[2] Affirmed, under jockey Steve Cauthen, won the race by 1 1/2 lengths over Alydar.
[5][6] Affirmed won the Triple Crown by defeating Alydar by decreasing margins in the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
[5] Sensitive Prince and Affirmed, both frontrunners, were near the lead early in the race behind long shot Raymond Earl.
[2] 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.
[2][6] Alydar charged from the outside down the stretch, and overtook Believe It, despite the two horses bumping, but Alydar could not overtake Affirmed.