Skip to main content

Affirmed

I had to write today's post ahead of time since I'll be hanging out at the Kentucky Derby all day, and I wanted to feature one of the world's most prominent animal sporting events with a relevant post. Today we'll be learning all about Affirmed, the very last horse to win a Triple Crown, way back in 1978.

Alydar (front) & Affirmed (back)
Affirmed was born at Harbor View Farm in Florida in February 1975. He had some pretty impressive horses in his pedigree, including 1937 Triple Crown Champion War Admiral, Man O' War, and Gallant Fox.

By May 1977 he was entered in his very first race, which he won by 4 1/2 lengths. It was during his second race that he first met Alydar, the horse that would become his fiercest challenger. Affirmed and Alydar would strike one of horse racing's most epic rivalries.

Alydar and Affirmed faced each other ten times throughout their careers, including the Triple Crown Races. Alydar won three of those ten starts, but placed second in all three Triple Crown races, becoming the first horse to do so. Affirmed's margin of victory in the Derby was 1 1/2 lengths, the Preakness was a neck, and the Belmont was a mere nose! Quite the rivalry indeed!

Affirmed
Though he had a rocky end to his three year old career, including a disqualification and a 5th place finish, he was still named Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old in 1978. He raced as a four-year-old, winning 7 or 9 starts and being once again named Horse of the Year in 1979. At his retirement he totaled out at $2,393,818 in winnings, becoming the first American Thoroughbred to win over $2million.

Affirmed went to stud and produced 808 foals during 18 seasons, averaging a fee of $30,000. Interestingly, it was Alydar who had the last laugh at stud, producing a higher percentage of racing offspring, and hitting fees of $100,000.

Affirmed was euthanized in 2001 after suffering from severe Lamnitis, the same hoof disease that took fellow 1970s Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...
37 comments
Read more