Saturday, January 13, 2001
Affirmed: A champion in every way
By Jay Hovdey
Daily Racing Form
ARCADIA, Calif. - A large red tree just fell in the forest, and everybody heard. Affirmed is dead.
There will never be another.
"It's the end of an era," said Patrice Wolfson said on Friday between the tears. She bred and raced Affirmed with her husband, Louis Wolfson, and for three solid years their Harbor View Farm colors never flew higher than they did aboard their graceful chestnut colt.
Take all of his accomplishments and stack them in a pile. It hurts the neck to see the top. Champion at the age of 2. Triple Crown winner of 1978. Horse of the Year in 1978 and 1979. First to break Kelso's record of earnings. Successful as a stallion and sire of champions. Affirmed could never replace himself, but no one really expected it to happen.
These eyes first beheld Affirmed in the flesh in the walking ring at Santa Anita on a quiet Wednesday in March 1978. He was coming out as a 3-year-old after a long, wet winter of anticipation. And as he strolled around the ring under Steve Cauthen, impervious to the crowd, you could hear the fans whisper his name. Affirmed.
He raced for 29 months and won 22 of his 29 races. Once, his saddle slipped. Once, he was disqualified from victory for merely doing what he was asked to do. And twice, but only twice, he was beaten by Alydar on the square, which took nothing away from Affirmed and always reflected well upon Alydar.
Remove Alydar from the picture - yes, an impossible task - and Affirmed would have won the first 18 starts of his life. Little wonder that his trainer, Lazaro Barrera, gave him the highest possible compliment when he said, quite simply, "Affirmed always runs a good race."
His skills were complete. There were never excuses needed. He could sprint with the sprinters and gallop the routers into the ground. He broke like a rocket, rated with a fingertip, and carried weight as if it were nothing but truffles and brie.
Affirmed legends abound. Many of them are true. One morning at Santa Anita, in an uncharacteristic fit of pique, Affirmed lost his rider and headed down the stable road. Panic ensued, as Barrera's weak heart took another hit. But apparently Affirmed knew what he was doing all along. When he stopped, allowing himself to be caught, he was on the doorstep of the Charlie Whittingham barn.
In a rough game where everyone gets dirty, Affirmed could come off as aloof, a bit of a dandy. Practicing high artistry, groom Juan Alaniz would plait the base of Affirmed's shimmering red tail, then twist his mane into delicate ringlets to create a sweeping line of Botticelli curls.
Only fools were deceived. Affirmed was no fop, no perfumed pretty boy.
Once loaded into the gate, he went from a courtly Don Diego to a vengeful Zorro in the blink of an eye. Opponents came away sliced and diced, robbed of their delusions and wondering what happened.
While it is hopeless to choose from among flawless gems, Affirmed's best race may have come on June 24, 1979, in the 1 1/4-mile Hollywood Gold Cup. You will get no argument from Darrel McHargue.
Laffit Pincay was on Affirmed and McHargue was on Sirlad, a champion from Italy trained by Charlie Whittingham. Affirmed carried 132 pounds, while Sirlad carried 120. Locked together from the start, with Affirmed on the inside, they went the half in 45.60, the three-quarters in 1:09.60, the mile in 1:34.20.
"When two horse hook up like that, one of them usually drops out long before they hit the stretch," said McHargue, now a steward in northern California. "But when it's just you and another horse, and things don't change, you get in kind of a zone. It didn't seem like there was anybody else in the race. Just Sirlad and Affirmed."
At the end, it was just Affirmed, by three-quarters of a length in 1:58.40. McHargue was sorry he lost, proud of his horse, and not the least bit surprised.
"The year before, in the Belmont Stakes, I remember watching him in the gate," McHargue said. "He was like a caged animal, just looking for an opening. Not fractious, but alert. A professional in every sense."
That was Affirmed. Always on the clock, bringing honor to the hard work of being a racehorse. There were never any hammy displays of rampant personality, never any end-zone antics. But there was a time, one memorable moment, when Affirmed dropped his guard.
It was July 4, 1979, just 10 days after his Hollywood Gold Cup win, and the California fans were being granted one last look at the champ. With his legs wrapped in Barrera's bright orange bandages and Pincay in the saddle wearing the Wolfson silks, Affirmed emerged from the paddock and strolled down the stretch to the cheers of more than 65,000.
"Then he did something he never did before," Barrera later recalled. "Halfway down the stretch, he turned and looked right at the public. He looked everybody over, acting just like a movie star."
That's because Affirmed was a star, bright and everlasting.
