Triple Crown winner became sports’ celebrity of the year
When American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes in June, the colt became an instant legend — the first horse to win the sport’s Triple Crown in 37 years. And Pharoah’s legacy may have been cemented when he won the Breeders’ Cup almost four months later.
With that victory, American Pharoah became the first “grand slam” winner in his sport.
The Breeders’ Cup was first contested in 1984, meaning Pharoah was the first Triple Crown champion to ever have an opportunity to win the race. And it drew the media and the massive crowds that the sport enjoyed routinely for much of the last century.
But the crowds weren’t the only comparison to another time. American Pharoah won the Breeders’ by 61⁄ 2 lengths, after pulling away to win the Belmont by more than five. And while they were dominant performances, they still were a distant second to Secretariat’s run in the 1973 Belmont, where he crushed the field by 31 lengths.
Certainly, Secretariat’s performance was the single greatest race a horse has run, and it is the standard by which the best are measured. Big Red, as they called Secretariat, would have beaten American Pharoah at the Belmont by more than five lengths, according to breakdowns of their respective performances.
There is, however, a caveat in comparing past to present in Triple Crown winners.
The Kentucky Derby, the opening leg, changed its qualifying format three years ago, replacing the graded stakes earnings system in place since 1986 with a points system based on17 races in a 10-week period leading up to the Derby itself. Points accumulated from that stretch helped deter- mine qualifiers for Kentucky, and in the minds of many experts affected the way horses were trained.
The breadth of American Pharoah’s grand slam was also measured against past Triple Crown winners such as1948’s Citation, who won14 of 25 races after his Belmont triumph, and 1941’s Whirlaway, who notched 18 wins in 33 post-Belmont races, a record among Triple Crown winners. American Pharoah competed in four races after the Belmont, winning three of them.
But the comparisons went beyond horses. Pharoah won a Sports Illustrated poll for sportsperson of the year, garnering 47 per cent of the vote. (The magazine disagreed with the poll, choosing Serena Williams instead.) And after the Belmont, Pharoah was photographed for both SI and Vogue, and prompted Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr to quip American Pharoah may be the only athlete in the world better than LeBron James.
Whatever the comparisons, American Pharoah had become a worldwide celebrity, drawing tens of thousands to his final races, a horse that won a Triple Crown — and more — when some in the industry thought it might never be accomplished again.