FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            CONTACT:  Rusty Cheuvront or Mark Pfeiffer
April 21, 2000                                                                                        502-564-2611

Governor’s 2000 Derby Poster Honors Seattle Slew

Thoroughbred racing great Seattle Slew has been selected by Governor Paul Patton and First Lady Judi Patton as the subject for their Derby 2000 poster--a first in a series of four that will feature famous Kentucky horses throughout their second term. The likeness of Seattle Slew is taken from a painting that hangs at the Kentucky Horse Park by French artist Count Bernard De Claviere D’Hust, whom the Wall Street Journal praised as “one of the leading animaliers of this century”.  It was commissioned for the park by Frederick Van Lennep, who served as the chairman of the board there and was a preeminent leader in the Standardbred racing industry.

As last year, proceeds from poster sales--a favorite souvenir for attendees at the Governor’s Derby Breakfast--will go to go toward the Kentucky Association of Children's Advocacy Centers.  The Pattons have made protecting and supporting the needs of Kentucky’s youngest citizens a major focus of their administration’s initiatives.  They will be for sale at the breakfast for $12.

The likeness of the Kentucky-bred Triple Crown Winner also graces the invitation for this year’s breakfast sent out by the Governor’s Office but will also be available as souvenirs Derby morning at various locations throughout the breakfast.  The breakfast, from 7 to 11 a.m. May 6,  is open to the public.

Seattle Slew, somewhat of a late bloomer in the horse world, was purchased as a yearling by a group of friends for less than $20,000.  After that inauspicious beginning in a world where equine purchases can move into the millions,  he still holds the record as the only horse ever to go undefeated into the Derby and come out a winner of the Triple Crown.  He easily won his first-Saturday-in-May-race by five lengths in a field of twelve going off as the favorite.  Retired from racing in 1978, Seattle Slew now stands at stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky and is part of one of the commonwealth’s most successful Thoroughbred breeding operations.

Count De Claviere is considered one of the world’s preeminent animal artists of the 20^th Century. Born in Lyons, France in 1934,  Count De Claviere began painting after studying with the masters Etienne Polet and Count Xavier de Poret.  He was also greatly influenced by Velasquez, Poussin, Rembrandt, and Thomas Stubbs as well as the Italian Renaissance painters.  He describes himself as a painter who “sees the modern from a classical perspective.”  One of his most famous commissions, a painting done for Queen Elizabeth of one of her favorite royal steeds, was a gift to the queen from the French government and hangs in her private collection.  His work is also owned in collections of the Prince of Wales and Ralph Loren, to name but a few.  His painting of Seattle Slew was given to the Kentucky Horse Park in 1983.

Posters are available through Governor Patton’s Office.  Checks for $15, made out to the Kentucky State Treasure and which cover postage and shipping, can be mailed to the Governor’s Office, to the attention of Vicki Brown, 700 Capitol Avenue, Room 106, Frankfort, KY  40601.    Please be sure to include the name and address for delivery in the request.

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