Rivalry Like No Other:Affirmed, Alydar & Their Connections
May 24, 2015 14:12:44 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on May 24, 2015 14:12:44 GMT -5
I think this was the greatest rivalry in modern history!
Rivalry Like No Other: Affirmed, Alydar, And Their Human Connections
Paulick Report
Affirmed and Alydar battle to the wire in the 1978 Belmont, the last time the Triple Crown was captured
They had gone head-to-head in several previous races, but their battle down the Belmont Park stretch, racing toward history, transformed their rivalry into the stuff of legends. The story of Affirmed and Alydar is an intriguing one, both on and off the track.
A story by Newsday profiles the two chestnut colts as well as the humans involved with them. At one point or another, both their owners were held under scrutiny. Affirmed raced for a man who had once served jail time for charges of perjury and obstruction; Alydar’s owner would later be imprisoned for fraud.
No other horse since Affirmed has captured the elusive Triple Crown. Stephen Wolfson, son of Affirmed’s owner Louis, would rather have it stay that way, but Patrice Wolfson, Louis’ wife, would love to see American Pharoah achieve the feat in less than two weeks.
“I’d love to see it because it helps racing tremendously,” she said.
Alydar died in 1990 after shattering a front leg by kicking his stall door; owner J.T. Lundy is still held under suspicion by some for the stallion’s demise. Affirmed died of laminitis in 2001, surrounded by owners and friends. Nearly four decades after their battle in the Belmont, their legend lives on.
Read more at Newsday:
www.newsday.com/sports/horseracing/belmont-stakes/it-was-a-wild-ride-for-racing-s-greatest-rivals-affirmed-and-alydar-1.10467479
Rivalry Like No Other: Affirmed, Alydar, And Their Human Connections
Paulick Report
Affirmed and Alydar battle to the wire in the 1978 Belmont, the last time the Triple Crown was captured
They had gone head-to-head in several previous races, but their battle down the Belmont Park stretch, racing toward history, transformed their rivalry into the stuff of legends. The story of Affirmed and Alydar is an intriguing one, both on and off the track.
A story by Newsday profiles the two chestnut colts as well as the humans involved with them. At one point or another, both their owners were held under scrutiny. Affirmed raced for a man who had once served jail time for charges of perjury and obstruction; Alydar’s owner would later be imprisoned for fraud.
No other horse since Affirmed has captured the elusive Triple Crown. Stephen Wolfson, son of Affirmed’s owner Louis, would rather have it stay that way, but Patrice Wolfson, Louis’ wife, would love to see American Pharoah achieve the feat in less than two weeks.
“I’d love to see it because it helps racing tremendously,” she said.
Alydar died in 1990 after shattering a front leg by kicking his stall door; owner J.T. Lundy is still held under suspicion by some for the stallion’s demise. Affirmed died of laminitis in 2001, surrounded by owners and friends. Nearly four decades after their battle in the Belmont, their legend lives on.
Read more at Newsday:
www.newsday.com/sports/horseracing/belmont-stakes/it-was-a-wild-ride-for-racing-s-greatest-rivals-affirmed-and-alydar-1.10467479