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American bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Seattle Slew (February 15, 1974 – May 7, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who became the tenth winner of the American Triple Crown (1977). He is one of only two horses to have won the Triple Crown while being undefeated in any previous race; the second was Justify who won the Triple Crown in 2018 and is descended from Seattle Slew. Seattle Slew was the 1977 Horse of the Year and a champion at ages two, three, and four. In the Blood Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U. S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Seattle Slew was ranked ninth. Joe Hirsch of the Daily Racing Form wrote of Seattle Slew's three year old campaign: "Every time he ran he was an odds on favorite, and the response to his presence on the racetrack, either for a morning workout or a major race, was electric. 'Slewmania' was a virulent and widespread condition." Seattle Slew was not considered particularly attractive as a foal, leading some to say he looked like a mule. At maturity, he stood high at the withers with strong hind legs and a powerful shoulder. However, his right forefoot was noticeably turned out. Seattle Slew was purchased for just $17,500 (equivalent to $17500.0 in 1975 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years in ) at the 1975 Fasig Tipton yearling auction. His new owners, later known as "the Slew Crew", were Karen and Mickey Taylor and Jim and Sally Hill. Horse owners since the early 1970s, Karen Taylor was a former flight attendant, and her husband, Mickey Taylor, was a lumberman. They lived in White Swan, Washington. Jim Hill, a veterinarian, picked out Seattle Slew at the sale, though the original budget was only $12,000. Karen Taylor, liking the look of the colt, urged her husband to go higher. They named the colt for the city of Seattle and the sloughs which loggers once used to transport heavy logs. Karen felt that the pronunciation of slough — a slow moving channel of the Pacific Northwest — would be too hard for people to remember, so the spelling was changed to Slew. Seattle Slew was described as "intelligent, dominant and determined".

Seattle Slew's debut was delayed by his initial awkwardness, but he started to attract attention over the course of the summer at Saratoga with some fast workouts. Taylor later recalled that the colt had been timed in a brilliant time of 33 3/5 seconds for three eighths of a mile, but the clocker instead recorded the time as 36 seconds because he felt people wouldn't believe the right figure. He finally made his first start in a six furlong maiden race on September 20, 1976, the fifth race at Belmont Park. The big, nearly black colt was bet down to the 5:2 favorite. He gave the public its first look at what was later called his "war dance" (his habit of tiptoeing on the track before his races) and won by five lengths. He followed up in seven furlong allowance race on October 5, 1976, winning by 3 1/2 lengths. Despite starting just three times, Seattle Slew was named Champion Two Year Old of 1976.

Turner scheduled three races for Seattle Slew leading up to the Kentucky Derby, which was then considered to be a light campaign. Turner felt that the main threat to Seattle Slew was his health, because the horse ran so fast and hard every time. Hill later said that Turner used the prep races as workouts and did as little as possible in between. Turner scheduled only 19 breezes for Seattle Slew before and during his Triple Crown campaign, instead trying to get the colt to relax. Despite the ease of the win, Turner was concerned, fearing the colt was using too much energy early in his races to withstand the challenge of the longer races to come. Instead, Seattle Slew made his third start of the year on April 23 in the Wood Memorial Stakes. Going off as the 1:10 favorite, he went to the early lead, challenged by Fratello Ed. Cruguet got the colt to relax and they set sensible fractions, then coasted to a 3 1/4 length win. The time of 1:49 3/5 was considered unimpressive, but his connections were pleased by the horse's demeanor. "He doesn't have to run the way he has before," said Cruguet. "He was never really pressed."

