Alysheba Is a Favorite Son : Alydar’s Stature as Sire Is Affirmed Once Again

Charlie Rose is an exception. He must be the only horseman around who isn’t in love with Alydar these days.

With Alysheba, the brilliant son of Alydar, an 8-5 favorite to win Saturday’s Belmont Stakes and sweep the Triple Crown, hosannas for the 12-year-old sire are ringing far and loud.

Some extremists with scant sense of history are even suggesting that Affirmed wasn’t better than Alydar on the track. The record, however, is clear on that point. In their 10 meetings over two years, Affirmed finished first 8 times, losing one decision on a foul. In the 1978 battle for the Triple Crown, which Affirmed won, Alydar was second in all three races.

But at stud, from the time he was introduced to his first mare, Alydar has been Affirmed’s superior, and by a much wider margin than the noses and necks that frequently separated them in one of racing’s most exciting rivalries.

Alydar’s glossy reputation as a stallion was never veneer, and with the emergence of Alysheba, it is even more lustrous.

This makes Calumet Farm happy, since it bred and raced Alydar and continues to stand him at stud in Lexington, Ky.

It also makes the few shareholders in Alydar happy, since their original $2.5-million breeding investments can only appreciate.

It makes the foal-sharing breeders happy, for they can continue to send their mares to Alydar with the confidence that the progeny are going to bring high prices at ritzy yearling sales. Foal-sharing is an arrangement in which the owner of a mare retains the foals in alternate years, with the other offspring going to the farm where the stallion stands.

It makes John Veitch happy, because he trained Alydar and, after being shut out for a few years when Calumet fired him, has quietly regained an annual breeding right, which, if a breeder wants to buy it, is estimated to be worth $350,000.

Even Louis Wolfson, who raced Affirmed and retains a substantial breeding interest, is happy. “If Alysheba wins the Belmont, that makes Affirmed look even better,” Wolfson said.

So almost everybody’s happy.

Except Charlie Rose.

Rose, still an assistant trainer for Veitch, was Alydar’s regular exercise rider when the colt started his career in 1977. He has wearied of listening to how everybody is embracing his old riding buddy.

“I don’t want to hear any more about Alydar,” Rose said this week in the Belmont Park track kitchen, where he was ordering coffee for Veitch’s barn crew. “I worked hard with that horse and didn’t get much out of it.

“He didn’t beat Affirmed much, but John (Veitch) still got his share (usually 10%) of the purses and then he’s got that breeding right, and we all know what that’s worth.

“Me, I got hardly anything. My deal was 1% of the winning purses only. So every time Affirmed beat us, it really hurt. I figured it up the other day: Alydar had about $500,000 in winning purses, so I got around $5,000 of that. After the government got through, I wound up with about $3,500. Everybody else got rich off of that horse.”

The overkill talk about Alydar might have pushed Rose to the brink, but at least he remains loyal to the horse through his license plates. They read, “Alydar 2.” Rose says that Alydar 1 was the horse himself.

That Alydar is one of the most popular studs, and that a one-time breeding service to Affirmed can be obtained for a paltry $50,000, is not that much of a surprise to most horsemen. Veitch predicted the flip-flop in the colts’ fortunes, because Alydar was a more robust-looking horse than Affirmed and, more importantly, the bloodlines on the side of Alydar’s dam--Sweet Tooth--are more aristocratic.

The family on Alydar’s sire’s side was never considered shabby, either. Raise a Native, the sire, was, ironically, raced by Wolfson, and his forebears include Native Dancer, horse of the year in 1952, and Discovery, who won the same award in 1935.

The average auction price of one of Alydar’s yearlings has been $524,683. Affirmed’s progeny have been worth $205,418. Recent figures show that Alydar’s offspring have earned $10.5 million, Affirmed’s only $3.6 million.

Because Alydar is already an accomplished stallion, the man who manages his stud career doesn’t believe a Triple Crown by Alysheba will increase the sire’s value that much. A win Saturday could, however, make a $20-million horse out of Alysheba.

“Alydar would go up some as a stud if Alysheba wins,” said J.T. Lundy, president of Calumet Farm. “But he’s already in a league with the other top sires--Seattle Slew, Danzig and Mr. Prospector. Considering the (depressed) market, how much higher could he go? He’s at the top now.”

There is still another irony to this sequel to the Affirmed-Alydar story. In the Kentucky bluegrass, they used to service their mares 13 miles apart, Alydar always at Calumet and Affirmed at Spendthrift Farm.

But Spendthrift is among numerous Kentucky nurseries that have bottomed out financially in recent years, and in fact is reeling after several management changes and a public stock offering failed to bring it off the ropes.

Because of the fiscal chaos, Wolfson and his syndicate moved Affirmed from Spendthrift to Calumet for this spring’s breeding season. Affirmed and Alydar are now more than neighbors, they are literally stallmates at Calumet.

That gives Lundy license to talk up Affirmed. The stallion needs a campaign manager. Persevered is one of the few of his offspring to win a major race, and because of injuries he was on the sidelines for this year’s Triple Crown races.

“We feel that Affirmed will be bred to some pretty good mares at Calumet,” Lundy said. “He’s still dangerous as a sire.”

By contrast, Alydar began siring champions with his first crop and he has been accounting for important horses ever since. Even before Alysheba, the list was formidable: Althea, Miss Oceana, Endear, I’m Sweets, Saratoga Six and Turkoman.

Alysheba has already added to the list with his wins in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but there is at least one trainer at Belmont Park--Woody Stephens--who suggests that being a son of Alydar might be a disadvantage in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.

Stephens, with an unprecedented five straight Belmont wins, will be trying to spoil Alysheba’s party with Gone West and Conquistarose Saturday.

Stephens trained Miss Oceana, who won three major races, earned $1 million and was sold for a record $7 million as a broodmare prospect; and Endear, another major winner who once beat Lady’s Secret, one of racing’s top females and the horse of the year in 1986.

“Neither one of those fillies could go much farther than a mile and an eighth,” Stephens said. “So you have to wonder whether Alysheba can handle the Belmont distance.”

The 1 miles of the Kentucky Derby were no obstacle for Alysheba. Jack Van Berg, who trains Alysheba, isn’t making any promises for the Belmont, but he has gut feelings.

“If a trainer comes up to you before a horse runs a mile and a half and tells you that he can go that far, he’s just blowing smoke,” Van Berg said. “You don’t know until they try it. But this horse has given every indication that he’ll be able to do it. We’ll know about 5:30 Saturday.”

If Alysheba’s indications turn to further achievements, there’ll be reason for a full-blown party at staid Calumet Farm. Even Charlie Rose might break down and celebrate a little.