Alysheba was the most accomplished son of Alydar on the racetrack. In 1987, he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes on his way to being crowned the 3-year-old Champion. In 1988, he won six grade I races including the Santa Anita Handicap, Woodward Stakes, and Breeders' Cup Classic, while receiving the honors of Handicap Male Champion and Horse of the Year.
While Alydar's career was defined by his rivalry with Affirmed, Alysheba had two rilvaries of his own, one with Bet Twice, and one with 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand.
Alysheba faced Bet Twice nine times on the racetrack, with Alysheba winning four times and Bet Twice winning three times. They first met in the 1986 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Bet Twice had won five of his six career starts, including two victories and a third in three grade I stakes races, while Alysheba had been one for five with his only victory in a maiden race. Alysheba finished third and Bet Twice finished fourth in a race won by eventual 2-year-old Champion Capote. They next met in the 1987 Kentucky Derby, where Bet Twice almost knocked Alysheba down in the stretch run, but Alysheba somehow was able to get up off his knees and then pass and beat Bet Twice by ¾ of a length. In the Preakness, Bet Twice once again took the lead entering the stretch, but Alysheba duplicated his Kentucky Derby effort and ran down Bet Twice to win by ½ a length. In the Belmont Stakes, Bet Twice was able to open up 5 lengths by the top of the stretch on route to a 14 length romp, as Alysheba did not show his customary strong rally while running without Lasix due to the strict medication rules in New York. They met again in the Haskell Invitational, where Bet Twice outlasted Alysheba to win by a neck in a three horse stretch duel between these two and Lost Code. The pair returned three weeks later in the Travers, but both horses were weary from their previous duels and had difficulty with the sloppy race track as they both finished out of the money in a race won by Java Gold. Alysheba and Bet Twice did not meet again until 1988, but they did not disappoint. In the 1988 Pimlico Special, Bet Twice ran an extremely impressive race to defeat Alysheba, who had assumed leadership in his division due to several impressive wins at Santa Anita. Later in the year, they met again in the Iselin Handicap in Monmouth, where Alysheba got revenge as he defeated Bet Twice by ¾ of a length in the style that brought back memories of his Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes triumphs a year earlier. They met for the final time in the Meadowlands Cup, where Alysheba completed his third of four consecutive grade I stakes victories while Bet Twice tired to finish fourth, 6¾ lengths behind Alysheba.
Alysheba also had a mini-rilvary with Ferdinand. The two Kentucky Derby winners first met on the racetrack in the 1987 Breeders' Cup Classic, where Ferdinand defeated Alysheba by a diminishing nose in a thrilling stretch run that determined the Horse of the Year honors for 1987. They met next in the 1988 Santa Anita Handicap, where Alysheba got his revenge as he defeated Ferdinand by ½ a length. Six weeks later in the San Bernardino Handicap, they met in a rubber match and did not disappoint, as Alysheba defeated Ferdinand by a nose at the wire. They met once more in the 1988 Hollywood Gold Cup, but were both defeated by Cutlass Reality, with Alysheba finishing second and Ferdinand third.
Alysheba was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1993.
