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
Affirmed starts with 1 second and 1 third as a four-year-old and earning $1,148,800. In his career, Affirmed earned a then record $2,393,818 (the first Thoroughbred in North America to win over $2 million) with 22 wins, 5 seconds and 1 third from 29 starts. His trainer, Laz Barrera, once said: "Affirmed is greater than Secretariat, or any Triple Crown winner, because only Affirmed had to face Alydar." Affirmed was syndicated at a then-record $14.4 million. At stud Affirmed sired over 80 stakes winners, 9 champions with earnings in excess of $44,000,000 (through 2004) including: Though Affirmed never raced on the