Alydar
Encyclopedia
Alydar was a chestnut colt and an American
thoroughbred
race horse
who was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed
in all three races of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
, a feat not achieved before or repeated since.
(who also trained Alydar's half-sister, Eclipse Award
winning Our Mims
) and ridden by jockey Jorge Velasquez
, in 1978 Alydar dueled with Affirmed
in all three legs of the Triple Crown he lost to his arch-rival by a combined total of less than two lengths. The 1978 Belmont Stakes
, the third (and final) leg of the series, is considered by many as one of the most exciting races in the history of the sport. In that race, Alydar and Affirmed dueled side-by-side from the middle of the far turn all the way to the wire, with Affirmed barely holding on to win by a head to claim the Triple Crown.
In his racing career Alydar won 14 of 26 starts, finishing second 9 times and third once, and earned purses totalling $957,195. He raced against Affirmed ten times in his career, winning three. Alydar was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
in 1989. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Alydar was ranked #27.
Eclipse Award
Champion
Easy Goer
; Alysheba
, winner of the Kentucky Derby
, Preakness Stakes
and the Breeders' Cup Classic
; Turkoman
, Strike the Gold
, Criminal Type
, Althea, Alydaress, Benchmark, Stella Madrid, and Miss Oceana
. He is also the broodmare sire of Peintre Celebre
, Cat Thief
, Anees, Ajina
, Aly's Alley, Gio Ponti
, and Lure
.
. Emergency surgery was performed the next day in an attempt to repair the injury, but the leg broke again. On November 15, Alydar was euthanized. At the time the owner of Calumet Farm was in dire trouble financially, and suspicions of foul play by the management were raised. John Thomas (J.T.) Lundy was indicted and convicted in 2000 on separate fraud charges and served nearly four years in prison. The farm's former attorney, Gary Matthews, was also convicted and received a 21-month prison sentence.
In Houston Federal Court, MIT Professor George Pratt testified that Alydar had to have been killed. He speculated that someone had tied the end of a rope around Alydar's leg and attached the other end of the rope to a truck that could easily have been driven into the stallion barn. The truck then took off, pulling Alydar's leg from underneath him until it snapped; he testified that the force involved was at least three times that which a horse was able to exert. About five days before Alydar's injury his original night watchman, Harold "Cowboy" Kipp, testified that he was at work on the farm when he was ordered to take Tuesday, November 13th off.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
race horse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
who was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
in all three races of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
, a feat not achieved before or repeated since.
Racing career
Trained by John M. VeitchJohn M. Veitch
John M. Veitch is an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer. The son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer Sylvester Veitch, his family has been part of the horse-training business for three generations....
(who also trained Alydar's half-sister, Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
winning Our Mims
Our Mims
Our Mims was a champion Thoroughbred racing mare and broodmare, and yet she came very close to dying abandoned in a field of cattle.-A grand beginning:...
) and ridden by jockey Jorge Velasquez
Jorge Velasquez
Jorge Velásquez is a thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey.Jorge Velasquez career in thoroughbred racing began in his native Panama but as a teenager moved to the United States...
, in 1978 Alydar dueled with Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
in all three legs of the Triple Crown he lost to his arch-rival by a combined total of less than two lengths. The 1978 Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
, the third (and final) leg of the series, is considered by many as one of the most exciting races in the history of the sport. In that race, Alydar and Affirmed dueled side-by-side from the middle of the far turn all the way to the wire, with Affirmed barely holding on to win by a head to claim the Triple Crown.
In his racing career Alydar won 14 of 26 starts, finishing second 9 times and third once, and earned purses totalling $957,195. He raced against Affirmed ten times in his career, winning three. Alydar was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
in 1989. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Alydar was ranked #27.
At stud
Alydar was a major success as a stallion. His offspring include Hall of FameHall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
Champion
Champion
A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...
Easy Goer
Easy Goer
Easy Goer was an American Champion Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse, famous for earning American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors in 1988, and defeating 1989 American Horse of the Year Sunday Silence in the Belmont Stakes by 8 lengths. The victory deprived Sunday Silence of the Triple Crown...
