It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago. So much has happened in the real world since American Pharoah won the 2015 Triple Crown and capped his three-year-old season with a historic “Grand Slam” victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. And yet for so many racing fans, the memories remain fresh of this incredible racehorse who became the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 and captured the hearts of millions.
The bay colt by Pioneerof the Nile lost his career debut on an all-weather surface at Del Mar, but followed with a 4 ¾-length win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and a 3 ¼-length win in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita Park under Victor Espinoza. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert referred him to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, but he missed the race because of a bruise on his left forefoot. American Pharoah nevertheless won the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male for owner-breeder Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables, and there was much excitement as he prepared for his 3-year-old debut with a series of high-profile training sessions in Southern California.
To say that the return of American Pharoah was worth the wait would be the understatement of the century. (Note: All QUOTABLE responses from BloodHorse magazine.)
March 14: $750,000 Rebel stake at Oaklawn Park
TO SUMMARIZE: In his first start in more than 5.5 months, American Pharoah found himself on a sloppy race track at Oaklawn Park for the first time in his career and to make matters worse, he bobbled at the start of the Rebel Stakes and partially pulled off his right front shoe. The setback did not help the opposition that day, however, as American Pharoah went straight to the front, setting a leisurely pace under Espinoza and riding to a 6 ¼ length romp.
QUOTABLE: “This horse does things effortlessly. It wasn’t really taxing on him,” Baffert said. “His right front shoe wasn’t right and if he can run like that – all the way around – it shows how good he is.”
April 11: $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park
TO SUMMARIZE: The American Pharoah would show an estimated crowd of 67,500 people before the Arkansas Derby that he was not a one-trick pony. His three previous wins had all come when he led from start to finish, but when Bridget’s Big Luvy shot 38.20-1 into a three-length lead through the first half-mile, American Pharoah scored kindly into second before flying forward into the far turn as Espinoza gave him his cue. Track announcer Frank Mirahmadi described what happened next as “a mesmerizing performance” as American Pharoah won by eight lengths with Espinoza still like a statue on his back.
QUOTABLE: “He is the best horse I have ever had,” said Ahmed Zayat. “To breed a horse like that, it’s everyone’s dream in this game. It’s an incredibly sweet dream that I don’t want to wake up from. It just warmed our hearts.”
May 2: $2 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs
TO SUMMARIZE: American Pharoah won his two preliminary races at odds of 2-5 and 1-10, but racehorses only get one shot at history in the Kentucky Derby and on May 2, 2015 he was a 2.90-1 favorite to wear the rosary. American Pharoah got off to a good start in front of a record crowd of 170,513, finishing in third place behind pioneering Baffert stablemate Dortmund, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby; and Sunland Derby winner Firing Line over three-quarters of a mile in 1:11.29. American Pharoah entered the far turn after an easy gallop down the backstretch under Espinoza, gathered from about five paths wide into the stretch along a determined firing line, and gradually pulled away to win by a length.
QUOTABLE: “I’ve been doing this for 35 years and he might be the best horse I’ve ever seen. He stays in the air longer than any horse, and you get the feeling that there’s not one gear left, but he might have two, three or four gears,” said Gary Young, a blood-testing agent and private clocker who witnessed many of American Pharoah’s morning workouts.
May 16: $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course
TO SUMMARIZE: The Preakness Stakes featured a rematch of the top three finishers from the Kentucky Derby – American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund – but while the Derby winner was challenged in the stretch at Churchill Downs, he would be all alone at the finish at Pimlico Race Course. Mr Z put American Pharoah under pressure early on a main track that had become sloppy due to persistent rain in the lead-up to the race, but the surface proved no problem… at all. American Pharoah led by 2.5 lengths after a fast half-mile in :46.49 and simply dominated in a seven-length tour de force in Baltimore before another record crowd of 131,680.
QUOTABLE: “Man, look at that sonofagun. It moves like a Ferrari,” says Baffert, as he watches American Pharoah train for the Preakness.
BONUS QUOTABLE: “If you give him carrots, he’s like a pet,” Baffert said after the Preakness. “Usually they are like athletes; they want to be able to handle it, but he is just the sweetest horse. He is spoiled to death. It was a magical moment to see him complete that stretch.”
June 6: $1.5 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park
TO SUMMARIZE: Between Affirmed’s Triple Crown in 1978 and American Pharoah’s bid in 2015, 13 three-year-olds had won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. None had completed the sweep, which included superstars like Spectacular Bid (1979) and dazzling fan favorites like Smarty Jones (2004) and California Chrome (2014). Heck, Baffert himself sent three runners to New York with a Triple Crown on the line and ran second twice, falling three-quarters of a length short with Silver Charm in 1997 and a heartbreaking nose shy of a sweep with Real Quiet in 1998. Great three-year-olds – Hall of Fame racehorses – had tried and failed in the 37 years since Affirmed. But on June 6, 2015, there was no drama, no disappointment, no melancholy over another failed bid… there was only elation. American Pharoah made sure of that by taking command early in the 1.5km “Test of the Champion” and coming through the stretch virtually unchallenged in a dominant 5.5-length victory that stunned the 90,000 fans (the attendance for the race was limited) at Belmont Park.
