Spectacular Bid was a horse that lived up to his name and created some truly spectacular races. He broke seven track records during his career and had a 12-win streak, followed by a 10-win streak. He even set the world record for the fastest 1 1/4 miles on a dirt track, which still stands to this day. Spectacular Bid had a great shot at winning the Triple Crown in 1979, if not for a freak accident. After winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, on the morning of the Belmont Stakes, it was discovered that Spectacular Bid had stepped on a safety pin and it had become embedded in his hoof. Although he performed well early on and held the lead before the halfway point, Spectacular Bid eventually fell behind and finished third.
This pivotal injury led to an infection that took two months for Spectacular Bid to overcome, but it was clear when he returned to racing that he was still a force to be reckoned with on the track. Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker rode Spectacular Bid to victory by more than 17 lengths in the allowance race at Delaware Park and set a new track record for 11⁄16 miles, 1:41.6. His next race that year (1979) was a slap in the face to those who doubted him during the Belmont Stakes: Spectacular Bid not only won the Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park, he also beat both horses he had previously lost to in the Belmont Stake, Coastal and Golden Act.
These incredible performances earned him the title of American Champion 3-Year-Old Male Horse at the Eclipse Awards in 1979 despite losing the Belmont Stakes. Spectacular Bid would go on to rack up even more wins in the following year when he won all nine races and set five records. He ran undefeated that year and concluded his glorious career with a walkover in the Woodward Stakes on September 20, 1980, and was named the American Horse of the Year by Eclipse.
Horse Profile
- Foaled: February 17, 1976
- Bred: USA
- Sex: Stallion
- Debuted: 1978
- Retired: 1980
- Death: June 9, 2003 (Due to a heart attack at the age of 27)
- Color and Markings: “Steel-gray” and “battleship-colored” (young) that lightened as he aged to become “flea-bitten gray”
- Sire: Bold Bidder
- Dam: Spectacular
- Owner: Hawksworth Farm
- Breeder: Madelyn Jason; Mrs. William Gilmore
- Trainer: Bud Delp
- Jockeys: Ronnie Franklin and Bill Shoemaker
Characteristics
Spectacular Bid stood 16 hands and had a well-balanced gray coat, with solid bones and a deep girth. His disposition was tractable.
Historical Achievements, Honors Received, Recognitions
- Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old male (1978)
- Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old male (1979)
- Eclipse Award, American Horse of the Year (1980)
- Eclipse Award, American champion older male (1980)
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1982)
- Arcadia Historical Society's Racing Walk of Champions (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2014)
- Monmouth Park Hall of Champions
Rankings
- The Blood-Horse magazine ranked Spectacular Bid at #10 in the Top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century.
- In the book, A Century of Champions, based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris ranked him as the third-best North American horse of the 20th Century (behind Secretariat and Citation) and the ninth best in their global ranking.
- Spectacular Bid's walkover in the Woodward Stakes was ranked #92 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th Century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006.
- Spectacular Bid was the first American racehorse to earn over $1 million as a 3-year-old and the second of any age to earn that much money in a single season. The first to do so? Affirmed, who reached the milestone a fraction of a second ahead of Spectacular Bid by beating him by three-quarters of a length in the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
- Spectacular Bid was the fourth horse to sweep Santa Anita's "Strub Series" of the Malibu Stakes, San Fernando Stakes, and Charles S. Strub Stakes.
Stud Career
- Spectacular Bid sired 416 winners (53.1%) and 41 stakes winners (5.2%) from 784 named foals. The Blood-Horse credits Bid with 44 stakes winners.
Racing Career
| Record | Earnings |
|---|---|
30: 26-2-1 | $2,781,608 |
| WON RACES | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Distance | Race | Grade | Track | Finish | Winning Time | Winning Margin | Jockey |
1978 – Two-year-old season | ||||||||
June 30, 1978 | 5 ½ furlongs | Maiden Special | Pimlico | 1 | 1:04.60 | 3 ¼ lengths | R J Franklin | |
