Z – #6 – Affirmed – horseracing20thcentury99.com

Top Ten Horses Overall Twentieth Century

#6

Affirmed

(1977 - 1979)

Affirmed, with Steve Cauthen, won the 1978 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga over Sensitive Prince. This victory was the son of Exclusive Native’s eighth straight and he was the overwhelming favorite at 1-9.

Photo: National Museum of Racing & Hall of Fame

PEDIGREE

CH H (USA) 1975

OWNER

Harbor View Farm

TRAINER

Laz Barrera

BREEDER

Harbor View Farm

Some Facts

Affirmed was sired by Exclusive Native, a son of Raise a Native, and was the leading sire in America in 1978 and 1979.
Besides Affirmed, Exclusive Native also sired Genuine Risk, the second filly after Regret to win the Kentucky Derby.
Affirmed was North America racing’s eleventh Triple Crown winner. In his twenty-nine-race career, the chestnut colt won fourteen grade-one races. He was disqualified from what would have been his fifteenth when he was placed second behind Alydar after finishing first in the 1978 Travers Stakes.
1979 Affirmed won both his starts when he carried at least 130 pounds, the 8.5F Californian (130 pounds), and the 10F Hollywood Gold Cup (132 pounds).
In the 1979 Gold Cup, Affirmed was timed in 1:58 2/5, just one-fifth of a second off Quack’s American and shared world record set in the 1972 Gold Cup. Affirmed also won the 1979 Santa Anita Handicap in 1:58 3/5, making him one of the few thoroughbreds to record two sub 1:59 ten-furlong races on a dirt course.
Affirmed and Alydar had one of the most celebrated rivalries in the sport. The two met ten times with Affirmed winning seven: Youthful, Hopeful, Belmont Futurity, Laurel Futurity, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and the Belmont. Alydar won the Great American, Champagne, and the Travers when Affirmed finished first but was disqualified to second. In every one of their meetings except one, they finished first and second. The lone exception was the Youthful Stakes when Alydar, the 9-5 favorite, finished fourth. In five of these races, the margin of victory was a half-length or less.
When Affirmed and Alydar met in the 1977 Laurel Futurity, it was generally believed that the winner would be crowned the two-year-old colt champion. Going into the race, Affirmed held a narrow 3-2 lead in their five head-to-head meetings. Only four horses started in the 8.5-furlong race with Alydar the strong 2-5 favorite. Star de Naskra took the early lead and held it to the half. Then Affirmed and Alydar took over and ran head-and-head to the wire with Affirmed coming out on top, but only by a neck. To show how far these two were in front of the other two-year-olds that year, third-place finisher Star de Naskra, who had finished third, ten lengths back, had already won three stakes and would eventually win six more in its career, including the 1979 Whitney and the 1979 Carter Handicap over Alydar.
In year-end Eclipse voting, Affirmed was crowned the two-year-old champion.
When Affirmed faced Seattle Slew in the 1979 Marlboro Cup, it marked the first time two Triple Crown winners had ever faced each other. Seattle Slew won that meeting as Affirmed, the 1-2 favorite, finished second by three lengths. They met a second time in the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup. In that one, Seattle Slew finished second by a nose to Exceller, while Affirmed finished fifth by nineteen lengths after his saddle slipped as he was moving up on the far turn.
Affirmed’s loss to Exceller in the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup was his third consecutive defeat in what for him was the longest losing streak in his career (five races), as he would follow with losses in the 1979 Malibu and San Fernando Stakes. He then won the final six races (plus an allowance exhibition) in his career, which was enough to secure his second straight Horse of the Year title.
In Affirmed’s final career start, he won the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup over Spectacular Bid by three-quarters of a length in 2:27 2/5. He was the 3-5 favorite.
Affirmed was a versatile runner and won at ten different distances: 5.5F; 6F; 6.5F; 7F; 8F (allowance exhibition); 8.5F; 9F; 9.5F; 10F; and 12F. He retired after the 1979 season with record earnings of $2,393,818 and was the first North American thoroughbred to reach $2 million in earnings. He was syndicated for a record $14.4 million and would eventually sire twelve champions. Among his best progeny in North America were The Tin Man, Flawlessly, Affirmed Success, Quiet Resolve, and Petski.
Though Affirmed was foaled in Florida, he never raced in the state as his winter racing was conducted in California.
Affirmed was a two-time Horse of the Year in 1978 and 1979. He also was voted top two-year-old in 1977, top three-year-old in 1978, and top handicap horse in 1979. He entered the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1980.
Affirmed died on January 12, 2001, another victim of laminitis.