LC: Superstitious creature that I am, I hate to say, but yeah. This year is the first year that I feel like it's really a possibility, but the idea that we would have two horses that are so closely matched, that's one in a million.īL: So, do you like California Chrome in the third jewel of the Triple Crown? How likely is it that we'll ever again see the great two-horse rivalry that Alydar and Affirmed provided us? So, what California Chrome doesn't have is a clear rival. Maybe this is the one that's going to do it."īL: This year, California Chrome beat Commanding Curve and Danza in the Derby, and Ride On Curlin and Social Inclusion finished second and third in the Preakness. When I first saw him in the two-year-old preps, all I thought about was, "This horse is so like Affirmed. It's interesting, because for me California Chrome is so reminiscent of Affirmed. There was this attitude that if the horse prepped on the West Coast, there was no way that it was going to be able to compete with "better horses" on the East Coast, kind of like today.
LC: Well, I think they did, and as it turned out, Alydar was the favorite despite the fact that Affirmed had a great record on the West Coast. So, people who followed horse racing must have anticipated a great duel at Churchill Downs. That's a long way to be duking it out.īL: Affirmed beat Alydar four of the six times they ran against each other before the 1978 Kentucky Derby, and three of those races required photo finishes. Alydar's trainer told the jockey, "You get up really close, and you push him because I think we have the horse that can do the distance better." And Alydar moved up after about a half-mile into this 1.5 mile race, and from that point on they were competing. LC: Well, the Derby wasn't as close as the other two, but it looked like in the Preakness that Alydar could maybe catch Affirmed. So, he shipped him out to the West Coast and developed the confidence that he could beat everything else.īL: Describe how close those three Triple Crown races in 1978 were. LC: I think he wanted to build Affirmed's confidence, and he was worried that if he kept racing with, his horse would never develop the confidence that he could win. Highlights from Bill's Conversation with Linda CarrollīL: After Affirmed and Alydar ran against each other as two-year-olds in Belmont's Great American Stakes, which Alydar won, Affirmed's trainer Laz Barrera said, "We've got to get him away from that big monster," meaning Alydar. Carroll spoke with Bill Littlefield about her book and the possibility of a new Triple Crown winner this year. In Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar, and Racing's Greatest RivalryLinda Carroll and David Rosner explore the lives of the horses themselves, the tracks where the contests took place and the unforgettable people surrounding the events. Under jockey Steve Cauthen, Affirmed beat Alydar in each of the crown's three jewels. The most recent horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed.
California Chrome, winner of both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, is favored to win the Belmont Stakes.
For the first time since 1978, thoroughbred horse racing may have a Triple Crown winner.
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