The "Slew Crew" then relocated to Churchill Downs where the Taylors set up a camper opposite the colt's stall in Barn 42, which traditionally houses the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. With Mickey Taylor's father acting as chief bodyguard for the colt, the connections dealt with a constant stream of visitors. Showing his growing maturity, Seattle Slew remained relaxed throughout the week leading up to the race. His training did not go entirely to expectations however when he posted an uncharacteristically slow workout the Sunday before the race. Turner planned to sharpen the colt with a five furlong breeze on the Thursday before the race but the track came up muddy. Seattle Slew's final workout was a three furlong breeze in 34 2/5 seconds the morning before the Derby was held. The 1977 Kentucky Derby was held on May 7 before a crowd of 124,028. The track was rated as fast despite showers earlier in the day. Seattle Slew was the heavy favorite at odds of 1:2 but still faced a large field as many felt the colt would be vulnerable at the Derby's distance of 1 1/4 miles. The second choice was Run Dusty Run, who had been the second ranked two year old and had run second in several major Derby prep races. For the Moment was also given a strong chance after winning the Blue Grass Stakes. In reaction to the crowd noise, Seattle Slew washed out in the paddock and again during the post parade. Cruguet did little to warm up the colt, instead taking him away from the crowd to relax. He had drawn post position three, and had to wait in the starting gate for the rest of the field to load. Slew reacted slowly at the break then swerved nearly sideways and found himself trapped near the back of the field. He reacted by charging through the field, bumping several other horses who were in his way. After two furlongs, he had worked his way into second place just behind For the Moment. The two colts then dueled around the first turn before Cruguet got Seattle Slew to relax down the backstretch, under a tight restraint, allowing For the Moment to open up a lead of a length. For the Moment completed the first three quarters of a mile in 1:10 3/5, then was joined again by Seattle Slew as they moved around the final turn. At the top of the stretch, Cruguet went to the whip and Seattle Slew pulled away by 4 lengths, then shut down in the final eighth of a mile to win by 1 3/4 lengths over Run Dusty Run. For the first time, Turner chose to have the colt given butazolidin before the race, fearing that Seattle Slew might suffer a minor injury in his final workout. Seattle Slew broke from post position 8 with Cormorant to his inside on a track with a definite bias for runners on the rail. As expected, the two battled for the early lead, sprinting nearly ten lengths clear of the rest of the field while setting fast fractions of 22 3/5 seconds for the first quarter mile and 45 3/5 for the first half. Around the far turn, Seattle Slew started to open up a lead while completing the mile in 1:34 4/5. Cruguet then eased up on the colt down the stretch, allowing Iron Constitution to close to within 1 1/2 lengths. The final time of 1:54 2/5 was one of the fastest in the history of the race, especially notable as the track was considered to be somewhat dead. The 1977 Belmont Stakes was run on June 11 on a muddy track before a crowd of 70,229, with eight rivals facing Seattle Slew. Turner arrived late at the saddling enclosure, due in part to the number of cars parked on the backstretch, as well as his desire to limit the colt's exposure to the enthusiastic crowd. "Turner was fined," said Sally Hill later. "We paid the fine. They weren't going to start the race without him." Going off at odds of 2:5, Seattle Slew went to the early lead. Though pressed at first by Spirit Level and then Run Dusty Run, he was able to relax, completing the opening mile in a leisurely 1:38 4/5. Spirit Level and Run Dusty Run closed down the gap around the far turn, and then Sanhedrin made a strong run to move into second place, raising concerns about Slew's ability to complete the distance. Seattle Slew responded to the challenge in the final quarter mile when he opened up daylight between himself and the rest of the field. Down the stretch, Cruguet tapped him with the whip a few times to keep the colt's mind on the race and Seattle Slew won comfortably by four lengths over Run Dusty Run. He became the tenth American Triple Crown winner and (with his nine for nine record) was the first Triple Crown winner to finish the series undefeated. Cruguet stood up in the stirrups and raised his right hand triumphantly some 20 yards before the finish line, leading some to criticize him for the "emotional flourish". Cruguet described his feelings as "happiness, just happiness" before hurrying off to ride in the next race. Turner was harder hit. "I ducked into a stall and broke down and cried," he said. "It was such a relief, because the pressure was off." The race was the cause of much controversy. Before shipping to California, Seattle Slew had been sedated repeatedly to be used in a Xerox advertising campaign for a new X ray machine, then was sedated again during the flight. Turner believed this contributed to Seattle Slew's dull effort. Turner also said that he had disagreed with the decision to ship to California at all, feeling the colt needed more time to recover from the Triple Crown. The owners said that Turner had not raised objections prior to the race, and further that Turner's drinking problems were putting the horse at risk. At the end of the year, Turner was fired and replaced by Douglas Peterson. Despite the disappointing end to the season, Seattle Slew was the easy winner in the voting for champion three year old at the annual Eclipse Awards. The voting for American Horse of the Year honors was closer, with Seattle Slew prevailing over Forego by 105 1/2 votes to 84 1/2.

