Affirmed (horse)

Won Hopeful Stakes (USA-G1, 6.5FD, Saratoga)
Won Futurity Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Belmont)
Won Laurel Futurity (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Laurel)
Won Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes (first division) (USA-G2, 6FD, Hollywood)
Won Sanford Stakes (USA-G2, 6FD, Saratoga)
Won Youthful Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, Belmont)
2nd Champagne Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
2nd Great American Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, Belmont)

1978:

Won Santa Anita Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Santa Anita)
Won Hollywood Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Hollywood)
Won Kentucky Derby (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
Won Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
Won Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
Won San Felipe Handicap (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
Won Jim Dandy Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Saratoga)
2nd Marlboro Cup Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
2nd Travers Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Saratoga; disqualified from first)

1979:

Won Charles H. Strub Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Santa Anita)
Won Santa Anita Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Santa Anita; new track record 1:58-3/5)
Won Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)
Won Californian Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Hollywood)
Won Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Hollywood)
Won Woodward Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)
2nd San Fernando Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Santa Anita)
3rd Malibu Stakes (USA-G2, 7FD, Santa Anita)

Honors

National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1980)
Saratoga Hoofprints Walk of Fame (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2013)
Arcadia Historical Society's Racing Walk of Champions (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2014)
Eclipse Award, American Horse of the Year (1978, 1979)
Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old male (1977)
Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old male (1978)
Eclipse Award, American champion older male (1979)

Assessments

Affirmed was rated #12 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by an expert panel assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).

In their book A Century of Champions (1999, Portway Press Ltd.), British experts John Randall and Tony Morris rated Affirmed as the sixth best North American racehorse of the 20th century.

Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1977, 1 pound above Alydar.

Highweighted at 136 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-olds of 1978, 1 pound above Alydar.

Highweighted at 134 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1978, 8 pounds above Alydar and Sensitive Prince.

As an individual

Affirmed stood 16.1 hands at maturity. A rather feminine-looking individual as a juvenile, the chestnut colt matured into a well-balanced racing machine with little to fault, more elegant and symmetrical than most descendants of Raise a Native. He was noted for his extreme determination on the track but was affectionate with people he knew well and was a kind and willing individual as both a racer and a stallion.

As a stallion

According to Jockey Club records, Affirmed sired 498 winners (57.3%) and 81 stakes winners (9.3%) from 869 named foals; The Blood-Horse credits Affirmed with 86 stakes winners (9.9%). His offspring had a surprising affinity for turf and generally stayed well.

Sire rankings

Per Arion Pedigrees (www.arion.co.nz):

9th on the New Zealand broodmare sire list in 2007/2008

Per Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, Churchill, Reichard, and Rogers):

3rd on the American broodmare sire list in 2004; 4th in 2003; 8th in 2002.
4th on the combined English/Irish broodmare sire list in 1994.
3rd on the Japanese broodmare sire list in 2000.

Notable progeny

Affluent (USA), Charlie Barley (USA), Flawlessly (USA), Morning Devotion (USA), One From Heaven (CAN), Peteski (CAN), Trusted Partner (USA), Zoman (USA)

Notable progeny of daughters

Balanchine (USA), Bernstein (USA), Chelsey Flower (USA), Dress to Thrill (IRE), Harlan’s Holiday (USA), Limpid (GB), Pleasantly Perfect (USA), Polished Gem (IRE)

Connections

A Florida-bred, Affirmed was bred and owned by Harbor View Farm (Louis and Patrice Wolfson). He was trained by Laz Barrera. He stood in Kentucky at Calumet Farm, Spendthrift Farm, and Jonabell Farm. He was humanely destroyed due to laminitis in 2001.

Pedigree notes

Affirmed is inbred 5x5 to Teddy. He is a full brother to She Won't Tell, dam of 1989 Futurity Stakes (USA-G1) winner Senor Pete (by Green Dancer). He is also a half brother to stakes winners Love You Dear (by Bold Native) and Won't She Tell (by Banner Sport), dam of English Group 3 winner White Crown (by Secreto), Grade 3 winner Drilling for Oil (by Giant's Causeway) and Grade 1-placed stakes winner Dr. Caton (by Seattle Slew). Won't She Tell is also the second dam of 2006 Prix de Diane (French Oaks, FR-G1) winner Confidential Lady and Canadian Grade 3 winner Honolua Storm. In addition, Affirmed is a half brother to In Memory (by Alydar), dam of restricted stakes winner Crownette (by Seattle Slew) and second dam of Grade 3 winner Chocolate Candy.

