THE MUDDER OF ALL RACES FOR PHAROAH
Pressure mounts for Baffert & Co.
It was a few minutes after 3:30 on a bleak Tuesday afternoon when the most watched athlete in America rode past a Wendy’s and a Subway and turned into the august grounds of Belmont Park. A silver horse van, Pennsylvania plate PT 9911W, pulled alongside Barn 1, not even 50 yards off Hempstead Turnpike, the wet and the chill making you wonder if it was the second of April, not the second of June. A gaggle of reporters, photographers and film crews awaited, gathering in the gloom to record the arrival of a 3-year-old bay colt as if he were a 1,187-pound head of a state. He is not that, of course. He is just American Pharoah, who has a chance to make a lot of people, and an entire sport, deliriously happy on Saturday, when he tries to become the first horse in almost 40 years to capture horse racing’s Triple Crown.
“It’s what you dream being in the game to do,” said Ahmed Zayat, the horse’s owner.
“Right now we know he’s a very good horse. We don’t know if he’s a legend yet,” added Justin Zayat, the owner’s son.
The Zayats had just arrived themselves, from New Jersey via Egypt, where the elder Zayat made his fortune in beverages and buildings, before bringing his big boldness, whopping wagers and bulging bank accounts to thoroughbred horse racing. Ahmed Zayat has found himself in headlines this week for reasons other than a horse that he compares to Michael Jordan, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby by a length and the Preakness by seven lengths and now is the most heralded fourlegged performer to come along since, well, California Chrome won the Derby and Preakness a year ago.
But Zayat was not outside Barn 1 to talk about a $10 million libel lawsuit brought against him by an attorney representing a man who, in a separate suit, claims that Zayat never repaid $1.65 million that he fronted him at an offshore gambling operation.
He very much wanted to talk about his Michael Jordan.
“All I can tell you is that it’s sad sometimes when this is the best time in your life, and people will throw stones at you,” Zayat said. “I guess there is a price for success, but I am sure that the truth will be told. I am proud of my record, and I’m focused on American Pharoah, trying to enjoy the moment.”
It is, indeed, quite a moment. There’s nothing quite like the anticipatory frenzy that surrounds a would-be Triple Crown winner, mostly because it almost always gets flattened by the unforgiving mile-andhalf oval by the Cross Island Parkway. We know that since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, 13 horses have gotten 67% of the way there, and not been able to complete the third leg. It happened with Silver Charm and Real Quiet and War Emblem — all three trained by Bob Baffert, who happens to be the trainer of American Pharoah. It wouldn’t be a good story if it were easy to do, this three-race crucible of varied distances, compressed into five weeks.
“It’s a test of greatness. He’ll let us know,” Baffert said.
There is a majesty about the way American Pharoah moves that makes you think this year may be different, that this just might be the horse — an animal with breathtaking, athletic stride, one that makes some people almost weak as they talk about him.
“He literally floats over the ground,” Zayat said.
The draw for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes is Wednesday, when we find out where American Pharoah will be starting his trip from. Baffert said the horse has gained nine pounds since the Derby, looks and feels great. Somebody asked about the pressure American Pharoah will be picking up on.
“The pressure’s more on everybody else — the jockey, the owners, us,” Baffert said. “We feel good about the horse. But we know he’s up against it.”
With his mop of white hair and everpresent sunglasses, Baffert was easy to find outside Barn 1 Tuesday, and talked all about the near misses and the buildup, and then the horse van pulled in just past Wendy’s. American Pharoah, along with Keen Ice, Donegal Racing’s entry in the Belmont, that ran in the Derby, flew from Louisville to MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, L.I., on the Tex Sutton charter Justin Zayat called “Air Horse 1.” The ramp from the van was stretched out, and down came the most famous athlete in America, royalty walking on plywood. Cameras clicked. Videos rolled. A few people gasped. A handler led American Pharoah into Barn 1, through the rain, and then he was gone. The real moving was still four days away.