In early 1978, Seattle Slew was stabled at Hialeah and was expected to make three or four starts in Florida, followed by a full campaign in New York's major stakes races. He was scheduled to make the first start of his four year old campaign on January 16, 1978, in the Tallahassee Handicap. However, he was scratched from the race on January 14 when he lost his appetite and was found to have a fever of 102. His condition then went quickly downhill, marked by weakness, dehydration and a sharp decrease in his white blood cell count. It was later revealed that his jugular vein had collapsed when a pre race injection of butazolidin missed the vein. While Seattle Slew slowly recovered, his owners contemplated retiring him to stud. Instead, they kept him in training for 1978 while syndicating him for a then record $12 million. The Taylor and Hill families retained 50% of the shares while Brownwell Combs of Spendthrift Farm headed the syndication group. Seattle Slew eventually returned to training and was shipped north to Aqueduct, which held "Seattle Slew day" on April 29. A crowd of 25,931 cheered while Seattle Slew was led around the paddock and then taken on track for a six furlong workout, completed handily in 1:10 1/5. On May 14, Seattle Slew returned to racing in a seven furlong allowance race. Over an extremely muddy track, he settled in second place behind Gallant Bob for the first quarter mile, then started to open up on the field, eventually winning by 8 1/4 lengths. Despite the adverse track conditions and never being urged by Cruguet, his time was a "brisk" 1:22 4/5. Seattle Slew was being pointed to the Metropolitan Handicap at the end of May but suffered another setback when a filling in his left hind leg was discovered. The problem was thought to be minor, but it was not until August that he made his next start. This was in a seven furlong allowance race at Saratoga Race Course, which he won by six lengths in 1:21 3/5 over a sloppy track. Jean Cruguet lost the mount after the race, after expressing doubt if the horse had been sufficiently trained.

The 1978 Marlboro Cup, run on September 16, was the first time that two Triple Crown winners raced each other. Affirmed had won the Triple Crown in a thrilling showdown with Alydar, and had won all but one of his starts that year, that loss coming by disqualification. Taylor was not concerned by Affirmed's reputation. "We've watched every one of his races this year and watched them carefully," he said. "He's an outstanding horse, but so is Slew. Affirmed had better be ready when the Marlboro Cup comes up, because he's going to see one big, black butt in front of him." "I knew when we were able to go to the lead that we could win it," Cordero said. "Slew is such a nice horse and I was able to relax him on the backstretch. There isn't a horse in the world that could have beaten him today."

In October, Seattle Slew and Affirmed met again in the 1 1/2 mile Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, which was televised nationally on the CBS network. Affirmed's trainer, Laz Barrera, did not want Seattle Slew to get an easy lead and dictate the pace as he had in the Marlboro Cup, so Barrera also entered a "rabbit" (Life's Hope) in an attempt to tire Slew. Seattle Slew ran in fractions of 22 3/5 for the first quarter, 45 1/5 for the half and 1:09 2/5 for three quarters – extremely fast early times for a long race. Life's Hope dropped back, then Affirmed also faltered, having raced too close to the pace. Affirmed's problems were compounded when his saddle slipped. Watching the race were Turner and Cruguet, who both expressed regret that they'd had to part ways with the horse. "Even now," said Cruguet, "he should be undefeated". Seattle Slew retired with 14 wins in 17 races and earnings of $1,208,726. He was named Champion Older Horse in 1978 but lost the Horse of the Year balloting to the horse he defeated in the Marlboro Cup, Affirmed.

Seattle Slew was inbred 4s x 4d to the stallion Nasrullah, meaning that Nasrullah appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree, once on the sire side and once on the dam side.