8/13/08 - Last Seattle Slew in Training Retired

Karen and Mickey Taylor announce the retirement of their multiple stakes winner and multiple Group 2-placed COUNCIL MEMBER, a six-year-old son of undefeated Triple Crown winner and influential sire SEATTLE SLEW.

"It's a sad day, to think that we will never see another son or daughter of Seattle Slew race again," said Mickey Taylor. "But it's also a day of hope, as Seattle Slew was the most complete thoroughbred our industry has ever seen. Now, we have his son Council Member, a good-looking horse who raced against top-class company during his five years on both turf and dirt."

Council Member retires with a 5-5-1 record from 24 starts and earnings of $347,306. As a weanling, Council Member commanded $800,000 from John Ferguson at the 2002 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

He began his career in England, where he placed in the TNT July Stakes (Eng-G2) and Coventry Stakes (Eng-G2), and finished third in the Pentax Sirenia Stakes (Eng-G3) as a juvenile. As a three year old, Council Member captured the Cheveley Park Stud King Charles II Stakes and the Weatherbys Bank Guisborough Stakes.

Council Member returned to the states last year winning a pair of allowance races on the dirt at Belmont Park and Saratoga. He also ran second in the James B. Mosley Handicap and third in the Sport Page Handicap (G3) in the fall of 2007. Earlier this year, Council Member ran a nice fourth in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1).

Karen and Mickey purchased Council Member privately last fall.

Born in 2002, Council Member is a member of Seattle Slew's last complete crop of foals and was the last horse by Seattle Slew to race.

He was produced from the unraced Seeking the Gold mare Zoe Montana, who is a half-sister to English champion Half a Year (Riverman). Council Member was bred in Kentucky by Dean Greenwood, LLC.

No plans as yet have been made for his stud career.