July 22, 1978 | 5 ½ furlongs | Allowance Race | Pimlico | 1 | 1:04:20 (equaled the record) | 8 lengths | R J Franklin | |
September 23, 1978 | 7 furlongs | World’s Playground S. | III | Atlantic City | 1 | 1:20.80 (near stakes record) | 15 lengths | R J Franklin |
October 8, 1978 | 8 furlongs | Champagne Stakes | I | Belmont Park | 1 | 1:34.80 | 2 ¾ lengths | J Velasquez |
October 19, 1978 | 8 ½ furlongs | Young America Stakes | Meadowlands | 1 | 1:43.2 | Neck | J Velasquez | |
October 28, 1978 | 8 ½ furlongs | Laurel Futurity | I | Laurel Park | 1 | 1:41.6 | 8 ½ lengths | R J Franklin |
November 11, 1978 | 8 ½ furlongs | Heritage Stakes | II | Keystone | 1 | 1:42.0 | 6 lengths | R J Franklin |
1979 – Three-year-old season | ||||||||
February 7, 1979 | 7 furlongs | Hutcheson Stakes | Gulfstream Park | 1 | 1:21.4 | 3 ¾ lengths | R J Franklin | |
February 19, 1979 | 8 ½ furlongs | Fountain Of Youth S. | III | Gulfstream Park | 1 | 1:41.2 | 8 ½ lengths | R J Franklin |
March 6, 1979 | 9 furlongs | Florida Derby | I | Gulfstream Park | 1 | 1:48.4 | 4 ½ lengths | R J Franklin |
March 24, 1979 | 9 furlongs | Flamingo Stakes | I | Hialeah Park | 1 | 1:48.4 | 12 lengths | R J Franklin |
April 26, 1979 | 9 furlongs | Blue Grass Stakes | I | Keeneland | 1 | 1:50.00 | 7 lengths | R J Franklin |
May 5, 1979 | 10 furlongs | Kentucky Derby | I | Churchill Downs | 1 | 2:02.4 | 2 ¾ lengths | R J Franklin |
May 19, 1979 | 9 ½ furlongs | Preakness Stakes | I | Pimlico | 1 | 1:54.2 | 5 ½ lengths | R J Franklin |
August 26, 1979 | 8 ½ furlongs | Allowance | Delaware Park | 1 | 1:41.6 (new track record) | 17 lengths | W Shoemaker | |
September 08, 1979 | 9 furlongs | Marlboro Cup (H’cap) | I | Belmont Park | 1 | 1:46.6 | 5 lengths | W Shoemaker |
October 18, 1979 | 10 furlongs | Meadowlands Cup | II | Meadowlands | 1 | 2:01.2 (new track record) | 3 lengths | W Shoemaker |
1980 – Four-year-old season | ||||||||
January 5, 1980 | 7 furlongs | Malibu Stakes * | II | Santa Anita | 1 | 1:20.0 (track record for 27 years) | 5 lengths | W Shoemaker |
January 19, 1980 | 9 furlongs | San Fernando Stakes* | II | Santa Anita | 1 | 1:48.0 (new track record) * | 1 1⁄2 lengths | W Shoemaker |
February 3, 1980 | 10 furlongs | Charles H Strub S. * | I | Santa Anita | 1 | 1:57.8 | 3 1⁄4 lengths | W Shoemaker |
March 2, 1980 | 10 furlongs | Santa Anita Handicap | I | Santa Anita | 1 | 2:00.6 | 5 lengths | W Shoemaker |
May 18, 1980 | 8 ½ furlongs | Mervyn Leroy Handicap | II | Hollywood Park | 1 | 1:40.4 | 7 lengths | W Shoemaker |
June 8, 1980 | 9 furlongs | Californian Stakes | I | Hollywood Park | 1 | 1:45.8 | 4 1⁄4 lengths | W Shoemaker |
July 19, 1980 | 9 furlongs | Washington Park H’cap | III | Arlington | 1 | 1:46.2 | 10 lengths | W Shoemaker |
August 16, 1980 | 9 furlongs | Haskell Handicap | I | Monmouth Park | 1 | 1:48.0 | 1 3⁄4 lengths | W Shoemaker |
September 20, 1980 | 9 furlongs | Woodward Stakes | I | Belmont Park | 1 | 2:02.4 | Walkover | W Shoemaker |
Legend: * New Track Record: broke the 30-year-old record of 1:58.2 set by Hall of Famer Noor carrying under 130 pounds in 1950. | ||||||||
| LOST RACES | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Distance | Race | Grade | Track | Placement | Time | Losing Margin | Jockey |
1978 – Two-year-old season | ||||||||
August 2, 1978 | 5 ½ furlongs | Tyro Stakes | Monmouth Park | 4 | 1:04.80 | 6 ¾ lengths | R J Franklin | |
August 20, 1978 | 6 furlongs | Dover Stakes | Delaware Park | 2 | 1:10.80 | 2 ½ lengths | R J Franklin | |
1979 – Three-year-old season | ||||||||
June 9, 1979 | 12 furlongs | Belmont Stakes | I | Belmont Park | 3* | 2:86.6 | 3 ½ lengths | R J Franklin |
October 6, 1979 | 12 furlongs | Jockey Clup Gold Cup | I | Belmont Park | 2 | 2:27.4 | ¾ length | W Shoemaker |
Legend: | ||||||||
Fun Facts
- The Spectacular Bid Stakes was inaugurated in 1986. As of 2016, it is a listed stakes for 3-year-olds contested over 6.5 furlongs on dirt at Gulfstream Park.
- A New York Stallion Stakes division is named in Spectacular Bid’s honor. Open to 3-year-olds, it is contested over 7 furlongs on turf at Belmont Park.
- Spectacular Bid, by Timothy T. Capps, is the ninth book in the Thoroughbred Legends series.
- Spectacular Bid is profiled in chapter 10 of Avalyn Hunter’s American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002.
- “The One and Only Bid” is the first chapter in Steve Haskin’s Tales from the Triple Crown (2008, Eclipse Press).
- Spectacular Bid is one of 50 Thoroughbreds profiled in Royal Blood: Fifty Years of Classic Thoroughbreds (1994).
- Jockey Bill Shoemaker, who had ridden the highest class of horses, including Swaps, Forego, Round Table, and Damascus, stated that Spectacular Bid was the best horse he had ever ridden.