Alysheba (March 3, 1984 – March 27, 2009) was an AmericanThoroughbred racehorse that won two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987….who was also a successful sire after having produced 11 stakes winners.
A bay colt, Alysheba was sired by Alydar out of the mare Bel Sheba, by Lt. Stevens…..and was bred by Preston Madden at Hamburg Place Farm in Lexington, Kentucky….who was sold as a yearling to Dorothy and Pam Scharbauer of Midland, Texas for $500,000.
Trained by Jack Van Berg, Alysheba had a modest two-year-old season in 1986….while winning only a maiden race…..and finishing in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile….then he lost the Hollywood Futurity in a photo finish. As a three-year-old, Alysheba under performed in his preparatory races for the Kentucky Derby…..until it was discovered that he had an entrapped epiglottis….who after successful surgery, was entered in the Derby despite having only a maiden victory.
In the Derby, he and jockey Chris McCarron were nearly knocked to the ground at the top of the stretch by Bet Twice….in what is considered the roughest Kentucky Derby in history….as Alysheba recovered from the collision and won the Derby in a slow time of 2:034⁄5 for 11⁄4 miles. He then came back with another win in the Preakness Stakes….when he attempted to become American racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes.
