American Pharoah Brings Triple Crown Success to Classic

American Pharoah Brings Triple Crown Success to Classic: With the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years approaching what will be his final start, a chance to achieve the first “Grand Slam” approaches. The Breeders’ Cup Classic has been run annually since 1984, and since then, no horse has come into the race as a Triple Crown winner. The first Grand Slam would mean American Pharoah has not only completed what seemed impossible by winning the Triple Crown but also collected a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. A positive outcome of the race would significantly increase the horse’s value and likely his 2016 stud fee.

American Pharoah began his three-year-old journey in the Grade II Rebel Stakes after being named the 2014 Champion Two-Year-Old Male. After a win there, American Pharoah once again defeated competition in the Grade I Arkansas Derby. Following that accomplishment, American Pharoah went to the post of the Kentucky Derby as the 2.9-1 favorite. He easily waited close to the pace while Dortmund and Firing Line stayed together on the front end before finally stretching out and pushing himself past his California foes to become the 141st Kentucky Derby winner.

American Pharoah again proved that he was in a league of his own when he had to run 1-3/16 miles in the swamp that Pimlico had become due to torrential downpour. As the nearly even-money favorite, the speedy Mr. Z pressured American Pharoah through fractions of 22.9, 46.49, 1:11.42, and 1:37.74 with a final time of 1:58.46. The son of Pioneerof the Nile won by a cool seven lengths to put the Triple Crown on the line at Belmont.

The day of the Belmont had a different feeling in the air. It felt as if American Pharoah was a super horse that could not be beaten. When the horses broke from the gate, American Pharoah was placed right out front by Victor Espinoza, and the colt never looked back. Equibase states, “AMERICAN PHAROAH propelled himself to the top after coming away in good order, quickly shook free, was glided over to the rail before reaching the beginning of the clubhouse turn, rated kindly setting the initial splits [24:77, 24:58, 24:58, 24:34, 24:32] accompanied by MATERIALITY to the outside, felt the presence of that opponent the most between calls on the backstretch, began to edge away from the closest pursuers approaching the quarter pole, settled into the upper stretch and was given his cue, responded and drew well clear to cap off the first Triple Crown in thirty-seven years.”

Following the Belmont Stakes, American Pharoah was given a bit of a break before being sent to the William Hill Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. American Pharoah went to the post as the heavy favorite (.10-1). American Pharoah let the insanely fast Competitive Edge take the lead, but by the head of the stretch, American Pharoah had a five-length lead. After confirming that there was no danger, Victor eased up on the colt, allowing him to win by an easy 2¼ lengths. Keen Ice was able to make up significant ground to finish second at odds of 18-1.

The Travers was a race in which Baffert did not want the colt to run due to Baffert’s luck at Saratoga. However, after working Pharoah, there was no way of telling the Zayats that he was not ready to run again. The Travers ended up being anything but an easy race for the colt. First, Frosted lost his jockey after Joel Rosario took a spill in the race before. Jose Lezcano picked up the mount at the last minute and likely cost both Frosted and American Pharoah any chance of winning the race. Even after dueling with Frosted, American Pharoah kept battling just before being caught by Keen Ice, finishing three-quarters of a length back in second. This would be the first defeat for American Pharoah since his debut as a two-year-old in August of 2014. Following the Travers, Zayat told the news that it took “about 30 days for him to bounce back.”

American Pharoah comes into the Breeders’ Cup Classic with almost exactly two months of rest, or an 8-week layoff. The colt has been working incredibly well at Santa Anita for Bob Baffert. His latest work was a quick six-furlong move that covered the distance in 1:10.80, the fastest of eight works at that distance for the day. In the work prior to that most recent one, the horse was the only one to register a seven-furlong work, completing the work in 1:23 flat. Bob Baffert is highly pleased with the colt’s works as of late, and the colt looks phenomenal.

“He really looked fantastic,” Baffert said, “and I really feel good about the way he’s coming into this race.'”

Longtime Southern California clocker Gary Young was dazzled, too. “This work [6f in 1:10.80] was terrific,” Young said. “I think he’s a great horse who’s going to be very tough to beat.”

Now, whether or not American Pharoah will win the Classic is a question that will not be answered until the horses hit the finish line at Keeneland Race Course on October 31. His main competition looks to be the mare Beholder, who comes into the Classic undefeated for the year. Honor Code is second in line as the main competition to spoil the Classic for American Pharoah. Honor Code has won three of five starts for the year with a third-place finish in the one-turn mile Kelso Handicap. Other competition includes Keen Ice and Frosted. What a treat it would be on Halloween for the horse of a lifetime to go out on top for Bob Baffert, although Baffert doesn’t seem too concerned.

“His legacy has been made.”

The Breeders’ Cup is set for October 30-31 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. NBC will begin coverage of the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 4:00 pm ET.