Affirmed Forever
by David
Goodall
Preakness day 2001, and I was
about as far from Pimlico as one could be without the need of a passport. I
came to Hollywood Park to place a few bets, visit some of my favorite horses
and enjoy the atmosphere of a lifestyle that is unique to a track backside.
Little did I know, I would encounter a member of Triple Crown history in the
form of a lone elderly woman and an old Polaroid picture.
After a morning of visiting some horses with my friend Karen, we made our way to the cafeteria area overlooking the backstretch. It was there that I noticed an elderly woman pacing the floor of the sparsely occupied room. She was wearing an inexpensive hat--a white hat with a yellow bill- with 14 black, iron-on letters emblazoned across the front. They spelled out two words: ALANIZ and AFFIRMED. As the time for the Preakness grew near, the room suddenly filled, and the woman wearing the hat quickly disappeared into the crowd.
We made our way to the clusters of televisions placed strategically around the cafeteria. Many people were sitting and staring at the screens, while others were walking back and forth to the betting windows. Some were betting on a Triple Crown possibility, others were betting that the losing streak would continue. I made my final bet, after changing my mind several times and walked back to my seat. I turned up the monitor as the horses began to enter the gate. Somewhere nearby she stood--the woman in the yellow and white hat--transfixed on a screen preparing for another step toward history.
"And... they're off!" the voice of Pimlico track announcer, Dave Rodman, reverberated through a room filled with quiet anticipation.
The horses rushed from the starting gate and within a few strides the Derby winner, Monarchos, was last. Could he make up the ground and keep his chances alive? As they reached the stretch, it became evident that the hopes of many were not to be. Monarchos was laboring and could not make up the ground. Point Given pulled away in the end, and dashed the hopes for the chance of a Triple Crown.
As I looked around the crowded room--full of trainers, grooms, owners, track workers and all types of horsemen--I saw the look of resignation on many faces. It was a despair of having to wait yet another year for the far-reaching publicity a Triple Crown winner would bring to the sport. A despair that only IF the Derby favorite, Point Given, had won the Derby, could we have had a Triple Crown? Among the sea of disappointed faces, there she was. Her hat seemed as bright white as ever, and the words, ALANIZ and AFFIRMED stood out in bold block letters.
She walked to our chairs. I had never met her, although Karen had chatted with her once or twice before. She walked over, and stood in front of us. There was a bright smile beaming across her face. She was clutching a photo, and when she spoke, her words were sometimes difficult to understand--but her message came through loud and clear. The woman held out her hand, proudly displaying a fading Polaroid picture.
"This is a picture of my husband and Affirmed. He was Affirmed's groom." She told us happily.
"Affirmed is the last Triple Crown winner, and now nobody can win it this year!"
We looked at the Polaroid photo as she held it, hands steady and wanting us to take in every inch of the picture. It was a picture of Affirmed standing nobly next to her late husband Juan Alaniz. Karen had mentioned that the times they met before, Mrs. Alaniz carried a wrinkled, thin ordinary plastic bag. Yet there was nothing ordinary about it's contents. The bag contained pictures, letters and all types of memorabilia. Memories of her beloved husband Juan and the mighty Affirmed.
Mrs. Alaniz seemed so proud, telling us about the stretch of 25 years between Citation and Secretariat. It was the longest time since its inception that there was no new Triple Crown winner. Mrs. Alaniz explained that it now has been 23 years since Affirmed won the Triple Crown. Her hope was to see the 25-year record surpassed. A feat that would place Affirmed in the history books once again.
The past 23 years were not uneventful though. Seeing her that day, I can only imagine the tough years that the Derby winner DID win the Preakness. The tension she and Juan endured must have been immense. The year following Affirmed's Triple Crown was 1979. Spectacular Bid won the Derby and the Preakness with overwhelming ease. People began wondering aloud that maybe the Triple Crown was too easy to win now, and perhaps they should make it more difficult. All that changed when the unthinkable happened and Spectacular Bid lost the Belmont to Coastal. One year down, and it must have seemed an eternity to go.
She and Juan weathered that storm three more times together. Through Pleasant Colony in1981, Alysheba in 1987, and finally Sunday Silence in 1989. Then in 1995, her husband and love, Juan, was gone... Juan died as a result of smoking, she explained.
"Now, don't you smoke!" She told us, shaking her finger in the air so the words would leave their mark.
"Juan was 63 years old.... and he was 16 years younger than me."
Without Juan by her side, she was now forced to hold the torch of Affirmed alone. The torch must have been heavy, because the next five years would prove to be unforgettable.
The first blow was delivered by a horse named Silver Charm. Silver Charm won the Derby, the Preakness and three tense weeks later was narrowly defeated by Touch Gold in the Belmont.
