The 1978 Kentucky Derby was the 104th running of the Kentucky Derby. Affirmed, under jockey Steve Cauthen, won the race by 1 1/2 lengths over Alydar. Believe It finished 3rd, 1 1/4 lengths behind Alydar, and 30:1 longshot Darby Creek Road finished 4th. Affirmed won the Triple Crown by defeating Alydar by decreasing margins in the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
11 horses competed in the race. Alydar went into the race as a 6:5 favorite, despite Affirmed having won 4 of the 6 previous races between the two. Affirmed went off at 9:5. Sensitive Prince and Believe It were the only other horses to go off at less than 30:1, at 9:2 and 7:1 respectively. Sensitive Prince and Affirmed, both frontrunners, were near the lead early in the race behind long shot Raymond Earl. Sensitive Prince took the lead at the first turn, but Affirmed gained the lead at the second turn. After attaining the lead, Affirmed held it for the remainder of the race except for a brief moment when Believe It led by a head. Alydar charged from the outside down the stretch, and overtook Believe It, despite the two horses bumping, but Alydar could not overtake Affirmed.
Payout
The 104th Kentucky Derby Payout Schedule ProgramNumber Horse Name Win Place Show2 Affirmed$5.60$2.80$2.6010 Alydar - $2.60 $2.409 Believe It - - $2.80
Results Finished Post Horse Jockey Trainer Owner Time / behind Odds 1st 2 Affirmed Steve Cauthen Laz Barrera Harbor View Farm 2:01 1/59:5 2nd 10 Alydar Jorge Velásquez John M. Veitch Calumet Farm 16:5 3rd 9 Believe It Eddie Maple Woody Stephens Hickory Tree Stable 17:1 4th 7 Darby Creek Road Donald BrumfieldLou Rondinello James W. (Wally) & Jody Galbreath Phillips 30:1 5th 3 Esops Foibles Chris McCarron Loren Rettele Jerry Frankel 45:1 6th 11 Sensitive Prince Mickey Solomone H. Allen Jerkens Top of the Marc Stable (Joseph Taub) 9:2 7th 8 Dr. Valeri Rene Riera Jr. Aurelio M. Perez Virginio & Ronal Renzi 90:1 8th 5 Hoist the Silver Richard DePass Richard J. Fischer Washington Stud (Jack E. Dasso/D. Golab/Perry Levinson/E.M. Solomon) 99:1 9th 6 Chief of Dixieland Anthony Rini Jake Morreale Dixie-Jake, Inc. 99:1 10th 1 Raymond Earl Robert L. Baird Smiley Adams Robert N. Lehmann 99:1 11th 4 Special Honor Paul Nicolo Elwood D. McCann Linda Gaston & Alvin D. Haynes 99:1
Winning Breeder: Harbor View Farm; (FL)
References