Patrice Jacobs Wolfson, who along with her husband Louis owned Harbor View Farm and raced 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed, died Feb. 25 at her home in Bal Harbour, Fla., according to her stepson, Steve Wolfson Sr.
The 87-year-old Wolfson was a prominent and highly respected figure in racing and breeding, especially in Florida, where the Ocala-based Harbor View Farm was located.
Steve Wolfson said his stepmother had been in declining health for the past few years.
"Patrice and Penny Tweedy were the first ladies of Thoroughbred racing of their time. It was a different time. It was a time of civility and dressing nicely at the races. They epitomized that," Wolfson said. "She and my father (Louis Wolfson) made a special couple. She meant the world to him and brought him a lot of happiness."
Harbor View Farm also bred and raced Hall of Famer Flawlessly, a daughter of Affirmed who earned $2.5 million in her career and was the Eclipse Award-winning champion grass female in 1992-93.
Raised in a racing family, she was the only daughter of legendary trainer Hirsch Jacobs and owned stakes-winning Thoroughbreds prior to marrying Wolfson in 1972. Her husband, who passed away in 2007, had owned Harbor View Farm since 1959.
The Wolfsons sold Harbor View Farm in 1977 but continued to breed and race under that name until 2012.
Florida-bred Affirmed, a homebred for Harbor View Farm, became the 11th Triple Crown winner in 1978 through three unforgettable victories over his famed rival Alydar.
The crowning achievement came in the Belmont Stakes (G1) when Affirmed and jockey Steve Cauthen battled with Alydar for the final mile of the last leg in the Triple Crown and Affirmed prevailed by a head in one of the sport's greatest races.
"I still think about that race (the 1978 Belmont Stakes) every day," Wolfson said in 2011. "It is an indelible memory, especially considering the splendor of Belmont Park."
Cauthen, who was 18 at the time of Affirmed's Triple Crown victory, told BloodHorse upon hearing the news of Wolfson's death, "She was a great horsewoman. 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."
Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male in 1978 for trainer Laz Barrera, Affirmed was also Horse of the Year and the champion older male in 1979 and the champion 2-year-old male in 1977. The first Thoroughbred to pass $2 million in earnings, he was retired in 1979 with a record of 22 wins from 29 starts and earnings of $2,393,818.
"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," Wolfson wrote in a 2008 column for BloodHorse. "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. One of my favorite pictures shows Affirmed willingly putting his head under my arm so I could give a little hug and bid him a safe journey to his stallion career in Kentucky."
John Williams, who worked with Harbor View's Kentucky-based mares at Spendthrift Farm in the mid-1970s and then at his own Ballindaggin Farm, developed a relationship with Lou and Patrice Wolfson.
"Lou knew I was on the ground with his horses and I kind of became the go-to guy for him to check on his mares," Williams said.
Williams cherishes that time.
"Patrice was very impactful on not just my career but my life," Williams said.
Wolfson's first horse, Basil Lee, was a gift from her father on her 21st birthday in 1958. She also owned Hail to Reason, the champion 2-year-old male of 1960 and later an influential sire.
"Patrice was an outstanding horsewoman," Steve Wolfson said. "She knew all the bloodlines and she was the one who would talk to Laz Barrera about Affirmed."
Lifelong friend Connie De Pasquale said Wednesday she was struggling with the loss.
"We would attend most of the Belmont Stakes together," De Pasquale said of the classic that would see Affirmed close out the Triple Crown. "She was a wonderful horsewoman. You'd walk around Belmont and she knew everyone. When the horses raced, she knew the silks of all the owners. She taught me a lot about the horses."
Also among Harbor View Farm's list of graded stakes winners are champion 2-year-old fillies Outstandingly, winner of the 1984 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and It's in the Air, who captured the 1979 Alabama Stakes (G1). Harbor View also bred grade 1 winner and sire Sky Mesa .
Wolfson's brother, John Jacobs, died at the age of 89 last year. Like his father, he was a trainer, and conditioned 1970 Preakness Stakes winner Personality and 1970 Belmont Stakes winner High Echelon.
Collins: Preakness, Belmont-Winning Trainer Jacobs Dies at 89
No services are planned, according to Steve Wolfson. She will be buried at Gate of Heaven cemetery in Hawthorne, N.Y.
—additional reporting by Karen M. Johnson and Frank Angst
