Exactly 47 years after their final clash, Affirmed and Alydar remain inseparable in a saga of speed, controversy and two champions who made each other great.
This post was very fun! It brought me back to my youth when I would read Sports Illustrated every week, cover to cover. They had good coverage of horse racing, as I remember, and nice photos.
Thank you -- and I completely agree. Even growing up in the 1990s, I have fond/bittersweet memories of the many Triple Crown near-misses, especially Real Quiet, Smarty Jones and later Big Brown. I cried when American Pharoah won; I had been waiting my whole life to see it happen. But I hate how recent years have been marred by so many horses' deaths, it has definitely hurt my love for the sport. And I almost never write about it anymore in part because of that.
The Real Quiet / Victory Gallop races in '98 were terrific. I always remember Real Quiet never got much respect, while some mediocre champions like War Emblem got a ton.
There's just so much less money in racing now, and almost all of it at the very top. It's a zombie sport now, I guess.
This post was very fun! It brought me back to my youth when I would read Sports Illustrated every week, cover to cover. They had good coverage of horse racing, as I remember, and nice photos.
Lovely article. It's too bad horse racing isn't what it was decades ago. The Seventies in particular was an amazing time for horse racing.
Thank you -- and I completely agree. Even growing up in the 1990s, I have fond/bittersweet memories of the many Triple Crown near-misses, especially Real Quiet, Smarty Jones and later Big Brown. I cried when American Pharoah won; I had been waiting my whole life to see it happen. But I hate how recent years have been marred by so many horses' deaths, it has definitely hurt my love for the sport. And I almost never write about it anymore in part because of that.
The Real Quiet / Victory Gallop races in '98 were terrific. I always remember Real Quiet never got much respect, while some mediocre champions like War Emblem got a ton.
There's just so much less money in racing now, and almost all of it at the very top. It's a zombie sport now, I guess.