Horse Racing Fantasy Community

Spectacular Bid's 4 year-old campaign was one of the most phenomenal seasons in the entire history of thoroughbred racing. In a way, it might be a positive thing that the Bid stepped on that infamous safety pin the day of the 1979 Belmont and lost in his attempt at a Triple Crown. Who knows if The Bid would even have been raced as a 4-year-old? But he did lose that Belmont. He also lost the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup to Affirmed. His trainer Buddy Delp sought redemption for his amazing horse in 1980, and he got it in spades! The previous two entries in my blog have detailed his astounding exploits in the so-called Strub series, where the Bid best his nemesis Flying Paster over 7 furlongs and then again over a mile and a sixteenth, but this race was the jewel of the Strub series, the Grade I Charles H. Strub Stakes. The Bid was such an amazing horse that year that one thing would be in common with every race he ran in: the small number of horses in the fields. The Strub was no different. Only three other horses challenged the Bid in this race, and when you watch the result, it's quite easy to see why. Again, Flying Paster tried to challenge the Bid, but like their previous meetings, the Bid was simply overpowering down the stretch. His final time for this race came in at an incredible 1:57&4, which makes the Bid to this day the only horse that has ever broken 1:58 officially in a mile and a quarter race on dirt. Notice how effortlessly he seems to complete his final 8th of a mile. What a joy it must have been to ride this horse, and you can too if you add him to your game. The Bid is just as amazing in our online racing game as he was in real life, and if you click here you can ride him in the Belmont without the safety pin stuck in his hoof and see if you can change history! First things first, though. For now sit back and marvel at the Bid's most stunning performance: