The Greatest Race of All Time.

The 1978 Belmont Stakes, Affirmed and Alydar, still the best horse race I ever saw:

Triple Crown.

Not even Secretariat's trainer Lucien Laurin was going around predicting his horse would win the 1973 Triple Crown.

Secretariat didn't have any problem with his feet, either.

Speaking of the Triple Crown, in another installment in a series of videos, former jockeys Jorge Velasquez (Alydar) and Steve Cauthen (Affirmed) talk about the 1978 Belmont Stakes, perhaps the greatest race of all time.

It's Been 30

long years since horse racing has had a Triple Crown winner, and it's long overdue.

What the sport needs is another Affirmed-Alydar rivalry, or hell, another Secretariat, to help revive its popularity.

Let's take a look at the 1978 Kentucky Derby, which Affirmed won by the largest margin of any of the three races. Dave Johnson, for ABC, calls the race:

To Celebrate Affirmed's

win of the 1978 Triple Crown, jockeys Jorge Velasquez and Steve Cauthen recall the great rivalry between the winner and Alydar.

Former Trainer

John Veitch gave an online chat:

Winooski, VT:
What is your fondest memory of Alydar?

Veitch:
My fondest memory at the very end when we sent him back to the farm in Kentucky. In my own mind, I was thinking that Alydar would never remember me but I would remember him the rest of my life. Mrs. Markey was still alive and for a number of years after that I would always go to the farm and look at the yearlings. Any time I would go to the farm I would always visit him. But it wasn’t the same. For those 2 ½ years he was so much a part of my life. Melvin Cinnamon, the farm manager, and Eull Rice, the farm trainer, had seen so many great ones come through over the years and as a weanling they saw something in Alydar that really impressed them. They had so much high expectations, they saw something in Alydar as a weanling and yearling. He came to me with such high expectations and he lived up to them, he was special.

And:

Chantilly, VA:
In hindsight, do you think there was anything you might have done with Alydar that might have helped him beat Affirmed; e.g. change of equipment, jockeys, learn to change leads, run up the rail, etc.?

Veitch:
I really don’t. I have gone over it a thousand times in my head. One thing the public probably doesn’t know is that Alydar almost never changed leads in the afternoon but in the mornings he changed leads perfectly. But there was just something about the intensity of the way he did things that precluded him from changing leads. It would be one thing if he wouldn’t do it in the morning, which would give us something to work on. It did put him a little bit of a disadvantage. I took blinkers off after the Preakness going into the Belmont, and a number of riders rode him, Jorge Velasquez rode him the most and was a perfect fit for him, although Alydar had so much natural ability almost any rider could have ridden him and done well. I would like to have another shot.

And this:

Pompano Beach, FL:
My hearty congratulations on a well deserved induction into the Hall of Fame this August. I recently finished re-reading Ann Hagedorn Auerbach's "Wild Ride.” I was wondering if your opinions have changed over time regarding the fatal events of the Alydar’s death and the reasons behind Calumet's demise?

Veitch:
My feelings have always been that something nefarious happened to the horse. I can’t apply to blame to anybody, but the incident happened under some very suspicious circumstances that were unexplainable to me.

I disagree with Veitch on this. Horses break their legs all the time, even off the track.

I didn't like A Wild Ride for that reason. There was no evidence of anything nefarious.

This is the 1978 Belmont Stakes with Affirmed and Alydar. Still the best race I ever saw.