Not A Surprise: American Pharoah Wins Belmont and Triple Crown

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By Art Petrosemolo |
I have been a thoroughbred race fan for what seems forever. My dad took me to Lincoln Downs and Narragansett in Rhode Island in the 1950s, the year I was old enough for entry. Several summers with relatives in Saratoga as a teen cemented my love of The Sport of Kings.
For the last several years, I have been fortunate to cover the thoroughbred scene here at the Jersey Shore for the Two River Times.
In the last several weeks, I have been joined by thousands of new racing fans as they watched and marveled at American Pharoah, a thoroughbred-racing machine. Many of us welcomed the new interest in the sport that in many locations is hanging on by a thread.
The story of American Pharoah is a story of a dream come true for everyone including owner and breeder Ahmed Zayat. The horse was offered for sale as a yearling but Zayat bought the colt back for $300,000 when it did not fetch the $1 million bid he expected.
Pharoah’s maiden race in August 2014 was not auspicious. He finished fifth in that race but won two stakes later in his two-year old California campaign. An injury kept Pharoah out of the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile race last fall.
The horse began his 2015 three-year old campaign with a win mid-March at the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn in Arkansas where Monmouth Park announcer Frank Mirahmadi called his victory on a muddy track. Says Mirahmadi, “American Pharoah showed me he was special by winning the Rebel Stakes off a long layoff with a limited amount of work.  It was effortless.”
An instant fan, Mirahmadi had a chance to call the horse’s dominant Arkansas Derby win April 11th when suddenly the horse became a favorite for the Kentucky Derby and talk began of a possible Triple Crown.
“In the Arkansas Derby,” Mirahmadi says, “he showed that he was not one dimensional by rating kindly behind the leader and then taking off around the far turn.”  The Arkansas Derby is a $1 million Grade 1 race, and Mirahmadi smiles, “jockey Victor Espinoza was just aboard as a perfect passenger as the horse proved he was a superstar.”
From the writer’s standpoint, as much as I respected American Pharoah, I was pulling for Madefromlucky, a horse that trained as a two-year-old under Holly Crest Farm’s John Mazza last season at Monmouth Park. Madefromlucky was second to Pharoah in the Rebel and fourth to Pharoah in the Arkansas Derby. He did not run in the Kentucky Derby or Preakness but won the Peter Pan in early May, a tune-up for the Belmont. But my hopes were dashed Saturday when the horse ran a distant sixth to the Triple Crown winner.
I should have listened more closely to my friend Mirahmadi when he told me weeks ago, that Pharoah was a superhorse. Mirahmadi watched Pharoah win the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs May 2nd as guest of the owner Zayat.
Mirahmadi who has been calling races and following thoroughbreds for years, sums it up, “American Pharoah does everything effortlessly and has a magnificent stride.”
“I watched his final work at Churchill Downs,”he continues, “through binoculars six days before the Kentucky Derby and it was incredible.  Everyone, including horsemen, clockers, and the media, acknowledged his greatness. Pharoah is far superior to any other horse in the world.  He toyed with the Belmont field.”
Owner Zayat indicates American Pharoah will race for the rest of the 2015 season before retiring and standing at stud in Kentucky. Will American Pharoah race at Saratoga during their July-August meet or find his way to the Haskell Invitational on August 2nd. Only time will tell.
Would Mirahmadi like to call American Pharoah in the Haskell? You bet he would.
– By Art Petrosemolo    
Related story:  Monmouth Park Photographer Bill Denver Was There