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NYRA experts Top 5 Belmont Stakes: Victory Gallop and Affirmed thrill packed Belmont Park crowds

by Bob Ehalt

As the days draw closer to June 9 and Justify's bid for a Triple Crown sweep in the 150th edition of the Belmont Stakes comes into a sharper focus, it inevitably resurrects memories of the great champions before him who competed in the famed race for the last century and a half.

In honor of the milestone 150th Belmont Stakes, nine New York Racing Association personalities (David Aragona, Larry Collmus, Gabby Gaudet, John Imbriale, Paul Lo Duca, Andy Serling, Anthony Stabile, Greg Wolf and Maggie Wolfendale-Morley) have pooled their opinions to select the five best editions of the Triple Crown race known as the "The Test of the Champion."

Last week, the first round of poll results revealed that the 1989 Belmont Stakes, won by Easy Goer, and the 2007 Belmont Stakes, captured by the filly Rags to Riches, tied for fifth.

In this installment, we'll unveil the number three and four choices on that list, setting the stage for next Thursday, when the No. 1 and No. 2 choices will be announced and one unforgettable performance on a June afternoon in Elmont, New York, will become the crown jewel of the race that gave birth to 12 Triple Crown champions.

No. 4 - The 1998 Belmont Stakes, Victory Gallop

No other edition of the Belmont Stakes could match the 1998 Belmont for all of its drama, excitement and anxiety, both during and after the race.

A Triple Crown was on the line - as well as a $5 million bonus from Visa - as trainer Bob Baffert took a second swing in as many years at a sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, this time with Mike Pegram's Real Quiet.

It had been 20 years since Affirmed became the 11th Triple Crown winner, and there were fervent hopes among a crowd of 80,162 at Belmont Park that Real Quiet would end the two-decade-long drought. A winner by a half-length over Prestonwood Farm's Victory Gallop in the Derby, Real Quiet extended his margin over Victory Gallop when he finished 2 ¼ lengths ahead of his Elliott Walden-trained rival in the Preakness.

It surely seemed that Baffert's star 3-year-old had a date with destiny when jockey Kent Desormeaux and Real Quiet spurted away from their 10 rivals leaving the quarter pole in the 130th Belmont Stakes. As the crowd roared in anticipation of a historic victory, the 4-5 favorite quickly put several lengths between him and his closest pursuer as he reached the three-sixteenths pole.

Track announcer Tom Durkin framed the moment perfectly in his call, saying, "As they arrive at the top of the stretch, Real Quiet has taken the lead. He's coming to the eighth pole, 20 years in the making, one furlong to go."

By the eighth pole, Real Quiet had stretched his lead to a seemingly insurmountable four lengths, but in that final furlong the 1998 Belmont Stakes turned into one of the most thrilling and heart-stopping finishes in the 150-year history of the classic race.

After Victory Gallop shifted into top gear on the backstretch in the Preakness and lacked his normal late kick, jockey Gary Stevens reverted to the colt's stretch-running style in the Belmont Stakes. Tenth after the opening half-mile, Victory Gallop rallied strongly two-wide on the turn, then shifted outside of the tiring pacesetter Chilito at the top of stretch and began cutting into Real Quiet's lead in earnest.

Just inside the sixteenth pole, Real Quiet drifted out, bumping and slowing the momentum of the onrushing Victory Gallop for a moment. Yet it was not enough to stop Victory Gallop from collaring Real Quiet as the two 3-year-olds hit the wire together with about an inch separating them.

With lasting fame and a multi-million bonus on the line, the excitement came through in every one of Durkin's words. "Victory Gallop, a final surge," he yelled. "It's going to be very close. Here's the wire. It's too close to call! Was it Real Quiet or was it Victory Gallop? A picture is worth a thousand words. This photo is worth five million dollars."

After a tense wait, Victory Gallop's number 11 was posted on the toteboard as the winner and groans from disappointed fans muffled the cheers of Victory Gallop's backers.

