with this win, in record time of 1:34 2/5.
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Added: 4 weeks ago
Views: 130
This is basically a companion to the "Miami vs. Florida football 1956" video that I upload
This is basically a companion to the "Miami vs. Florida football 1956" video that I uploaded last year. I found the silent clip in my parents' home movies. It is a quick and jagged scan of segments of the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables in 1955, the year my parents graduated.
From what my father tells me, this video was taken within a couple days of graduation, which accounts for the empty campus.
Obviously this video will primarily be meaningful to Miami students and alums, and people familiar with campus. They might get a kick out of it, all the changes. I could name certain sections of campus but others can do a far superior job in comments.
Primarily, I'm miffed there was never "room" or priority for a starter house on-campus football stadium.
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Added: 1 month ago
Views: 519
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I've been reluctant to post this video because it's incomplete. I believe there are two se
I've been reluctant to post this video because it's incomplete. I believe there are two segments missing, totaling about 12 seconds.
Again, I recommend Seattle Slew Dot Com for a full summary. I've used some of their info here.
This was probably Seattle Slew's most difficult race during the Triple Crown, certainly the one I was somewhat worried about. The speedball Cormorant was lurking and drew the inside post. English 2-year-old champ J.O Tobin was also fresh and drew inside Slew, who was far outside at #8 in a field of 9. Cormorant and J.O. Tobin had combined for 11 wins in 14 starts including a recent 7 race streak by Cormorant. Stretch runner Iron Constitution had just nipped Cormorant in the Withers.
Many racing writers including Andy Beyer and William C. Phillips were touting Cormorant's chances leading up to this race.
Phillips wrote, "The luck of the post position draw put Seattle Slew on the outside in a field of nine at a time when the rail advantage is coming up stronger than ever before, if that is possible. It does not figure that he will be able to take a clear lead from some of the fast breakers nearer the rail in the run to the clubhouse turn, or that jockey Jean Cruguet will ask him to expend the necessary energy to accomplish the feat if he can avoid it. This leads to the conclusion that Seattle Slew is coming up to the sternest test of his entire career. Undefeated, and in the opinion of many, never extended, he is on the verge of greatness if he is able to overcome the post position disadvantage and the rivals who have been honed to a razor-sharp edge in anticipation of this moment.
"Conversely, if ever a horse had the best of a situation going in it is Cormorant, who has the speed, the Number 1 post position, and a jockey that knows its advantage and how to use it. And there is evidence that Cormorant might even be as good or better than Seattle Slew."
Nice job by Jean Cruguet and Billy Turner to keep Slew settled slightly behind Cormorant during the rapid fractions, including the fastest mile in Preakness history, 1:34 2/5.
It's obvious there are missing seconds in the video. Slew hits the wire at about 1:48 in a race that took 1:54 2/5. Plus, the gate doesn't open until slightly before the 4 second mark, and horses are given a running start before the clock starts. Slew should have hit the wire at about the 2:00 mark.
I've reviewed many times and I believe there are two breaks. The first is at about 1:18. Slew and Cormorant are basically even and buses are still visible in the background. Then in a flash Slew is about a length in front, just as a green Volkswagen shows up in the background. The audio also shifts awkwardly.
The second missing section is about 1:31, the top of the stretch. The race caller says a quarter mile to go then it takes only about 17 seconds for Slew to hit the wire. Remarkable. A significant segment between the quarter pole and eighth pole is missing. My memory is Slew extended his lead during that portion then began to slow, but I'd have to see it.
This is from the ABC coverage. You'll hear Howard Cosell briefly before the gate opens and Jim McKay after Slew wins.
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Added: 10 months ago
Views: 7,054
I found this silent clip recently in my parents' home movies. It's from December 1, 1956 a
I found this silent clip recently in my parents' home movies. It's from December 1, 1956 at Florida Field in Gainesville. My parents were young Miami alums, graduating a year earlier. For more than a decade their tradition was to take the train to Gainesville to watch this matchup every other year.
The 1956 team was Miami's highest finish prior to the 1983 national title squad. Coach Andy Gustafson's team defeated Florida, 20-7, in this game to remain unbeaten at 8-0-1. One week later the Canes apparently suffered a letdown, losing at home to Pittsburgh, 14-7, for the only defeat of the season. They ended up #6 in the final polls.
Admittedly the footage isn't always great but this video gives you a feel for the styles and pageantry of the era. Note the long skirts on Miami cheerleaders. Plus the card stunts that were in vogue. Also, anyone familiar with the Gators' home field can see how much it has changed in 51 years. In contrast, the Orange Bowl would look almost identical, then and now.
This video features a famous play in Miami football history, a long TD run down the left sideline by the Canes' great fullback Don Bosseler, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and Miami's Ring of Honor. At the 2:20 mark Bosseler can be seen breaking clear, running toward the corner of the end zone where the Miami section was located. Bosseler is also shown being interviewed briefly after the game ended. He was drafted 9th in the first round by Washington months later, and played 8 seasons including one Pro Bowl.
BTW, all my previous YouTube uploads have been horse races, and this clip also has a racing angle. The horse shown briefly at about the 2:03 mark is Needles, a Florida-bred who won the 1956 Kentucky Derby seven months earlier, in a huge boost for racing in the state. There's also a card stunt related to Needles' appearance.
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Added: 10 months ago
Views: 6,377
This excellent race is already on YouTube, courtesy of cf1970. I'm posting this version be
This excellent race is already on YouTube, courtesy of cf1970. I'm posting this version because it includes the additional footage of Seattle Slew breaking through the starting gate before the race. It also includes extra coverage at the end of the race, including a slow motion replay of the final sixteenth.
After breaking through the gate, Slew didn't go nearly as far down the track as my stunned memory from 1978. Still, it would be hard to spin it as a positive, especially in a race that was decided by inches. Nice athletic job by Cordero to reign in Slew, especially after he reared.
I wonder if the unnerving delay of nearly a minute contributed to the frantic pace, by Slew and Affirmed along with rabbit Life's Hope?
Someone on another site tried to claim the speed figure on this race was poor. That sounds preposterous to me. The final time was 2:27 1/5. You can see it was hardly an ideal dry and fast track. Check out the surface when Slew is being brought around and reloaded. Andrew Beyer wrote in his post race article that the time was "excellent."
The fractions themselves are intriguing. After the masochistic 1:09 2/5, the next quarter plummeted all the way to :26 flat. The horses in front were spent and Cordero was obviously trying to give Slew a breather, worried about Affirmed. If you look at the tape, Cordero looks to his inside entering the top of the stretch and sees Exceller and Shoemaker flying at him. Only then does he noticeably urge Slew, and the two horses quickly draw well clear of Affirmed. The fifth quarter was slow at :26 2/5 but the final quarter was a much faster and respectable :25 2/5.
BTW, I believe every Seattle Slew race has now been posted on YouTube, with the high profile exception of the 1977 Preakness. I have a tape of that race but it is flawed, a big missing gap of about 10-12 seconds at the top of the stretch. I have been unable to find a complete copy.
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Added: 1 year ago
Views: 7,562
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