Affirmed's dam Won't She Tell was a good allowance mare and the best of seven winners produced from the Volcanic mare Scarlet Ribbon, also the dam of Coccinea (by Jaipur), dam of multiple stakes winner Splendid Girl (by Golden Eagle II) and second dam of eight stakes winners including 1986 French champion miler Thrill Show, 1991 Santa Ana Handicap (USA-G1) winner Noble and Nice and Grade 3 winners David's Bird and New Advantage. Scarlet Ribbon also produced Scarlet Rain (by Rainy Lake), dam of Grade 3 winner Loach (by Lines of Power) and stakes winners Red Showers (by Lyphard) and On Your Own Time (by Sharpen Up). The female line traces back to Correction, a crack sprinter in her own right and a full sister to the great Domino.

Books and media

Affirmed and Alydar is the 15th book in the Thoroughbred Legends series from Eclipse Press. It was written by Timothy T. Capps and was published in 2002.
“Affirmed” is Chapter 11 of The Most Glorious Crown by Marvin Drager (2005, Triumph Books).
Affirmed is the 11th of the 13 American Triple Crown winners featured in Edward Bowen's The Lucky 13: The Winners of America's Triple Crown of Horse Racing (2019, Lyon Press).
Affirmed: The Last Triple Crown Winner was released in 2011 by Thomas Dunne Books. It was written by Lou Sahadi and Steve Cauthen.
Duel for the Crown: Affirmed, Alydar, and Racing's Greatest Rivalry was written by Linda Carroll and David Rosner and was published by Gallery Books in 2014.
Affirmed's rivalry with Alydar was featured as the 14th chapter of Horse Racing's Greatest Rivalries (2008, Eclipse Press), a compilation produced by the staff of The Blood-Horse.
The story of Affirmed's Derby victory over Alydar is told in “The Rivalry,” the fourth chapter of The 10 Best Kentucky Derbies. Written by the staff and correspondents of The Blood-Horse, the book was released by Eclipse Press in 2005.
“Diary of a Derby Winner,” which tells the story of Affirmed's run-up to the Kentucky Derby and his victory in the great race, is the 12th chapter of Jim Bolus' Remembering the Derby (1994, Pelican Publishing Company).
Affirmed is profiled in Chapter 10 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
Affirmed is one of 50 Thoroughbreds profiled in Royal Blood: Fifty Years of Classic Thoroughbreds. Written by racing historian Jim Bolus with illustrations and commentary by noted equine artist Richard Stone Reeves, the book was released by The Blood-Horse, Inc., in 1994.
Affirmed is one the older Thoroughbreds profiled in essays and photographs in Barbara Livingston's Old Friends: Visits With My Favorite Thoroughbreds (2002, The Blood-Horse, Inc.).

Fun facts

Affirmed's Belmont Stakes duel with Alydar was ranked #9 in Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments, a review of racing in the 20th century compiled by The Blood-Horse and released in 2006. It was also ranked #99 on Sports Illustrated's March 8, 2016, list of the 100 greatest moments in sports history.
With ratings of 136 and 135 pounds, respectively, Affirmed and Alydar became the first pair of 3-year-olds ranked at 135 pounds or more in the same year on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for the division since Arts and Letters and Majestic Prince in 1969.
Affirmed has races named for him in both Florida and California. The Affirmed Stakes at Gulfstream Park is the second leg of the Florida Stallion Stakes series for 2-year-old Florida-bred colts and geldings and is run over 7 furlongs on dirt. The other Affirmed Stakes is a Grade 3 event for 3-year-olds and is currently run over 8.5 furlongs on dirt at Santa Anita.
In 1978, Affirmed became the youngest horse up to that time to reach US$1 million in earnings when he won the Kentucky Derby. He became the first American racehorse to reach US$2 million in earnings by winning the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup, a race that also made him the first American racehorse to win over US$1 million in a single season. The second horse to do so? Spectacular Bid, who reached that mark a fraction of a second later as he finished second to Affirmed by three-quarters of a length.
No horse has won both the Hopeful Stakes at 2 and the Kentucky Derby at 3 since Affirmed.
According to Patrice Wolfson, Affirmed's name represented her husband's belief that his innocence would still be affirmed even after his having served a nine-month federal prison term for offenses related to his activities on Wall Street.
Hall of Fame jockeys Steve Cauthen and Laffit Pincay, Jr., each regarded Affirmed as the best horse he had ever ridden.
According to former Spendthrift Farm general manager John Williams, Affirmed intensely disliked birds and would try to attack them if they were in range.
Laz Barrera's family sold the trophy that the trainer received for Affirmed's Triple Crown sweep some years ago in order to pay medical bills. In recent years, the trophy has reappeared on the sports memorabilia market. After being listed briefly on the Heritage Auctions website without changing hands, it resurfaced on the Pawn Stars reality show in 2018 with an asking price of US$500,000. According to the June 28, 2019, issue of Thoroughbred News Daily, it was being offered on eBay at that same price.
Affirmed was buried with a set of Harbor View Farm's racing silks.

Last updated: August 17, 2024