Alydar (horse)

Won Champagne Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
Won Sapling Stakes (USA-G1, 6FD, Monmouth)
Won Great American Stakes (USA, 5.5FD, Belmont)
Won Tremont Stakes (USA, 6FD, Belmont)
2nd Hopeful Stakes (USA-G1, 6.5FD, Saratoga)
2nd Futurity Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Belmont)
2nd Laurel Futurity (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Laurel)
2nd Remsen Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Aqueduct)

1978:

Won Florida Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
Won Flamingo Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Hialeah)
Won Blue Grass Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Keeneland)
Won Travers Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Saratoga; by disqualification of Affirmed)
Won Arlington Classic Stakes (USA-G2, 10FD, Arlington Park)
Won Whitney Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Saratoga)
2nd Kentucky Derby (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
2nd Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
2nd Belmont Stakes (USA-G1, 12FD, Belmont)

1979:

Won Nassau County Handicap (USA-G3, 9FD, Belmont)
2nd Carter Handicap (USA-G1, 7FD, Aqueduct)
2nd Oaklawn Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Oaklawn)
3rd Suburban Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Belmont)

Honors

National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1989)
Saratoga Hoofprints Walk of Fame (inducted as part of the inaugural class in 2013)
Monmouth Park Hall of Champions

Assessments

Alydar was rated #27 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).

Rated at 125 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1977, 1 pound below champion Affirmed.

Rated at 135 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old males of 1978, 1 pound below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Affirmed.

Rated at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older males of 1979, 8 pounds below divisional champion and Horse of the Year Affirmed but tied for second with Sensitive Prince.

As an individual

Alydar stood 16.1½ hands. A big, muscular chestnut horse with a good disposition, he was sounder and stayed better than most of the Raise a Native tribe. His gameness and generosity on the track were unquestioned, leading Calumet trainer John Veitch to say of him, “From a standpoint of heart, no other horse I ever [trained] had as much.” He became more difficult and demanding as he aged and was inclined to bite. Nonetheless, he was not considered to be a mean or vicious animal in comparison to other breeding stallions; he was simply intelligent and determined to get what he wanted. He loved carrots as treats.

As a stallion

According to Jockey Club records, Alydar sired 376 winners (53.2%) and 77 stakes winners (10.9%) from 707 named foals. He was the first major Bluegrass stallion in many years to break the traditional book limit of 40 mares a season and was routinely breeding over 80 mares during the Northern Hemisphere season during his last few years at stud. During those years, he also bred a number of Thoroughbred mares on Southern Hemisphere time as well as servicing some Quarter Horses. Alydar is a Classic chef-de-race in the Roman-Miller dosage system.

Sire rankings

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

Led the American general sire list in 1990; 2nd in 1986-1989; 3rd in 1992; 7th in 1991; 8th in 1994.
2nd on the American broodmare sire list in 1999 and 2000; 3rd in 1997; 7th in 1993 and 1998; 10th in 2001.
8th on the English/Irish combined sire list in 1989.
Led the French broodmare sire list in 1997

Notable progeny

Althea (USA), Alydaress (USA), Alydar's Best (USA), Alysheba (USA), Beautiful Melody (USA), Cacoethes (USA), Cadillacing (USA), Clabber Girl (USA), Criminal Type (USA), Dare and Go (USA), Easy Goer (USA), Endear (USA), I'm Sweets (USA), Lindo Shaver (USA), Miss Oceana (USA), Saratoga Six (USA), Stella Madrid (USA), Strike the Gold (USA), Talinum (USA), Tis Juliet (USA), Turkoman (USA)

Notable progeny of daughters

A P Valentine (USA), Ajina (USA), Aldiza (USA), Alydeed (CAN), Amilynx (FR), Anees (USA), Cat Thief (USA), Diamond Biko (JPN), Easing Along (USA), Gio Ponti (USA), Ishino Sunday (JPN), Lakeway (USA), Lure (USA), Mahogany (USA), November Snow (USA), Peintre Celebre (USA), Personal Hope (USA), Secret Status (USA), Strolling Along (USA), Victory Speech (USA), Yamanin Paradise (USA)

