We had options, tactically speaking, that Alydar didn’t have, and we used every advantage we had to try to get Affirmed home first in the Triple Crown.”Alydar was sent off as a 6-5 favorite in the Derby, while Affirmed was the 9-5 second choice in a field of 11.The mile and a quarter opening leg of the Triple Crown started routinely for Affirmed as he rated in third early on and waited for Cauthen to call on him.But Alydar had a miserable trip. It would have given me more time to prepare in Kentucky, because in those days the Blue Grass was only nine days away from the Derby. After each frustrated verse comes a strangely anthemic chorus refrain. Yet it didn’t take long for Veitch to spark a revival and return the famed Calumet colors to prominence in major races.In 1977, Veitch won the Alabama Stakes and Coaching Club Oaks with Our Mims, who was voted the year’s champion 3-year-old filly.“Most people don’t realize that Calumet had such a dry spell from the time of (trainers) Ben and Jimmy Jones and had fallen off the map. Photo courtesy of The Blood-Horse/Santa Anita It was like he was saying, ‘Yeah, I’ve got this. He found one in the 17-year-old Cauthen, who had lost his “bug” in June after a phenomenal apprenticeship that saw him win his 100th race of the year in New York by Feb. 14.In his first race back from a May injury that sidelined him for about a month, Cauthen was victorious aboard a Harbor View horse for Barrera named Little Miracle.In the Sanford, Cauthen rode Little Miracle’s half-brother, Affirmed, for the first time.“No one was thinking of Affirmed as a champion other than Laz at that point,” Cauthen said. “For some reason he couldn’t get it going. But in that moment, I knew I had to. You almost felt sorry that somebody had to lose, yet you also knew you were a part of something that was spectacular.”After the Belmont, both sides pointed for the Travers and arrived at the race in different fashions.Alydar, in his race before Travers, demolished older horses in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga, winning by 10 lengths over a field that included J.O. “There were people who spent their entire working lives at the farm with the devil’s red and blue. Affirmed, on the other hand, was more of a street fighter whose will to win was unrivaled.There were nine times in Affirmed’s 29 career starts where his margin of victory or defeat was less than a length. “He was a winner. He loved to win, he loved to fight. (Blood-Horse/Bob Coglianese) It was a gamble, but I was confident.”The presence of the two 2-year-old stars accounted for a field of just four in the Laurel Futurity and put pressure on Velasquez to make sure Affirmed did not control a leisurely pace.Star de Naskra set the pace in the mile and a sixteenth stakes with Affirmed a length behind him and  Alydar, a 2-5 favorite, directly inside of Affirmed, which delighted Cauthen.“Alydar never liked it on the inside so I stayed off the rail and Alydar would either have to come out and go around us or move inside us,” Cauthen said. He never quit. Affirmed, a 6-5 favorite, was third after the opening quarter-mile, two lengths off the lead, and Alydar was fourth.Approaching the half-mile pole, Affirmed and Cauthen made their move for the lead, but Alydar did not go with him. He was, to some, the other horse. *In their final meeting, Affirmed drifted in, forcing Alydar to be taken up on the backstretch. He just misjudged how fast Alydar was moving,” Velasquez said.Alydar fell back to third as Affirmed drew clear. He gave Affirmed long, slow works between the Preakness and Belmont. “In hindsight I shouldn’t have run. You’re so focused and breathing heavily,” Cauthen said. Affirmed, a 6-5 favorite, was third after the opening quarter-mile, two lengths off the lead, and Alydar was fourth.Approaching the half-mile pole, Affirmed and Cauthen made their move for the lead, but Alydar did not go with him.

Alydar was a chestnut colt and an American Thoroughbred race horse who was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown. “It was like that the whole stretch.”Affirmed took the rest of 1977 off, while Alydar returned a month later in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at After that, both camps prepared for the Triple Crown.Affirmed spent the winter in California, putting on some size and reeling off four straight wins, capped by a two-length score in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Hollywood Park.Alydar remained on the East Coast, winning three straight races, including the Florida Derby and Flamingo.



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