Legends

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The Sport’s Great Rivalries: Affirmed and Alydar

There are millions of words that can be used to describe the intense emotions rolled into a classic rivalry.

Yet there’s just one word, with only three letters, that stamps certain athletic battles as those rare confrontations that can withstand the test of time and grow even more legendary with each passing generation.

And.

It’s that simple.

Whenever you cannot name one participant without the reflexive action of adding that “and” for the second one, you know you have something truly special.

Yankees and Red Sox.

Celtics and Lakers.

Swale: Claiborne’s Kentucky Derby Winner

In some ways, Swale can be considered the Riva Ridge of the 1980s.

Both were champions.

Each of them were obscured by a famous stablemate for part of their career.

They also registered the first Kentucky Derby win for one of the sport’s most famous farms.

Both suffered a loss in the Preakness that kept them from sweeping the Triple Crown.

Yet Swale did not save his farm, like Riva Ridge did (sorry, folks, the Secretariat movie got that part wrong).

Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Thoroughbred racing, Belmont Stakes

Seven Influential People Who Helped Make Saratoga So Special

The name Saratoga is synonymous with the best that racing can be. Each year, the Saratoga Race Course summer meet lures fans from across the country to experience the sport in an area that harkens back to a different time. Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is a timeless place that is both classic and modern, a place where history is celebrated and memories are made.

Julie Krone achieved much in her riding career, including a Belmont Stakes victory aboard Colonial Affair in 1993.

Julie Krone: Always in the Moment, Always About the Horse

When Julie Krone was riding, it was always on to the next race, on to the next day, on to the next track, allowing precious little time to celebrate her accomplishments, no matter how unprecedented they were.

“When you are younger,” Krone said in 2014, “you are so in the moment.”

Krone is now 60 years old, a wife to BloodHorse columnist Jay Hovdey, and a caring mother to Lorelei. She has had time to put perspective on it all.

“I went through all these different phases. Now I look at it that it’s really cool. I really did that,” she said.

Famed sportswriter Bill Corum, “run for the roses,” Kentucky Derby, Col. Matt Winn, Churchill Downs, Eclipse Sportswire.

Kentucky Derby Forefathers: Bill Corum, Famed Sportswriter Coined Phrase ‘Run for the Roses’

Over its 150-year history, the Kentucky Derby has had its share of forefathers, figures who created and nurtured this racing tradition as it evolved from a Kentucky stakes into a bucket-list experience.

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