If horse racing had forgotten what a star looks like, American Pharoah reminded us again Sunday.
For one day, a horse stood as tall in New Jersey as native sons Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra and the fictional Tony Soprano. Give people what they want and they'll come out every time, and American Pharoah, like Ronda Rousey in her sport, is a magnetic personality. In this case, a Monmouth Park record crowd of 60,983 witnessed the first race by a Triple Crown winner since Andy Warhol and Truman Capote formed the A-list crowd at Manhattan's Studio 54.
A year before Ronald Reagan trounced Jimmy Carter on election day, Affirmed defeated Spectacular Bid in the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup, repeating as Horse of the Year and earning championship honors for the third time. It would be the last defeat for Spectacular Bid, whose 9-for-9 4-year-old season has become a touchstone for excellence in the sport.
Now we have American Pharoah, whose cruising speed and ability to carry it long distances reminds one of Seattle Slew, second of three Triple Crown winners in the 1970s. Mike Watchmaker of Daily Racing Form called the horse's Haskell Invitational performance "ridiculously impressive." Turf writer Ray Paulick tweeted Sunday, "I think Spectacular Bid worked harder in his 1980 Woodward walkover than American Pharoah did today winning."
American Pharoah became the eighth of 12 Triple Crown winners to capture his next start, taking the $1.75 million Haskell (bumped from $1 million) by 2 1/4 lengths. Anyone who watched it may agree with NBC racecaller Larry Collmus that he "could have won by 20."
Taking a less-is-more approach, jockey Victor Espinoza wisely saved something for another day. For no sooner than the 1-9 favorite surged ahead leaving the backstretch, turning for home like a conquering Caesar, than Espinoza lifted his foot off the accelerator.
Winning under wraps, as did American Pharoah, is no less impressive than by 31 lengths like Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont Stakes. Although it was an exceptionally fast Haskell (the winner's mile and an eighth in 1:47.95), American Pharoah's dominance again transcended speed and final margins.
The Haskell winner looked good as new 57 days after the Belmont, humbling opponents June 6 with a mile and a half of 24-second quarters, language that anyone who has ever clocked a horse can understand. A slight regression in the Haskell would not have been surprising. After three presumably hard races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont) in five weeks, a horse is supposed to show some wear and tear, isn't he?
Not this horse. Hot Springs native Randy Moss, in the NBC booth, said "you have to wonder if the Triple Crown took anything out of him."
Jerry Bailey, Moss' partner with Tom Hammond in the NBC booth, himself a Hall of Fame jockey, said frankly that he would pay to watch the big horse's next race.
Where and when American Pharoah will reappear becomes the key question. It was asked of the winning connections after American Pharoah's eighth consecutive victory, all but Oaklawn Park's Grade 2 Rebel coming in a Grade 1 stake.
Owner Ahmed Zayat and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert have options galore -- the Travers Aug. 29 at Saratoga, the Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 19 at Parx Racing and the Awesome Again Sept. 26 at Santa Anita among them. The Aug. 22 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, where AP began his career and which Baffert calls his summer home, is doubtful because of scheduling, although these are exceptional circumstances.
"Now that the (Haskell) is over, it's time to go talk to Bob," Joe Harper, Del Mar president and CEO, told the San Diego Union Tribune. "I need to see what he's thinking. I think Zayat left the door ajar when he said Del Mar was possible. But Bob will do what's best for the horse, just as I'll do what's best for Del Mar."
Everything points to a Halloween finale in the first Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, which even if conflicting with college football should guarantee NBC a tremendous viewership number.
Horse of the Year has been a foregone conclusion since Belmont Day. In the races that he has left before stud duty, American Pharoah can determine his place in history, not just among the 12 Triple Crown winners but the best horses to step on a racetrack.
"We have something really special and we owe it to him," Baffert said. "If he gets beat by some horse that comes along, fine, but I want to make sure he's going great."
Sports on 08/04/2015