| Color: dk ch
(USA)
Alydar was a chestnut American thoroughbred race horse who was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a feat not achieved before or repeated since.In his racing career Alydar won 14 of 26 starts, finishing second 9 times and third once, and earned purses totalling $957,195. He raced against Affirmed ten times in his career, winning three.The 1978 Belmont Stakes, the third (and final) leg of the series, is considered by many as one of the most exciting races in the history of the sport. In that race, Alydar and Affirmed dueled side-by-side from the middle of the far turn all the way to the wire, with Affirmed barely holding on to win by a head to claim the Triple Crown. On November 13, 1990, Alydar appeared to have shattered his right hind leg in his stall at Calumet Farms in Lexington, Kentucky.In Houston Federal Court, MIT Professor George Pratt testified that Alydar had to have been killed.He speculated that someone had tied the end of a rope around Alydars leg and attached the other end of the rope to a truck that could easily have been driven into the stallion barn. The truck then took off, pulling Alydars leg from underneath him until it snapped; he testified that the force involved was at least three times that which a horse was able to exert. About five days before Alydars injury his original night watchman, Harold Cowboy Kipp, testified that he was at work on the farm when he was ordered to take Tuesday, November 13th off.
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