Affirmed

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Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was an American thoroughbred race horse that won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 1978—only the 11th horse to ever accomplish the feat. As of 2007, he was the last horse to do so.

Harbor View Farm, established in 1960 by Louis Wolfson and his wife, Patrice, was a top breeding farm in earnings in 1970 and 1971 and again from 1978 to 1980, but Affirmed brought the farm much fame, earning it the 1978 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. As a four-year-old, Affirmed continued his brilliance, winning his second consecutive Horse of the Year honors.

Affirmed started his career at age 2 in 1977 with a spirited rivalry with Calumet Farm's Alydar, which would carry through to the Triple Crown the next year. Affirmed won races at Belmont and Saratoga over his rival. However, Alydar got his revenge in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont, at the time one of the most important two-year-old races in the country. Racing experts felt that Alydar, with his stretch running ability and blueblood breeding, would excel at the longer distances, and that he had the brighter future than Affirmed. However, Affirmed put that to rest with a dramatic win over Alydar in the Laurel Futurity, nosing Alydar out after a furious stretch duel. This was a foreshadowing of things to come. Affirmed's Laurel win secured champion two-year-old honors for the colt.

Trained by Laz Barrera and ridden by Steve Cauthen, then an 18-year-old jockey, leading up to the 1978 Triple Crown races, Affirmed raced in California, winning the Santa Anita Derby and the Hollywood Derby. Alydar prepared for the Kentucky Derby with impressive wins in the Flamingo Stakes in Hialeah, Florida and the Blue Grass Stakes in Lexington, Kentucky. The rematch in the Kentucky Derby was greatly anticipated. Affirmed handily defeated his arch rival Alydar in the Kentucky Derby, and then won two dramatic stretch duels with Alydar in the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes to claim the Triple Crown.

Affirmed and Alydar's stretch duel in the Belmont was one of the greatest in racing history. Alydar, with Jorge Velasquez up, briefly put a head in front in mid stretch and otherwise got so close to Affirmed that Cauthen had to switch his whip from his right to his left hand. (Some writers have questioned Alydar's brief lead, but Cauthen admitted to CBS's Jack Whitaker and Frank Wright after the race that his rival did just that.)

The CBS-TV call of the Affirmed-Alydar stretch drive -- by sportscaster and Belmont Park track announcer Chic Anderson -- became one of the landmarks of TV sports:

It's Alydar and Affirmed battling back along the inside! We'll test these two to the wire! Affirmed under a left-hand whip. Alydar on the outside driving! Affirmed and Alydar heads-apart! Affirmed's got a nose in front as they come on to the wire! (shutting off his track mic but keeping the CBS mic hot) At the finish, it's going to be dead tight -- AFFIRMED won it! He wins the Triple Crown!

Affirmed returned to the races in early August in the Jim Dandy Stakes, named for the upset winner of the 1930 Travers Stakes over Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox. Affirmed nearly became an upset loser himself to the front running Sensitive Prince but was able to close a seemingly insurmountable gap in the last 100 yards in a race that Laz Barrera considered one of Affirmed's finest efforts.

The Affirmed-Alydar rivalry ended on a sour note in Affirmed's next race; the 1978 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Racing before a then record crowd of over 50,000 fans Affirmed, piloted by Hall of Fame Jockey Laffit Pincay who was substituting for the injured Cauthen, cut off Alydar entering the far turn causing his rival to check suddenly. Affirmed crossed under the wire first but was disqualified and placed second. They would never meet again.

The 1978 Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap marked the first time in racing history that two Triple Crown winners ever met in a race. Seattle Slew, the 1977 champion, defeated Affirmed by three lengths.

As a four-year-old in 1979, Affirmed got off to a rocky start, carrying a five race losing streak into the Charles H. Strub Stakes at Santa Anita Park. However, after winning the Strub Stakes, Affirmed was spectacular, with a stakes and track record win in the Santa Anita Handicap (still the Stakes record in that race as of 2007) over Exceller and Tiller, a win in the Hollywood Gold Cup carrying top weight, and most impressively, delivering the last defeat that the great Spectacular Bid would suffer, in the 1 1/2 mile Jockey Club Gold Cup. Affirmed was named Horse of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Affirmed earned a then record $2,393,818 (first thoroughbred racer in North America to win over 2 million dollars in a career) with 22 wins, 5 seconds and 1 third from 29 starts. The only time he didn't finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd was when his saddle slipped in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup racing against fellow triple crown winner, Seattle Slew. The race was won by Exceller (Exceller thus, became the only horse that ever defeated 2 Triple Crown winners in a same race), with Seattle Slew finished second, while Affirmed ended up 5th, out of the money.

Affirmed's courage was in many ways his most remarkable attribute. Affirmed was a natural speed horse who won most of his races on or near the lead. However, when challenged in the stretch, even by top horses such as Alydar and Spectacular Bid, he simply would not let them pass. Affirmed therefore had a lethal combination of speed (which allowed him to get early position and not have to rely on a good trip passing horses to get into position and win) and heart (which allowed him to fend off challengers).

Affirmed's Triple Crown accomplishment has not been repeated since, and his career has been honored with his election to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Affirmed's trainer, Laz Barrera, once said: "Affirmed is greater than Secretariat, or any Triple Crown winner, because only Affirmed had to face Alydar."

[edit] Career as a sire

Affirmed was syndicated at a then-record 14.4 million dollars. At stud Affirmed sired over 80 stakes winners, 9 champions with earnings in excess of $44,000,000 (through 2004) including Flawlessly and Peteski (Canadian triple crown winner in 1993). Though Affirmed never raced on the turf (grass) he was a noted sire of turf runners, most notably multiple Grade I winners Flawlessly and The Tin Man. His daughters are valued as broodmares.

Affirmed was the second US Triple Crown winner to sire a second generation Triple Crown champion. Affirmed's foal, Peteski, won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1993.

In 2001, Affirmed was euthanized after falling seriously ill with laminitis, a circulatory hoof disease. The same disease has also led to the death of fellow Triple Crown winner Secretariat and Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. He was buried whole--the ultimate honor for a race horse--at Jonabell Farm, wearing the flamingo pink silks of his original owners, Harbor View Farm. [1]

In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Affirmed was ranked #12.

[edit] Pedigree

[edit] External links

• Affirmed's pedigree
• Affirmed's page in the Hall of Fame, includes a video of his Belmont Stakes win, clinching the Triple Crown
• Affirmed's Kentucky Derby
• Preakness winnersja:アファームド