The most anxious of those Triple Crown years must have been the 'Quiet' year, 1998. Real Quiet was a horse bought for $17,000 and nicknamed 'The Fish' by his trainer, because of his narrow shape. He was not thought of as a strong Derby contender. But when he stormed to the lead and won the Derby and the Preakness, all eyes were set on Belmont once again. Elmont, New York. The Triple Crown ultimately came down to the stretch run, and Real Quiet was far in front. It seemed the Triple Crown curse had finally been broken. Real Quiet was alone on the lead with no threat in sight. The Belmont crowd was overwhelmed with emotion. Mrs. Alaniz surely was not.
Then he emerged, Victory Gallop, flying from what appeared to be miles behind the Triple Crown leader. On invisible wings he seemed to glide along the New York soil. Closer and closer, yet it still appeared there would be no way to catch Real Quiet now. It was then that Mrs. Alaniz must have closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Juan must have reached from beyond and pushed this little horse along. They finally hit the wire as one.
Silence.
I saw the crowd, the confused faces all along the stands. Trainers shaking their heads. Jockeys asking each other, "Who won?" For two minutes and forty seconds this went on. Do we have a Triple Crown winner after all these years? I doubt Mrs. Alaniz opened her eyes once in that Two minutes and forty seconds. And then the answer the world feared most came flashing on the boards.... No! There will be no Triple Crown this year. The sorrow abruptly set in for all those who witnessed this moment in time. It was a moment that will literally be frozen forever, in a photo finish. Victory Gallop's nose just ahead of the weary "Fish."
Finally, Mrs. Alaniz could unclench her fists, and open her eyes. She must have been the only person left in the room at that moment, sitting at 'her' table, a round table. In fact it is the only round table in the room. She had told us of the time Hollywood Park placed the table there. It was installed in honor of her husband Juan, and another of his great horses. A horse called Round Table. There was no plaque, no sign, no acknowledgment of its history, only it's symbolism.
Nineteen-ninety nine was the final Triple Crown opportunity of the Millennium. An unassuming former claimer named Charismatic shocked the world by winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown. He was subsequently injured in the Belmont, and placed third.
In 2000, the racing world thought the year, and the horse had finally arrived. Fusaichi Pegasus, a noble looking horse, dominated the Derby and became the first favorite to win the race since Spectacular Bid in 1979. The excitement he brought was tremendous. The press had virtually anointed him the new Triple Crown winner. But when he didn't fire in the Preakness, the excitement we all felt turned to despair yet again. For all that is, but Mrs. Alaniz.
Which brings us back to an easier year, this year. The Derby winner didn't win the Preakness, and a burden is lifted off the shoulders of a woman, who has carried too much already. Another year can now go by without the worries of the record. Juan and his beloved horse had done their job once again.
As she was talking, we noticed the tear in her eye. It was a tear of pride that the streak will not be broken this year. Her eyes then seemed to gaze off in the distance, toward the Hollywood Park grandstands. We could nearly see her thoughts as the tear turned to a gleam. She must have felt Juan's elation radiating from afar. With the picture in hand, she motioned to the floor and told us, as she's now 85 years old, she will likely be in the ground before there is another Triple Crown winner.
With that and a smile, she was gone. Like an epiphany, her impression was made, and she moved on between the chairs and disappeared through the swing of a door.
Of all the disappointments that Saturday in May held, this memory will stay in my mind. The feelings this woman conveyed in the short time we met will last forever. The pride of a Thoroughbred and the heart of a champion, had somehow made it's way to a solitary woman, living a life in a bygone time.
How fitting it was, that the first horse we saw that day as we entered the stables, was a lively chestnut filly. She had a small white star, and was a shining reflection of her sire. The filly's name is Affluent, and her father, the great Affirmed. Fresh off a win the night before, it's remarkable how things in this sport come full-circle. With the death of Affirmed on January 12, 2001, the eyes of racing must focus on these, a new generation of greatness. One hero passes, yet the strength of his bloodline lives on in his offspring. Will the next Triple Crown winner be a son or daughter of the late Affirmed? One can only hope.
Next year, if the Derby winner loses the Preakness, there will still be the unhappy feelings of another Triple Crown loss, but just remember... This little old lady wandering the backstretch of Hollywood Park, with the pride she possesses and the memory she holds dear to her heart.
I picture her now, laying in bed. The lengthy three hour bus ride from Hollywood Park behind her. The old fading photo of her beloved Juan and his noble Affirmed placed gently on the night stand beside her bed. The white and yellow cap with ALANIZ and AFFIRMED, hanging on a peg behind the door.
And just before she drifts off to sleep, one thought flows softly through her mind...
"My husband was Affirmed's groom... and Affirmed is still the King!"
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not wearing her ALANIZ AFFIRMED hat on this day, as she only wears the hat for the days of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont. photo by Karen Klein |