US GREAT AFFIRMED DIES Affirmed, the last horse to win the US triple crown, has died. He had been suffering leg problems for several months and was put down last night at the age of 26. The horse was a champion at two, three and four in America and won 22 of his 29 races, earning nearly 2.4million dollars in prize money. But he will be best remembered for scooping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1978, getting the better of Alydar each time in a rivalry which became legendary. He was trained by Lazaro S. Barrera and ridden by the then 18-year-old Steve Cauthen, who last night told Associated Press: 'He was basically the best horse I ever rode, the most intelligent. 'He was just a horse of tremendous courage. He loved to race. He was a great horse to ride.' Affirmed, twice voted US horse of the year, was retired to stud in 1979 at Spendthrift Farm and moved in 1991 to Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, where he was based at the time of his death. Among the good horses he sired were the Paul Cole-trained Group One winners Bint Pasha and Zoman. Seattle Slew is now the only living triple crown winner, having won the three US classics in 1977.