A Triple Crown was thwarted, but in its place horse racing and the Belmont Stakes had an unforgettable thriller of a race that still stands as one of the most vivid examples of why there's no better proving ground for the heart of a champion than the final furlong of the Belmont Stakes.

Ironically enough, the 150th Belmont Stakes will unite Baffert and Walden in Justify's bid for the Triple Crown. Trained by Baffert, the undefeated chestnut son of Scat Daddy is owned in part by WinStar Farm, where Walden serves as President/CEO and racing manager.

"It's funny how things turn out. Back in 1998, who would have thought Elliott and I would be trying to win the Triple Crown together?" Baffert said earlier this week. "I kidded him after the Derby that he cost me a Triple Crown and he told me I cost him a Derby." 

No. 3 - The 1978 Belmont Stakes, Affirmed

Affirmed and Alydar met 10 times in their legendary careers, but it was their showdown in the 1978 Belmont Stakes that stood head and shoulders above the other nine battles and rates among the gold standard for a rivalry in any sport.

There have been races more hotly contested than the 1978 Belmont Stakes, others of equal magnitude and some with tighter finishes. Yet it's that combination of two horses racing side-by-side for about seven furlongs with a Triple Crown hanging in the balance and hitting the wire heads apart that makes the 1978 Belmont Stakes as good of a race as the sport has ever seen.

The battles between Harbor View Farm's Affirmed and Calumet Farm's Alydar started in June of their 2-year-old season. Affirmed won four of their six clashes in 1977 and was named the champion 2-year-old male.

Yet in the 1978 Kentucky Derby, it was Alydar who was the 6-5 favorite but Affirmed who prevailed by a length-and-a-half under Steve Cauthen. After Alydar's belated rally in the Derby, jockey Jorge Velasquez put Alydar into motion sooner in the Preakness. The margin was closer, but once again Affirmed proved best, staving off Alydar by a neck in a fierce stretch battle.

The mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes seemed ideally suited for Alydar as the longer distance and sweeping turns at Belmont Park were viewed as the antidote for Affirmed's superior early speed.

As much as their previous battles fueled thoughts of a tremendous showdown, few could have anticipated what happened in their June 10, 1978 clash in the 110th Belmont Stakes.

Affirmed, as usual, grabbed the early lead in the abbreviated field of five and strolled through a leisurely opening half-mile in 50 seconds as the field entered the long backstretch. About a length behind Affirmed at that point, Velasquez shifted Alydar into top gear with about seven furlongs left and in a few strides he was alongside his rival in the pink and black silks. When Affirmed saw Alydar alongside him, trainer Laz Barrera's colt responded in the blink of an eye.

From that moment until they crossed the wire, Affirmed and Alydar were glued to each other's flank. As the pace quickened, with faster splits of 24 and 23 2/5 seconds to the mile marker, neither rival could gain much of a lead. 

Affirmed led narrowly around the final turn but when they reached the top of Belmont Park's long stretch, Alydar was on even terms with the Derby/Preakness winner. In the eyes of track announcer Chic Anderson, Alydar had a head in front at that point. But in the final furlong of the spectacular duel, it was Affirmed who dug down and responded to left-handed urging from Cauthen.

Affirmed edged away to a slight lead in the last desperate strides and crossed the wire a head ahead of Alydar to prevail in an unforgettable duel and become the 11th Triple Crown champion. For Alydar, after a race in which there was no loser, there was also a measure of lasting fame as even today, four decades later, it's nearly impossible to mention to Affirmed without reflexively saying Alydar.

"It was a blessing for racing," Cauthen said this week about the Affirmed-Alydar rivalry. "To have those two horses in the same year and then to have the great rivalry they developed at two, followed up by having the best Triple Crown series ever, it was something special. There was drama and excitement and above all I don't think there's ever been a race better than their Belmont when you consider what was on the line."

NEXT WEEK: The No. 1 and No. 2 editions of the Belmont Stakes.