Affirmed v Alydar – Greatest Rivalry in Horse Racing (Part 1)
Many of us weren’t around to witness the greatest rivalry in horse racing, between Affirmed and Alydar but experts recognise it to be the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport.
Affirmed stamped his authority as the best in the business in 1978 when he won all the Triple Crown races and kept his arch-rival Alydar at bay and forced him to finish second in all three races.
Affirmed and Alydar raced each other 10 times in some epic encounters throughout their two and three year old season, with seven of those races going to Affirmed, who had luck on his side more often than not, and actually the ability to win 70% of the time
more than Alydar.
Alydar finished second in all the Triple Crown races, a record on its own, which hasn’t been beaten by any horse up till now and that reflects the greatness of this horse that was just unfortunate to be running on the same racetrack as Affirmed.
Alydar was a beautiful chestnut colt, who was born on 23 March 1975. Raise A Native was his sire and Sweet Tooth was his dam.
Alydar was sent for training with trainer, John Veitch, and his mount was jockey, Jorge Velasquez.
Alydar showed promise throughout his career and he was perceived as a horse that was destined for big things and wins. Finally the decision was made to enter him in the 1978 Triple Crown and that’s when history was made.
The Belmont Stakes 1978, third leg of the race proved to be one of the best races ever to be witnessed, because it had all the thrills in it to make it an edge of the seat experience.
Affirmed and Alydar side by side, one horse briefly eluding the other, and then from behind the chaser briskly overtaking the leader. That wasn’t the case from the beginning because Affirmed, mounted by Steve Cauthen passed everyone at ease and when challenged
by Alydar he responded well and took the race by the scruff of the neck.
However, Alydar, mounted by Jorge Velazquez was persistent and he came in behind to keep Affirmed vary of his presence.
It all went down to the wire when Alydar got on even terms with Affirmed, 7 furlongs to go and Alydar goes for it but Affirmed was good enough to maintain his lead and claimed the race by a head and won the Triple Crown.
After the Triple Crown both horses met only once, which was at 1978 Travers Chart notes. Affirmed was again the favourite to win the race but in that race Affirmed got disqualified and Alydar won the race.
Shortly after that Alydar got injured and did not race for quite some time. He made a comeback after some time but he wasn’t as good as he was prior to the injury.
Affirmed went down as the most successful horse in the history books, and the last horse to win the Triple Crown and he is still the reigning champion after 26 years.
Alydar took his revenge on Affirmed in the breeding shed by siring outstanding offspring, such as Easy Goer, Althea, Turkoman, and, Alysheba.
Alydar died in 1990 under controversial circumstances. Some say the barn was going bankrupt so they had to get the insurance money and that’s why medical help was given when it was too late.
Both were elected to Thoroughbred Hall of Fame.
(To be continued...)
Tags: