Seattle Slew
In October, Seattle Slew and Affirmed met again in the -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 for the first quarter, 45 for the half and 1:09 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.