Pharoah can end reign in Classic style
HE doesn’t just top the bill at this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup, he transcends it, and his legion of fans can barely bring themselves to contemplate defeat in the $5million Classic.
suitably, American Pharoah has been afforded the Presidential treatment since landing here at nearby Lexington airport, flown to Kentucky from his southern California training base on a plane dubbed Air Horse one.
As befits the most valuable racehorse in north America, national Guards in camouflage fatigues guard his box, a brief canter from where he will sign off his career on saturday. Whatever happens, the place of American Pharoah — winner of eight of his 10 races and £3.79m — in Us racing history is assured.
In June, the colt became the first to win the triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.
that is a notional award for a horse good enough, and more importantly tough enough, to win the Kentucky derby, Preakness and Belmont stakes in a gruelling five-week slog. American Pharoah, who is ridden by Victor Espinoza, became only the 12th triple Crown winner and joined a list of illustrious names including the iconic secretariat.
It was a headline-grabbing feat which sent his value to £35mplus and captured the attention of a Us sporting public turned off horseracing by a string of drugs and welfare scandals.
such was the attention on the triple Crown- sealing Belmont win that Burger King paid £130,000 for their mascot to stand in tV shots behind trainer Bob Baffert. ‘Racing has been under a dark cloud over the last few years and has not got a lot of good publicity,’ said Baffert. ‘this horse came at the right time and picked spirits up.
‘I have had horses which have been fast but their window of sustaining top performances was short. He is like the old-time thoroughbred which you could run every week. the special horses do it effortlessly.’
Heavy rain — a growing worry for trainer John Gosden ahead of Golden Horn’s bid for the turf — meant Baffert restricted American Pharoah to walking around his barn yesterday.
Coral make him 5-4 favourite to beat a Classic line-up including Aidan o’Brien’s Gleneagles plus Keen Ice, his conqueror in the travers stakes in August, when American Pharoah was dragged into a draining battle for the lead with Frosted, another rival on saturday.
If American Pharoah signs off in style and heads off to Coolmore’s nearby Ashford stud, he will complete what is being dubbed the Grand slam.
Baffert prefers the term ‘Quadro’. Whatever it is called, it would be some feat.