Alydar (March 23, 1975 – November 15, 1990) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

race horse ''Race Horse'' was an 1850 clipper barque. She set a record of 109 days from New York to San Francisco during the first Clipper Race around the Horn. Construction ''Race Horse'' was similar to a barque built by Samuel Hall a few years earlier, ...

and sire. A chestnut colt, he was most famous for finishing a close second to

Affirmed Affirmed (February 21, 1975 – January 12, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the eleventh winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States), American Triple Crown. Affirmed was well known ...

in all three races of the 1978 Triple Crown. With each successive race, Alydar narrowed Affirmed's margin of victory; Affirmed won by 1.5 lengths in the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

, by a neck in the

Preakness Preakness may refer to: * The Preakness or Preakness Stakes, an American flat thoroughbred horse race held in Baltimore, Maryland * Preakness (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse from Preakness Stables * Preakness, New Jersey, a section of W ...

and by a head in the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

. Alydar has been described as the best horse in the history of Thoroughbred racing never to have won a championship. Alydar's fame continued when he got older. He died under suspicious circumstances.

Racing career

Trained by

John M. Veitch John M. Veitch (June 27, 1945 – February 14, 2023) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer. The son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer Sylvester Veitch, he belonged to a family that has been in the horse-training business for ...

(who also trained Alydar's half-sister,

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division. The trophy is made by a few small selected A ...

winning Our Mims) and ridden by jockey

Jorge Velásquez Jorge Velásquez (born December 28, 1946) is a Panamanian retired thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Jorge Velasquez's career in thoroughbred racing began in his native Panama but as a teenager moved to the United States. In 1967 he won more race ...

, in 1978 Alydar dueled with

in all three legs of the Triple Crown. He lost to his arch-rival by a combined total of less than two lengths across the three legs. The 1978

, 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 thrice. Alydar was inducted into the

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 horse racing, Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and Horse trainer, trainers. In 1955, the museum ...

in 1989. In the

Blood-Horse magazine ''The Blood-Horse'' (also referred to simply as ''Blood-Horse'' and displayed on its nameplate in upright all-capital letters without hyphenation as BLOODHORSE) is a news magazine that originated in 1916 as a monthly bulletin of the Thoroughbred ...

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 Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

Easy Goer Easy Goer (March 21, 1986 – May 12, 1994) was an American Champion American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse known for earning American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors in 1988, and defeating 1989 American Horse of the Year Sunday Silence ...

;

Alysheba Alysheba (March 3, 1984 – March 27, 2009) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987. A successful sire, he produced 11 stakes winners. A bay colt, Alysheba was sired by Alydar out of the mare Bel S ...

, winner of the

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...

and the

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 on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Champion ...

; Kandaly, 1994 Louisiana Derby winner; Turkoman,

Strike the Gold Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, ...

, Criminal Type, Althea, Alydaress, Benchmark, Stella Madrid, and

Miss Oceana Miss Oceana (1981–1988) 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. Background Bred and raced by Mark Hardin's and the Schwab families' N ...

. He is also the broodmare sire of

Peintre Celebre Peintre Celebre (17 March 1994 – 19 October 2018) was an American-bred, French-trained champion thoroughbred racehorse. He won the French Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1997. Background Peintre Celebre was bred and owned by busi ...

Cat Thief Cat Thief (foaled January 30, 1996 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. 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 ...

, Anees,

Ajina {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Ajina , image = , caption = , sire = Strawberry Road , grandsire = Whiskey Road , dam = Winglet , damsire = Alydar , sex = Mare , foaled = 1994 , country = United States , colour = Dark Bay , breed ...

, Aly's Alley,

Gio Ponti Giovanni "Gio" Ponti (; 18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more than a hu ...

, and Lure.

Suspicious death

On November 13, 1990, Alydar appeared to have shattered his right hind leg in his stall at

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. 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, but suspicions of foul play by the management were not raised until federal prosecutors investigated in the late 1990s. John Thomas (J.T.) Lundy was indicted and convicted in 2000 on separate but related fraud charges—

bribing Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

a bank executive for favorable loans—and served nearly four years in prison. The farm's former attorney, Gary Matthews, was also convicted and received a 21-month prison sentence. The ''Texas Monthly'' described Alydar's death as "a sweeping saga of greed, fraud, and almost unimaginable cruelty that could have been lifted straight from a best-selling

Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winn ...

horse-racing novel." Alydar is buried at Calumet Farm. In Houston federal court, MIT professor George Pratt testified that Alydar had to have been killed.Thoroughbred Heritage
Retrieved 2011-06-26. 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 13 off.

Rivalry with Affirmed

Final: Affirmed 7, Alydar 3 *In their final meeting, Affirmed drifted in, forcing Alydar to be taken up on the backstretch. While Affirmed finished ahead of Alydar, the stewards decided to disqualify Affirmed from first to second, giving Alydar the final win.

Pedigree

References

External links

QuickTime of stretch run of 1978 Belmont Stakes from NYRA

Alydar's career details

{{Authority control 1975 racehorse births 1990 racehorse deaths Chefs-de-Race Horse monuments Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 9-c United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees