Pharoah remains on a roll; Baffert picks up 4th win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — There was no breathtaking, heartstopping performance at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
American Pharoah, who had been anointed the world’s wonder horse by so many before the 141st running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby, did not sprout wings or run a hole in the wind in front of a Derby Day-record crowd of 170,513.
That doesn’t mean he didn’t do what he was supposed to do.
American Pharoah, who came into the race as the horse with the best credentials, exited America’s most famous horse race as the only one with a chance to make history. Ridden by Victor Espinoza and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, American Pharoah bore down in the stretch and won the 1¼mile race by a length.
Less than an hour after, the question was not about the race that was just run, but the one that comes in 13 days in Baltimore. The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, will be run at Pimlico Race Course. American Pharoah is the only horse this year with a chance to become thoroughbred racing’s first Triple Crown winner — taking the Derby, Preakness and Belmont — since Affirmed in 1978.
“If all goes well, I don’t see any reason not to go,” Baffert said about his winner heading to Baltimore. “We’re looking forward to it. The next one is the fun one. You’re coming off a Derby high. We’re just going to enjoy it. I’m looking forward to the next race.”
From what many people thought was the deepest Derby field in years, this was essentially a three-horse race from start to finish on a comfortable, sunny spring day.
American Pharoah, the 5-to-2 favorite, tracked the two pacesetters, stablemate Dortmund and Firing Line, and the three horses spun into the long Churchill stretch in what looked to be anyone’s race.
“Turning for home,” Baffert said, “I was hoping that one of them would get there.”
It would be American Pharoah who would give Baffert his fourth Derby win, making him only the third trainer to achieve that. The others are Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas and H.J. Thompson, who trained in the 1920s and 1930s. The leader in trainer wins is Ben Jones, who won six Derbys in 11 starts while training from 1938 through ’52.
Baffert’s last Kentucky Derby win came in 2002 with War Emblem. That horse also was ridden by Espinoza, who won his third Derby on Saturday. He also won last year’s race aboard California Chrome.
“I knew that I was coming here with a special horse who could win the Kentucky Derby,” Espinoza said.
Baffert came into this race with an abundance of opportunity. Besides American Pharoah, he also trained Dortmund, who had won all six of his starts and was the 4-1 second choice in the wagering.
Ridden by Martin Garcia, Dortmund broke cleanly out of the gate and assumed the early lead. The Santa Anita Derby winner set moderate fractions (23.24 seconds for the first quarter, 47.34 for the half mile and 1:11.29 for six furlongs). Normally, the Derby has blazing early speed numbers. Not on this day.
Dortmund was tracked by Firing Line and his 52-yearold Hall of Fame jockey, Gary Stevens. Firing Line had finished twice behind Dortmund, beaten by a head each time. Those two horses loped down the backstretch with American Pharoah tracking them in third.
When the three got to the stretch, American Pharoah swung wide. The three horses sprinted to the wire, and American Pharoah showed the longest stride to win in a moderate final time of 2:03.02. Firing Line, who went off as the 9-1 fourth choice, finished two lengths ahead of Dortmund.
“Coming for home, I thought I might get there,” Stevens said. “It just wasn’t to be.”
Dortmund was a neck ahead of the fast-closing Frosted, who was attempting to become the first Wood Me- morial horse to finish in the Derby top three since 2003, when Funny Cide and Empire Maker ran 1-2.
“He might have gotten a little tired,” said Garcia, who gets on American Pharoah for his morning exercise. “We got beat by some really good horses.”
American Pharoah returned $7.80, $5.80 and $4.20; Firing Line paid $8.40 and $5.40 and Dortmund paid $4.20 to show.
Baffert knew, after he saw both of his horses get out of the gate clean, that he was in good shape.
“I thought it was our Derby to lose after the first turn,” Baffert said. “Great feeling.”