Horse Racing: Affirmed and Alydar -- Horse racing's greatest spring

As Funny Cide prepared to run the Belmont a few weeks ago, and vied to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown in a quarter century, it was impossible not to remember the last winner -- Affirmed, who won it in 1978.

In sports, eventually, only few will remember who finished second. This reality is especially applicable to horse racing.

However, there was a duel 25 years ago that produced an exception to that unforgiving truth. Affirmed, together with his challenger Alydar, combined to create racing drama that has not been equaled since.

It will be a year of anniversaries and nostalgia. Hollywood is preparing a summer release remembering Seabiscuit and this past month's Belmont also marked the 30th Anniversary of what may have been the most stunning race ever run -- Secretariat's 31 length victory in a time of 2:24 -- a record that has yet to be threatened by any horse since.

Coincidentally, it was Secretariat's win in 1973 that ended another 25 year gap between Triple Crowns, which stretched back to Citation in 1948.

But, Secretariat stands alone. He is a singular champion magnificently frozen in a moment of glory.

In comparison, no one who saw Affirmed race Alydar in 1978 will ever be able to picture one without the other. They will forever be linked in racing lore.

Lost in sports amid a mountain of statistics is often the underlying drama upon which a championship is won.

The year 1978 really saw more than a Triple Crown winner. It saw a series of races between two athletes that captured the imagination and stirred the heart.

Affirmed came out on top, but Alydar pushed him relentlessly. He was unshakeable over the course of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

The challenge between the two was about determination and the will to win. Most importantly it was about never giving up.

Affirmed beat Alydar by one-and-a-half lengths in the Derby. That margin of victory would be shortened in the Preakness and Belmont to a nose and a neck, respectively.

However, it would be wrong to assume that Affirmed was always the victor when these two horses met.

Legend and memory have forgotten all but those three premiere events. In reality, the two horses raced a total of ten times, with Affirmed winning seven -- five in photo finishes.

In the first 18 races that Affirmed ran there was only one horse who could beat him -- Alydar.

In sports, as in life, timing is everything. Alydar became the quintessential underdog -- the horse that could or, if he couldn't, would die trying.

He fell short in all three Triple Crown races, but he fell short while running Affirmed down. Anyone watching couldn't help but have the impression that if there had been just a little more track, Alydar would have succeeded.

There also was the added romance of an 18-year-old jockey holding the reins of Affirmed.

Steve Cauthen rode the champion as though born to it. As the son of a trainer, he may well have been. He became the youngest jockey to win the Triple Crown.

As any racing fan knows, the ultimate definition and example of "teamwork" is horse and jockey moving together in a rhythm of pure power and acceleration until they become one.

Normally, this level of skill comes from years of experience. But a baby-faced Cauthen performed magic, and the dance was lifted beyond an exhibition of power, speed and strength to become a study in grace.

Affirmed and his adolescent jockey withstood Alydar's best efforts and galloped into racing glory.

However, to not recognize the nobility of Alydar is to be blind to life. He took the challenge that was thrown at him and met it with courage and determination.

To win is to be instantly embraced, but also cursed. There are always those whose money is riding against you. There is no turning back, no place to hide -- you run either win or lose. It is the most unforgiving of all sports.

Close is never close in the Triple Crown. There is no next year -- a horse is only three years old once.

It is not just victory, but the manner in which it is achieved that imprints itself on the memory and lifts mere success to the level of triumph. Some achievements become common property within a shared culture, and even as they are happening there is a palpable sense of "moment" -- of a light shining on a single spot.

This was true in 1978. In fact, by the time the Belmont rolled around that year, only three other horses made their way into the starting gate -- as if everyone knew that this was always going to be a two horse race and the stage was cleared for the main players.

I have always believed that Alydar and Affirmed -- like all great athletes -- felt the importance of the moment and each was aware of the other.

They were not two mindless beasts driving hard because of the crack of the whip on their flank. These were two rivals determined to run the fastest and reach the furthest because that is what instinct and breeding demand of the finest thoroughbreds.

After each of the three races, when all eyes follow the winner as he slows to a victory trot, my eyes always fell on Alydar as he came close, closer and closer, still without ever succeeding in stretching his neck across the imaginary line first.

A horse race is many things. Still steeped in ceremony, it is always exciting and focused. All eyes are trained and move together around the track in a hypnotic harmony.

Because of its relative brevity, emotions are engaged with gut-wrenching intensity. Fortunes are won and lost, dreams delayed, hopes dashed, careers made or broken -- all in less time than it takes to boil an egg.

In 1978 it was all these things, but it became much more. Three horse races -- alone and in unison -- became a thing of beauty and inspiration.

It is at those times that one finds strength and courage in witnessing a living being strive and never give up -- to be beaten but not beaten down, to try and try again. Alydar may have been second but he was never second best.

Not by a longshot.

In 1987, Alysheba won the Kentucky Derby. It wasn't until after the race was over that I discovered that he was sired by Alydar. I remember thinking that somewhere on a stud farm a horse who had never been able to cross that line himself might be swaying his head and stomping a foot in celebration.

Alydar never won the Derby, but his offspring had. There would be another victory for an Alydar sired horse in 1991 -- Strike the Gold. But for that victory, Alydar was no longer alive.

Alydar died in 1990 under "mysterious circumstances." It appeared that a fracture to his rear leg was deliberate and he had to be put down.

Affirmed fared slightly better, living to 26 years old before being euthanized in 2001.

Cauthen retired in 1993 after 14 years, 630 mounts and 2,794 victories. He remains the only jockey to have won the Kentucky, Epsom, Irish, French and Italian Derbys. He is now vice-president of Turfway Park in his home state of Kentucky.

However, the "where are they now" aspect of this story is unnecessary.

They will forever be linked -- all three -- driving hard down the stretch, as the fans rise to their feet and hoof beats stomp in the dirt and a roar rumbles and grows before reaching a deafening crescendo, which envelops us and transports all of us to a better place.

If only for a furlong.