The 28-year-old bay died Tuesday on the 25th anniversary of his Kentucky Derby victory in 1977.

Cruguet remembers his first two workouts aboard the then-2-year-old colt in the summer of 1976. He walked away unimpressed, but a third ride, a 3/4-mile breeze at Saratoga, changed his opinion.

"It was the way he did it," Cruguet said. "He wanted to keep running. He wanted people to know how good he was."

Cruguet learned quickly he didn't have to do much to get his horse to run.

"All you would have to do is keep quiet and be smooth. If you moved on him, he was gone," Cruguet said. "The only time I ever moved on him was when he came out of the gate. I wouldn't even have to make a move after that. He would just take off."

Dr. Jim Hill, who owned a share of Slew until 1992, had no such expectations when he and Washington lumberman Mickey Taylor bought him as a yearling for $17,500.

"He wasn't pretty, but he was all there. He had great presence," Hill said. "His legs were like telephone poles and had the look of being a real athlete.

"We didn't know how high to hope, but it didn't take long to figure how high to hope. The horse carried it from there."