American Pharoah rules at Preakness, eyes Triple Crown
BALTIMORE — For a horse that doesn’t like a lot of noise, American Pharoah certainly made a lot of it on Saturday afternoon.
The 2015 Kentucky Derby champion added the second jewel of the Triple Crown to his impressive resume — the Preakness Stakes — and now will attempt to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win all three legs when he runs in the Belmont Stakes on June 6.
Despite torrential rains, high winds, thunder and lightning at aging Pimlico Racetrack early Saturday evening, American Pharoah proved again to be in a class of his own, taking an early lead in the 13/16th mile classic and winning in a romp, by seven lengths, despite a bobble getting out of the gate and very sloppy track conditions. Jockey Victor Espinoza said he didn’t plan on taking an early lead, but because of the conditions, decided he didn’t want to trail anyone and get covered in mud.
“He broke a little tiny bit slow and I pushed him to the front,” said a soaked and shivering Espinoza. “As soon as I took the lead, that was it. He was very comfortable cruising around at high speed.”
“I was freezing,” the Mexican-born jockey added. “I was just so wet. It worked out well (but) I had to bounce out of the gate to take the lead with all the rain.”
The Bob Baffert-trained American Pharoah will become the 14th horse since Affirmed’s victory in 1978 to have a shot at winning the coveted Triple Crown. His victory on Saturday in front of a record crowd of 131,680 showed that his Kentucky Derby win two weeks ago was certainly no fluke. Baffert was worried about American Pharoah leaving from the No. 1 post position, but those concerns proved to be unfounded.
“He’s just an incredible horse,” said an emotional Baffert after winning his sixth Preakness Stakes. “What he does is amazing. Everyone talks about the greatness and it’s just starting to show now. Today, the way he did it, he just ran so fast. It was like poetry in motion.”
Tale of Verve, owned by Canadian diamond magnate Charles Fipke and the biggest longshot in the eight-horse field — paying $19.00 to place — dodged and weaved his way down the stretch run to finish a surprising second. Trained by Dallas Stewart, Tale of Verve was actually cut off by third-place finisher Divining Rod in the stretch, but still managed to move up for the place money.
By winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, American Pharoah will allow the racing world to rally around a possible Triple Crown winner — a boon for the horse racing industry. Even casual horse racing fans take notice when a Triple Crown is on the line and American Pharoah is looking like a genuine contender, even though Baffert has to deck him out with earplugs before every race because doesn’t like a lot of noise. This will mark the fourth time that Hall of Fame trainer Baffert heads into the Belmont with a horse that won the Derby and Preakness. He did it with Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998 and War Emblem in 2002. All came up short in the Belmont.