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Affirmed: The Last Triple Crown Winner
Lou Sahadi; Foreword by Steve Cauthen
St. Martin's Griffin/Thomas Dunne Books
“Sahadi tells the dramatic story of Affirmed and his young jockey . . . showing in detail how the ‘underdog’ Affirmed won the Triple Crown.” —New York Post (“Required Reading” pick)
In 1978, racing fans witnessed the culmination of an epic rivalry when a horse named Affirmed faced off against the celebrated Alydar and emerged victorious. In this long-overdue biography of Affirmed, veteran sportswriter Lou Sahadi captures the life and spirit of this indomitable horse who twice earned Horse of the Year honors and placed #12 on the Blood-Horse list of “Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century.”
Sahadi chronicles how the initially docile chestnut colt began his stellar rise in 1977. Entering the 1978 season, many experts speculated that Alydar, the latest prize product from the storied Calumet Farm, would prove himself the better horse. Yet under trainer Laz Barrera’s careful strategy and the eighteen-year-old reigning Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year jockey Stevie Cauthen, Affirmed bested his rival and mesmerized even the most casual of sports fans.
Drawing on interviews with Cauthen, some members of the Wolfson family, and many more, Sahadi delivers fascinating subplots, including that of jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., and owner Louis Wolfson, the Wall Street financier whose federal conviction led to the resignation of a Supreme Court justice.
Telling a story that transcended the Thoroughbred racing world, Affirmed finally gives this courageous horse his due.
Praise for Affirmed
Lou Sahadi completed his 25th book, “Affirmed: The Last Triple Crown”, (St. Martins Press) which was released in April. The book generated favorable reviews.
"Sahadi has successfully covered horse racing and has done justice to Affirmed and Alydar, as well as their human connections and many fans, forever connected in history as the combatants of the greatest rivalry ever seen on the American turf. Sahadi specializes in writing about sports history and keeping the reader's interest from cover to cover, and he clearly succeeds here, aided by an already exciting story that just needed to be told by such a master of his craft. This book is highly recommended for all fans of racing history, as well as to fans of American sports history, as the 1970's truly were the golden age of horse racing."—Horse-Races.net
"There is no greater atmosphere than the Triple Crown and Sahadi captures the spirit of it. A must read for everyone."—Hank Goldberg, ESPN reporter
"One of the greatest racing rivalries of all time deserves an equally world-class storyteller to make it come alive so many years later. Mr. Sahadi gets you so close to the action, you can almost smell the hay in the stalls of these two equine superstars."—Leonard Shapiro, columnist, The Washington Post
“Lou Sahadi sets the scene of the memorable duel between Affirmed and Alydar skillfully, leading to a homestretch crescendo.” Dick Stockton, Fox Sports
"No question, Affirmed-Alydar is racing's greatest rivalry. Lou Sahadi is a masterful story teller who vividly brings it back to life 33 years later. I was at the Belmont in l978 and it brought back pleasurable memories. The book is a winner."...Sal Marchiano, Sportscaster
“The year-long duel between Affirmed and Alydar is considered racings greatest rivalry because the story was more than a rivalry between horses. It was a rivalry between wealthy horse owners – Louis Wolfson
and Lucille and Gene Markey; talented trainers – Laz Barrera and John Veitch; and between an 18-year-old jockey – Steve Cauthen – and his adult peer – Jorge Velasquez. Lou Sahadi captures all the levels and the tensions of those battles, culminating in the coronation of Affirmed as a Triple Crown champion and Alydar as the Brooklyn Dodgers of thoroughbred racing, the only horse to finish second in all three Triple Crown events. Alydar lost those races by a total of less than two lengths, the final by a nose, but Lou Sahadi makes them all come out winners with his fine reportage and a style that brings to life a time in racing that no longer exists.’’ – Ron Borges, Boston Herald.
"Sahadi ably captures the atmosphere of the horse- racing world and the characters surrounding Affirmed. Engaging history of perhaps horse-racing's finest moment." Kirkus Review
"Veteran sportswriter Sahadi tells the dramatic story of Affirmed and his young jockey Stevie Cauthen showing in detail how the underdog Affirmed won the Triple Crown, the last horse to do it." Required Reading By Billy Heller, New York Post
"Lou Sahadi specializes in writing about sports history and keeping the reader's interest from cover to cover and he clearly succeeds here. An exciting story that just needed to be told by such a master of his craft. His writing style brings excitement of the l978 Triple Crown to life." About.com Horse Racing
Among his other books, Sahadi has collaborated with Len Dawson; Don Shula; Hank Stram; Willie Mays; Jim Donnan on their autobiographies, and the intimate biography of Johnny Unitas, which was optioned for a film.
Kirkus Review
Sports historian Sahadi (One Sunday in December: The 1958 NFL Championship Game and How It Changed Professional Football, 2008, etc.) tells the story of Affirmed’s 1978 Triple Crown triumph.
“The decade of the seventies,” writes the author, “was the golden age of thoroughbred racing,” as incomparable horses such as Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Riva Ridge strutted their stuff on America’s racing turf. But no horse captured the imagination of race fans, and the general public, as did Affirmed, and his rivalry with Alydar” “It was Ali-Frazier, Palmer-Nicklaus, and McEnroe-Connors, right there with them.” The rise of Affirmed brought together an unlikely collection of characters. There was millionaire owner Louis Wolfson, who nine years earlier had been imprisoned—unjustly, contends Sahadi—for a white-collar crime; colorful and wise trainer Laz Barrera, who had emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to Mexico and then arrived almost penniless in California and jockey superstar Steve Cauthen. Riding since he could walk, his string of victories in 1977, at the tender age of 17, made Cauthen a national celebrity, appearing on The Tonight Show and a Wheaties box and, of course, recording an album. As 2-year-olds in 1977, Affirmed and Alydar established their own notoriety. In six meetings, Affirmed won four times, but all by a small margin. As the 1978 Triple Crown season arrived, it was anybody’s guess who among the two might emerge triumphant. While Affirmed did win each race, each time it was only by the slimmest of margins. Affirmed had established his greatness, but he had been pushed all the way by the challenge of Alydar. Sahadi ably captures the atmosphere of the horse-racing world and the characters surrounding Affirmed, although a tendency toward hagiography (Wolfson is “a distinguished man of letters with a decorous and noble appearance”) and repetition (Cauthen is too often described as “fuzzy cheeked”) occasionally bogs down the narrative.
Engaging history of perhaps horse-racing’s finest moment.
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