It had been 58 days since American Pharoah finished off the elusive trifecta, with a stirring 1½-mile trip at Belmont Park. Monmouth hands them right to you.
There were casual fans and diehards. There usually isn’t when you have gears other equines do not come equipped with. I love bringing my horse here.
But the record crowd of 60,983 that reveled in the sunshine and sea air hardly left disappointed. The west coast trainer was emotional after the win, his nerves worse than before the Triple Crown effort at Belmont Park.
The Haskell was, for American Pharoah, nearly easy. But it was Competitive Edge who took the early lead. Jockey Victor Espinoza’s smile could not be wiped off his face.
Owner Ahmed Zayat, an Orthodox Jew of Egyptian decent, believes that all of the publicity should be about American Pharaoh.
American Pharoah #4 with Victor Espinoza riding, won the $1,750,000…
Baffert occasionally uses Onion’s upset of Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney as a reference point for Saratoga, and Zayat brought it up again on Sunday. This is a superstar – he’s touched everybody’s heart. The Travers at Saratoga and the Breeder’s Cup Classic at Keeneland are potential races for American Pharoah to close out a historical year. The temperature at post time for the Haskell was 87 degrees. “Riders up!”
As usual, Springsteen’s Jersey anthem, “Born to Run“, blared as the horses entered the track, and there was no doubt about who was The Boss out there.
American Pharoah’s time of 1:47 4/5 was just over the Haskell stakes record of 1:47 flat (held jointly by Majestic Light and Bet Twice) and one seconds slower than the track record of 1:46 4/5 set by Spend a Buck in 1985 and equaled by Jolie’s Halo in 1992.
Bob Baffert is right: As much fun as it is to debate where American Pharoah ranks among all the Triple Crown winners, it’s really impossible.
“I knew that other horse would want to take the lead”, Espinoza said.
Where he goes: My morning-line favorite is Parx Racing’s $1 million (for now) Pennsylvania Derby (its September 19 timing is just too perfect), followed by Saratoga’s August. 29 Travers, Santa Anita’s September 26 Awesome Again, Del Mar’s Aug. 22 Pacific Classic and Belmont’s October. 3 Jockey Club Gold Cup. “I’m looking at this horse like, ‘Where did he come from?” The only thing going for it is that Baffert would get a kick out of winning the stakes the first year it was renamed for his pal D. Wayne Lukas, who also trains for the Zayats. One of the guys actually said, “Maybe not this time”. Perhaps American Pharoah is still saving up for an even bigger challenge? He paid $2.10 to place and $2.10 to show. But Iowan-owned Keen Ice is gaining on him.
Seven-year-old Phil’s Dream has been on the board in 21 of his 23 starts including four consecutive second-place finishes to start the year.
The crowd around the winner’s circle got a little antsy. But it was also the most stressful of the wins.
Actually, there are. Baffert says hes not keen on running against older horses. We want to see that this feat was not just a fluke, that American Pharoah is indeed great. I was probably more nervous before the race than ever before when I ran him. “It’s a lot of pressure”.
American Pharoah was the 1/9 favorite as the horses loaded into the gate.