; Alysheba
Alysheba
Alysheba was an American Thoroughbred race horse who won two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987. A successful sire, he produced 11 stakes winners....
, winner of the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
, Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
and the Breeders' Cup Classic
Breeders' Cup Classic
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 year olds and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...
; Turkoman
Turkoman (horse)
Turkoman is an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. Owned and bred by Corbin J. Robertson, he was sired by 1989 United States Racing Hall of Fame inductee Alydar out of the Table Play mare, Taba, who was the Champion 2 year old Filly in Argentina.Raced under Corbin J. Robertson's Saron Stable...
, Strike the Gold
Strike the Gold
Strike the Gold is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1991 Kentucky Derby. Upon the death of 1987 Derby winner Alysheba in March 2009, Strike the Gold became the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner....
, Criminal Type
Criminal Type
Criminal Type was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He won two Eclipse Awards in 1990.-Background:A descendant of Nearco, he was bred at the famed Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky and owned in partnership with Jurgen K. Arnemann...
, Althea, Alydaress, Benchmark, Stella Madrid, and Miss Oceana
Miss Oceana
Miss Oceana was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won six Grade 1 stakes during her racing career and was sold for a World Record price as a broodmare....
. He is also the broodmare sire of Peintre Celebre
Peintre Celebre
Peintre Celebre, , is a champion thoroughbred racehorse.Bred and owned by Daniel Wildenstein , the renowned French art dealer and highly successful horseman, Peintre Celebre came from a line of outstanding thoroughbreds. He was a son of Nureyev, France's champion miler in 1980, who was in turn the...
, Cat Thief
Cat Thief
Cat Thief is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Regally bred, he is the son of Storm Cat, an outstanding Champion sire and the grandson of both the 20th Century's most important sire, Northern Dancer and whose damsire was the legendary U.S. Triple Crown champion, Secretariat. Cat Thief's dam was...
, Anees, Ajina
Ajina
Ajina is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.-Bckground:Bred by renowned horseman Allen E. Paulson, Ajina was purchased by Janice and Robert McNair's Stonerside Stable of Paris, Kentucky....
, Aly's Alley, Gio Ponti
Gio Ponti (horse)
Gio Ponti is a United States race horse and a specialist on the turf course. He was sired by Tale of the Cat, a son of Storm Cat, out of the stakes-placed Alydar mare Chipeta Springs, making him half-brother to stakes-winner Fisher Pond...
, and Lure
Lure (horse)
Lure is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and owned by Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, he is a son of the leading stallion Danzig, who in turn was sired by Hall of Famer and prominent sire Northern Dancer...
.
Suspicious death
On November 13, 1990, Alydar appeared to have shattered his right hind leg in his stall at Calumet Farms in Lexington, KentuckyLexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. Emergency surgery was performed the next day in an attempt to repair the injury, but the leg broke again. On November 15, Alydar was euthanized. At the time the owner of Calumet Farm was in dire trouble financially, and suspicions of foul play by the management were raised. John Thomas (J.T.) Lundy was indicted and convicted in 2000 on separate fraud charges and served nearly four years in prison. The farm's former attorney, Gary Matthews, was also convicted and received a 21-month prison sentence.
In Houston Federal Court, MIT Professor George Pratt testified that Alydar had to have been killed. He speculated that someone had tied the end of a rope around Alydar's leg and attached the other end of the rope to a truck that could easily have been driven into the stallion barn. The truck then took off, pulling Alydar's leg from underneath him until it snapped; he testified that the force involved was at least three times that which a horse was able to exert. About five days before Alydar's injury his original night watchman, Harold "Cowboy" Kipp, testified that he was at work on the farm when he was ordered to take Tuesday, November 13th off.
Further reading
- Auerbach, Ann Hagedorn. Wild Ride, The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm, Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty Henry Holt & CoHenry Holt and CompanyHenry Holt and Company is an American book publishing company. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt...
ISBN 0-8050-2003-9