On February 3, 1980, Spectacular Bid stunned the horse racing world by winning the Strub Stakes at Santa Anita in 1:57 4/5, obliterating the world record set 30 years earlier by the great Noor and equaled by Quack in 1972. Forty years later, the record still stands. Here’s how good that 1:57 4/5 is: Secretariat […]

In his first race of 1980, the Malibu Stakes on January 5, Bid faced only four other horses in the short, seven-furlong race. Race day was warm and sunny—typical of Southern California in winter. Bid was assigned 126 pounds, the heaviest in the field, and seemed ready to resume his racing career, pawing at the […]

At Keystone Racetrack in Philadelphia on November 11, 1978, Bid ended an outstanding 2-year-old season with a dominating six-length victory  in the Heritage Stakes. Trainer Bud Delp wanted Spectacular Bid to run in one more race before his 2-year-old campaign was over—the Heritage Stakes on November 11—which, if he won, would help jockey Ron Franklin […]