Alydar

A recently completed portrait of Alydar, the tenacious rival of the 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed. Alydar famously finished second to Affirmed in all three legs of that contest, the combined losing margin being less than 2 lengths.

 

Though Alydar is nearly always mentioned in conjunction with his great rival, he was a tremendous racehorse in his own right. He faced Affirmed 10 times, and while he was victorious in only three of those meetings, he was such a determined runner that he is as much beloved by racing fans as if he had won them. And for all that, his racing resume is hardly shabby---it includes wins in the Champagne, the Great American, the Tremont, the Flamingo, the Florida Derby, the Bluegrass, the Travers, and the Whitney.

Alydar also proved to be an outstanding horse in the breeding shed, siring superstar Easy Goer; Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Breeders Cup Classic winner Alysheba; Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold; Travers winner Turkoman; Horse of the Year Criminal Type; and champion filly Althea to name just a few.

The sad story of Alydar's untimely demise is well-known, so I won't repeat it here. Instead, I'd rather remember Alydar for his incredible talent. Here's his run-away victory in the 1978 Whitney Handicap:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0zYBc-Z7yo

Disconnected

I have several unfinished posts I've meant to make here for the last few months, and with one thing or another, they haven't happened.Work has kept me very busy during the day, and prepping and painting models has kept me busy in the evenings. This means I haven't done any blogging here in WAAAAY too long. So, to catch up...

After one of the coldest...

snowiest...

and most unpleasant winters in recorded Chicago history, spring was slow to arrive.

The crazy cold temps were not conducive to priming or sealing horses which made painting a slow process, but once May rolled around, the weather finally improved. It actually became pleasant to be outside. It was quite a novel experience.

Spring and summer have been surprisingly cool and un-humid (until the last week or so) which allowed me to make huge strides with finishing commissioned pieces.

 

It's been a very quiet summer for me otherwise though. I wasn't able to make it to Springamathing this year, alas, and while I did go to BreyerFest, the weekend passed all too quickly. I enjoy chatting with my hobby friends online, but I really, really miss getting to spend time with them in person. Because of this, I've been feeling disconnected from the hobby lately. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to any shows in my area anytime soon, but I'm going to (really, for real, seriously) try to keep this blog and my collectibility blog more active. If I'm writing about the hobby and my participation in it, such as it is, maybe I won't feel like such a recluse. Fingers crossed!