New York Racing Association Mickey and Karen L. Taylor, Tayhill Stable, Jim Hill, etc." 1978: Ridden by Steve Cauthen, Affirmed became the 11th horse to win the Triple Crown in storybook fashion. In all three Triple Crown races, he defeated Alydar, ridden by Jorge Velasquez, by a nose in one of racing’s epic rivalries. Two months later in the Travers, Affirmed finished first but is placed second for interfering with Alydar, who was declared the winner. Affirmed and Alydar would race 10 times in their careers, with Affirmed winning seven times. Cauthen was 18 when he captured the Triple Crown, the youngest jockey in
Triple Crown (baseball) won a Triple Crown and are eligible for the Hall of Fame have been elected to the Hall of Fame. The Triple Crown winners who most recently became eligible for the Hall are Pedro Martínez and Randy Johnson. Both were elected to the Hall of Fame in 2015, each in their first year of eligibility. The most recent major league pitchers to achieve the feat are Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, who won for the NL and AL, respectively, in 2011 (the first season since 1924 to see Triple Crown winners in both leagues). The first major league pitcher to