Connections

Alydar was bred and owned by Calumet Farm (Admiral Gene Markey and Lucille Wright Markey). He was trained by John Veitch. He stood in Kentucky at Calumet Farm. The stallion was found in his stall with a fractured right hind leg on the night of November 13, 1990 and was humanely destroyed November 15 after fracturing his right femur while trying to get up after surgery. Foul play was suspected in his demise because of Calumet's financial woes but was never proven.

Pedigree notes

Alydar is outcrossed through five generations. Produced from 1977 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Sweet Tooth, he is a half brother to 1977 champion 3-year-old filly Our Mims (by Herbager) and to 1980 Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1) Sugar and Spice (by Key to the Mint), dam of Grade 2 winner Cinnamon Sugar (by Wild Again) and stakes winner Sure Turn (by Best Turn), second dam of Grade 3 winner Allspice and third dam of Grade 3 winner Country Flavor. Alydar is also a half brother to Gleaming Smile (by Gleaming), dam of stakes winner Grin (by Danzig) and second dam of Grade 3 winner Wildly Joyous, and to 'N Everything Nice (by Damascus), second dam of Grade 3 winner China Storm.

Alydar's family descends from Calumet foundation mare Blue Delight (by Blue Larkspur), who produced three winners of the Kentucky Oaks: Real Delight (1952), Bubbley (1953), and Princess Turia (1956). The last-named mare, a daughter of Heliopolis, produced 1968 co-champion 3-year-old male Forward Pass (by On-and-On), while two-time American champion Real Delight (a daughter of Bull Lea and full sister to Bubbley) is the second dam of 1982 champion 3-year-old filly Christmas Past (by Grey Dawn II) and the third dam of Alydar and his siblings.

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.
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.
Wild Ride, a history of Calumet's collapse, contains many details regarding Alydar's life. The book was written by Ann Hagedorn Auerbach and was published by Henry Holt and Company in 1994.
Alydar's rivalry with Affirmed 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.
Alydar is one of 75 stallions profiled in Tony Morris' Thoroughbred Stallions (1990, The Crowood Press).
Alydar is one of 205 stallions whose accomplishments at stud are profiled in Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (2006, The Australian Bloodhorse Review), a massive reference work written by Jennifer Churchill, Andrew Reichard and Byron Rogers.
Alydar 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.
Broken: The Suspicious Death of Alydar and the End of Horse Racing's Golden Age recounts author Fred M. Kray's quest to determine the truth behind Alydar's untimely death. Featuring a wealth of infomation mined from court records and personal interviews, it was released by Live Oak Press in 2023.
The New York Racing Association's footage of Alydar's win over Affirmed in the 1977 Champagne Stakes can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAkjz5wBVig.

Fun facts

According to Stephen Wolfson, son of Louis Wolfson, his father actually offered to buy Alydar, then a juvenile, but was refused.
Alydar's Belmont Stakes duel with Affirmed 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. Alydar's suspicious death in 1990 also made the list at #73.
The Affirmed—Alydar meeting in the 1978 Kentucky Derby was named the fourth best Kentucky Derby of all time in The 10 Best Kentucky Derbies, a Blood-Horse compilation released by Eclipse Press in 2005.
Alydar is the only horse ever to finish second in all three American Triple Crown races. He lost the series to Affirmed by a total margin of less than two lengths.
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.
Alydar's name is commonly believed to be a contraction for “Aly, darling,” which was Lucille Markey's pet mode of address for Prince Aly Khan.
The US$32 million insurance payout paid out on Alydar's death was the largest equine claim to that time for insurer Lloyd's of London.
The Alydar Stakes was inaugurated at Saratoga in 2013. It is a 9-furlong event on dirt for ages 4 and up.

Last updated: October 14, 2023