Affirmed Won 1978 Derby vs. Alydar
After Battling His Chief Rival Through 1977, Barrera Colt Gets Roses
Jul 27, 2007
What could be better irony than a rivalry coming into being between a powerhouse stable and that stable's sire produced offspring?
So it was for Florida-bred Affirmed of Harbor View Farm, competing with Calumet Farm of Kentucky's Alydar, a son of Raise a Native, one of Harbor View Farm's greatest stallions. Alydar was out of Sweet Tooth, a notable stakes winner-producing mare for Calumet.
William Monroe Wright had established Calumet as a top Standardbred operation. His son, Warren, desired the same prestige in Thoroughbred circles. He found the right people to make it happen.
Louis Wolfson, a success in corporate finance, built his Harbor View Farm near Ocala, Florida, but raced his products mostly in the New York circuit. His Thoroughbred line boasted of Francis S., Garwol, Roman Brother, and eventually the Native Dancer son, Raise a Native.
Calumet, by Alydar's time, was a less influential stable than it had been in the 1940s with four Kentucky Derby champs -- Whirlaway, 1941; Pensive, 1944; Citation, 1948; and Ponder, 1949; and two Triple Crown winners, Whirlaway and Citation.
After Warren Wright's death in 1950, his widow, Lucille, picked up the Calumet reins and managed the enterprize to three Kentucky Derby wins in the 1950s: Hill Gail, 1952; Iron Liege, 1957; and Tim Tam, 1958. Those two banner decades for Calumet were worth a lifetime reputation. Just one Derby (Forward Pass, 1968) in the 1960s was a sign that Calumet Farm needed a comeback horse.
Alydar was that hope.
John Veitch (Alydar) and the Cuban-born Laz Barrera (Affirmed) locked into a competitive juvenile season with their young hopefuls. Affirmed came out ahead, 4-2, in those early duels to capture the two-year-old male championship. Still, fans seemed to prefer the more powerfully built and conformed Alydar.
By Kentucky Derby day, 1978, the two chestnuts were headed for their greatest showdown. A Woody Stephens trained colt owned by John W. Phillips, Believe It, had gained substantial backing and stood to pick up the pieces if the hell-bent chestnuts raced one another into the ground.
Believe It barely lost the Florida Derby to Sensitive Prince, then crushed the field in the Wood Memorial, scoring a three and a half length victory.
The chestnuts' training had been spit into Florida- and California-based camps. Florida-bred Affirmed went west, while Kentuckian Alydar stayed in the east, customary for Calumet competitors. Affirmed won the Santa Anita Derby, Alydar the Blue Grass Stakes.
The 104th renewal of the Kentucky Derby drew a field of eleven. Alydar was still the home boy fan favorite, the big and powerful Calument local pitted against the classy, lean, and southern Affirmed for the wreath of roses.
Sensitive Prince and Raymond Earl shot to the front as the Derby gates clanged open. Affirmed, with his eighteen-year-old jockey, Steve Cauthen, settled into third, while Alydar, under the studious hand of Jorge Velasquez, strangely enough had fallen from the ten post to seventeen lengths behind the leaders. In the twin towers grandstand, there was much anxiety.
While Affirmed and Cauthen professionally measured the race's outcome, Velasquez was having trouble getting Alydar interested. Had the colt too many losses to Affirmed under his girth? No one really knew.
The 104th running of the Kentucky Derby belonged to the class of Florida by one and a half lengths. Alydar's late awakening and charging effort was good enough only to overtake Believe It, who earned third.
Affirmed claimed the wreath of roses for 1978. He would meet Alydar again. The two colts would sizzle in the final two classics.
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