Photo:

Sue Kawczynski / Eclipse Sportswire

Patrice Wolfson, who bred and owned three-time champion Affirmed with her husband Louis, died Tuesday in Bal Harbour, Fla.

Affirmed is most famous for his 1978 Triple Crown victories over Alydar. He won Eclipse awards as top 2-year-old of 1977, the top 3-year-old and horse of the year for 1978, and the top older horse and horse of the year in 1979. He was inducted into the racing Hall of Fame in 1980.

He was retired after a seven-race win streak in 1979 with a career record of 29: 22-5-1 and earnings of $2,383,818.

Patrice and Louis Wolfson owned Harbor View Farm in Ocala, Fla., which also bred and owned Flawlessly, a daughter of Affirmed and fellow Hall of Famer. She earned $2.5 million in her career and was champion grass female in 1992 and 1993.

Wolfson was the daughter of trainer Hirsch Jacobs, as BloodHorse reported, and owned stakes winners before she married Louis Wolfson in 1972. He died in 2007. The Wolfsons sold Harbor View Farm in 1977, BloodHorse noted, but continued to breed and race under the name until 2012.

Steve Cauthen rode Affirmed to his Triple Crown victories.

“”She was a great horsewoman,” he told BloodHorse. “She loved Affirmed like a son, she was so in love with the horse. She was a wonderful lady, and from one of the royal families of racing. We were on the magic carpet ride together. I was just glad they let me stay on the carpet as long as they did.”

In a 2008 column for BloodHorse, Wolfson wrote, “Affirmed was both the focal point and cement that would bind my husband’s and my wonderful 35-year relationship. From the outset of our marriage in Miami in 1972, we dearly enjoyed driving up to spend time at Harbor View Farm near Ocala. It was there, in 1975, that we first noticed a flashy little chestnut colt that loved to show his heels to his contemporaries. Through it all, Affirmed never lost that sweet gentleness first observed when Lou and I sat on that fence watching the foals romp through the pasture at Harbor View Farm.”