QUOTABLE: “It’s amazing. I came into this race with more confidence than the last two times. I just hoped that.” [American Pharoah] was as confident as I was,” said jockey Espinoza after leading the 12 homee Triple Crown winner in racing history. “On the first turn [after taking the lead]that was the best feeling ever. The way he travels. The way he stretches his legs. It feels like you’re moving in slow motion.”
BONUS QUOTABLE: “God put him in my hands, and this is just an incredible animal. Thirty-seven years we’ve been waiting for this, but you know what? This little horse, he deserves it,” Baffert said after the Belmont. “Now I know what Billy Turner felt when he had Seattle Slew. You just know when you lead them there… they’re going to cum for you.”
August 2: $1.75 million Haskell Invitational Stakes at Monmouth Park
TO SUMMARIZE: After American Pharoah’s Triple Crown sweep, there was skepticism that fans would ever see him on the track again, given his immense value as a stallion. But owner Ahmed Zayat had spoken through the Triple Crown about how much horse racing needed a star, and he made good on his promise to keep him in training. American Pharoah’s first race after completing the historic Triple Crown sweep came eight weeks later in the Haskell Invitational Stakes, and the Pioneer of the Nile colt’s dominance continued. Following Competitive Edge from second as Espinoza easily held on, he skipped past the pacer approaching the stretch and rode to the finish 2 ¼ lengths ahead of the late-running Keen Ice.
QUOTABLE: “This time it was all about the fans, and I didn’t want to disappoint,” Zayat said. “My first feeling was that I was extremely nervous because I wanted everyone to be proud and see that a real star would continue to flourish.”
August 29: $1.6 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
TO SUMMARIZE: The Saratoga Race Course has a well-deserved (and ominous) nickname: “graveyard of champions.” No, the track in New York State is not a cemetery. The track was given this name because it has suffered some of the sport’s greatest upsets, including the legendary Man o’ War’s only defeat to a racehorse named Upset in the 1919 Sanford Stakes. Similarly, Gallant Fox lost to Jim Dandy in the 1930 Travers, Onion stunned Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney Handicap, and in 2015 American Pharoah’s only blemish came in Saratoga in the Travers. Grade 1 winner Frosted followed pacesetter American Pharoah from second into the final turn of the 1 ¼ mile race, briefly taking the lead down the stretch. American Pharoah fought back bravely from within and gradually put the game’s challenger aside, but he ran out of gas when Keen Ice closed the pace with a 16-1 long shot in the final furlong to prevail by three-quarters of a length.
QUOTABLE: “Sometimes you feel like he’s invincible, but they all get beat,” Baffert said after the Travers. “There’s no horse that’s ever done it the way he did it. I’ve never had a horse that could do performance after performance after performance. I’ve had horses do a great feat and they can’t keep it up. He almost did it.”
Oct. 31: $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland
TO SUMMARIZE: Ahmed Zayat said after Travers’ defeat that he considered retiring for American Pharoah, but the racehorse convinced Baffert with his actions that he was not ready to retire. The trainer promised the Zayat family “he will be ready” for one final start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. American Pharoah faced seven horses in his career final, including six Class/Group 1 winners, but the gentle racehorse turned the 1 ¼ mile race into a walk in the park to complete what was billed as the ‘Grand Slam’: the Triple Crown plus the Classic. He opened a clear early lead at the first turn that he never relinquished, increasing the margin to 3 ½ lengths at the quarter pole and shooting 6 ½ lengths ahead of runner-up Effinex in front of a crowd of 50,155.
QUOTABLE: “I cried when he turned around to go home,” Baffert said. “I thought about my parents [in heaven]. This horse has an angel on its back. He is a gift from God. This man had the brilliance, the speed and the personality. He was the perfect racehorse.”
American Pharoah retired with nine wins from eleven starts and $8,650,300 in purse earnings. He completed his first season as a colt at Ashford Stud in Central Kentucky in 2016 and was the top freshman sire of 2019. American Pharoah was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2021 and continues his second career as a sire at Ashford with his seventh crop of runners 2-year-olds in 2025. Mr. AP, a 2-year-old ridgling by American Pharoah, rallied to finish second in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Oct. 31 in Del Mar.
#memory #American #Pharoahs #magical #Grand #Slam #season