Sunday, September 11, 1977

Affirmed, $4.40, Beats Alydar by a Nose

Harbor View Farm’s Affirmed continued to show who’s boss in the dramatic rivalry he’s been waging with Calumet’s Alydar by capturing the $112,000 Futurity yesterday before 25,500 spectators at Belmont Park.

The victory, the third by Affirmed in four meetings was scored by a nose. And it was a winning effort that made another rematch between the colts seem all the more inviting.

In triumphing, Affirmed outlasted Alydar in a tense stretch duel in which both jockeys put their mounts under sustained pressure.

Even after the race was finished, Eddie Maple, who had the leg up on the runner-up, refused to concede that Affirmed was Alydar’s master. The winner was ridden by 17-year-old Steve Cauthen who continues to lead jockeys in the two week old Belmont meeting.

NYT Strauss 9/11/77

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