| Alysheba 3/3/1984 bay colt DP: 12-4-22-2-0 DI: 2.08 CD: 0.65 | Alydar 3/23/1975 | Raise A Native 1961 | Native Dancer, 1950 | Polynesian, 1942 |
| Geisha, 1943 | ||||
| Raise You, 1946 | Case Ace, 1934 | |||
| Lady Glory, 1934 | ||||
| Sweet Tooth 1965 | On And On, 1956 | Nasrullah, 1940 | ||
| Two Lea, 1946 | ||||
| Plum Cake, 1958 | Ponder, 1946 | |||
| Real Delight, 1949 | ||||
| Bel Sheba 1970 | Lt. Stevens 1961 | Nantallah, 1953 | Nasrullah, 1940 | |
| Shimmer, 1945 | ||||
| Rough Shod, 1944 | Gold Bridge, 1929 | |||
| Dalmary, 1931 | ||||
| Belthazar 1960 | War Admiral, 1934 | Man o' War, 1917 | ||
| Brushup, 1929 | ||||
| Blinking Owl, 1938 | Pharamond, 1925 | |||
| Baba Kenny, 1928 |
| starts | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | earnings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 1 | $359,486 |
| 1987 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | $2,511,156 |
| 1988 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | $3,808,600 |
| Total | 26 | 11 | 8 | 2 | $6,679,242 |
| Date | Track | Race | Finish | Horses | Misc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/21/1986 | Hollywood | maiden | 5 4¾ (7) | Fleeting Jet, Biloxi Blues, Soy Amigo | ||
| 8/22/1986 | Arlington | maiden | 2 hd (10) | Gem Master, Alysheba, Contractor's Tune | ||
| 9/14/1986 | Turfway | maiden | 1 8 (12) | Alysheba, Aerator, Najor Domo | ||
| 9/27/1986 | Turfway | In Memoriam Stakes | 2 ½ (11) | Rainbow East, Alysheba, David L.'s Rib | ||
| 10/10/1986 | Keeneland | Breeders' Futurity | 2 ¾ (10) | Orono, Alysheba, Pledge Card | ||
| 11/1/1986 | Santa Anita |  |
Breeders' Cup Juvenile | 3 2½ (13) | Capote, Qualify, Alysheba | |
| 12/14/1986 | Hollywood | Hollywood Futurity | 2 nk (12) | Temperate Sil, Alysheba, Masterful Advocate | ||
| 3/8/1987 | Santa Anita | allowance | 4 5 (9) | Barb's Relic, Blanco, Rakaposhi | ||
| 3/22/1987 | Santa Anita | San Felipe Handicap | 2 ¾ (8) | Chart The Stars, Alysheba, Temperate Sil | ||
| 4/23/1987 | Keeneland | Blue Grass Stakes | 1 hd (5) | Alysheba, War, Leo Castelli | 3rd by dq | |
| 5/2/1987 | Churchill Downs |  |
Kentucky Derby | 1 ¾ (17) | Alysheba, Bet Twice, Avies Copy | |
| 5/16/1987 | Pimlico | |
Preakness Stakes | 1 ½ (9) | Alysheba, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance | |
| 6/6/1987 | Belmont | |
Belmont Stakes | 4 14 (9) | Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance, Gulch | |
| 8/1/1987 | Monmouth | |
Haskell Invitational | 2 nk (5) | Bet Twice, Alysheba, Lost Code | |
| 8/22/1987 | Saratoga | |
Travers Stakes | 6 20 (9) | Java Gold, Cryptoclearance, Polish Navy | |
| 9/27/1987 | Louisiana Downs | Super Derby | 1 ½ (8) | Alysheba, Candi's Gold, Parochial | ||
| 11/21/1987 | Hollywood | |
Breeders' Cup Classic | 2 no (12) | Ferdinand, Alysheba, Judge Angelucci | |
| 2/7/1988 | Santa Anita | |
Strub Stakes | 1 3 (6) | Alysheba, Candi's Gold, On The Line | |
| 3/6/1988 | Santa Anita | |
Santa Anita Handicap | 1 ½ (4) | Alysheba, Ferdinand, Super Diamond | |
| 4/17/1988 | Santa Anita | |
San Bernardino Handicap | 1 no (5) | Alysheba, Ferdinand, Good Taste | |
| 5/14/1988 | Pimlico | |
Pimlico Special | 4 4¼ (6) | Bet Twice, Lost Code, Cryptoclearance | |
| 6/26/1988 | Hollywood | |
Hollywood Gold Cup | 2 6 (6) | Cutlass Reality, Alysheba, Ferdinand | |
| 8/27/1988 | Monmouth | Iselin Handicap | 1 ¾ (6) | Alysheba, Bet Twice, Gulch | ||
| 9/17/1988 | Belmont | |
Woodward Handicap | 1 nk (8) | Alysheba, Forty Niner, Waquoit | |
| 10/14/1988 | Meadowlands | |
Meadowlands Cup | 1 nk (5) | Alysheba, Slew City Slew, Pleasant Virginian | |
| 11/5/1988 | Churchill Downs | |
Breeders' Cup Classic | 1 ½ (9) | Alysheba, Seeking The Gold, Waquoit |
Return to Alydar.