June 5, 2012, 7:54 AM
By LOU SAHADI
In all my enduring years as a sportswriter and presently a full-time author, I’ve never come across a more compelling subject than the book I wrote about Affirmed, the last Triple Crown winner. Symbolically, it was my 25th tome. With the approaching Belmont on June 9 there is a prodigious feeling among the railbirds that the 34-year-old drought will be ended by a horse with the melodious moniker of “I’ll Have Another.”
Yet, in all the glorious history of the Triple Crown, there had never been one that contained the enthralling rivalry of Affirmed and Alydar. In the three intense duels, Affirmed’s total margin of victory was less than a length. It was a half-length in the Kentucky Derby; a neck in the Preakness and a nose in the grueling Belmont. Each race produced the drama of a Hollywood movie.
Alydar was established as the Winter Book favorite to capture the 1978 Derby. The fabled Calumet Farms horse looked the part in winning all of his pre-Derby races in Florida with ease in creating the euphoria for a Triple Crown. Three thousand miles away in California, Affirmed was finding it difficult to even get on a track, let alone to race. Heavy torrents of rain created an impediment for Affirmed’s needed workouts.
Although Affirmed ended the 1977 campaign as the 2-year-old champion, it was Alydar that created the excitement with his pulsating come-from-behind victories. He was a bigger, stronger horse with a veteran jockey in Jorge Velasquez. Affirmed was in the hands of Steve Cauthen, a 17-year-old who would be only five days past his 18th birthday when he mounted Affirmed in the Derby. He was an unflappable teenager who slept on the floor of his hotel room with family members the night before the biggest race of his life.
The nation had embraced the precocious Cauthen. In 1977, he enjoyed unprecedented success. He adorned the cover of Sports Illustrated three times, which no one had ever done before, he was on the cover of Time, and even Newsweek published a feature on him. Cauthen was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated — the only racing personality ever so named — and Athlete of the Year by The Associated Press. He was a Madison Avenue darling with commercials for American Express, Wheaties and Trident gum.
John Veitch, Alydar’s trainer, could not have trained his horse any better. In a prep race nine days before the Derby, Alydar gave him a 13-length victory. Laz Barrera, an immigrant trainer from Cuba who spoke in metaphors, arrived in Louisville with Affirmed and Cauthen that same week, looked upon as an intruder to venerable Churchill Downs, which was Calumet country. He was in the employ of owner Louis Woflson who was seeking redemption from a one-year prison term for a white-collar crime by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1969.
Hometown money was on Alydar, who entered the Derby as the prohibitive favorite. Yet Affirmed controlled the race from the start to repel a furious stretch run charge by Alydar, who had languished last, to hold on to a half-length victory. The first bauble of the Triple Crown belonged to Affirmed as Cauthen became the youngest jockey ever to win the Derby. The outcome was only a portend of what would happen in the next two races.
The Preakness two weeks later unfurled another exciting stretch run. Alydar managed to get off to a better start than in the Derby and battled Affirmed for much of the race. At the top of the stretch, Alydar was only a length behind. Driving, he pulled alongside Affirmed but couldn’t break him. Instead, Cauthen hit Affirmed 10 times to keep him focused and crossed the finish line by a neck.
With the exhausting Belmont three weeks away, it was now “The Kid” and his horse from Triple Crown immortality that attracted a record number of press credentials. A year earlier, Cauthen survived a tumultuous fall at Belmont, where he sustained a concussion, a broken arm, fractured ribs and two broken fingers. Only his plastic riding helmet prevented a more serious injury. Wolfson feared Cauthen might ride too cautiously.
The large crowd cheered both horses on their way to the starting gate, a well-deserved tribute to their rivalry. With no speed horses in the race, Cauthen directed Affirmed to an opening lead. Alydar remained close behind in third place and for a brief moment caught Affirmed turning into the stretch. At the midpoint, Alydar nudged in front but couldn’t pull away. Affirmed, with urging from Cauthen, moved back into the lead and brought Affirmed past the finish line by a nose. It was the most beautiful nose in racing.
There’ll be an ominous cloud hanging over this year’s Belmont resulting from the allegations attributed to I’ll Have Another’s trainer Doug O’Neill by the California Horse Racing Board that resulted in a mandated 45-day suspension beginning next month. It didn’t result in prohibiting O’Neill from training his horse for the Belmont in what isn’t a strong field. How convenient.
Whatever happens, it will never rival the Affirmed-Alydar duels in what was racing’s greatest Triple Crown.
Lou Sahadi is the author of several sports books, including “Affirmed: The Last Triple Crown Winner” and “Johnny Unitas: America’s Quarterback.” He co-wrote “Say Hey: the Autobiography of Willie Mays”; “They’re Playing My Game,” the autobiography of Hank Stram; and “The Winning Edge” the autobiography of Don Shula.
NYTimes "The Rail" June 5th 2012
