The hunt resumes: American Pharoah still a threat
American Pharoah looks to put Derby questions to rest
With a half-mile to go in the Kentucky Derby two Saturdays ago, jockey Victor Espinoza shook the reins at American Pharoah and began to move his arms aggressively, the unmistakable signal to his colt that it was time to accelerate.
When Espinoza did the same thing in American Pharoah’s prep races in Arkansas this winter, the response was immediate. He drew off quickly and decisively from his competition, looking very much the part of a Kentucky Derby favorite.
At Churchill Downs, however, American Pharoah did not change gears right away, leaving trainer Bob Baffert to wonder if perhaps it was not meant to be.
“I kept waiting for him,” Baffert said Thursday. “When (Espinoza) pushed the button, he was stuck a little bit. He had me a little concerned coming to the quarter pole. He wasn’t running; he was struggling a little bit and still wasn’t really responding.”
Under an aggressive ride by Espinoza, American Pharoah eventually ran down both Firing Line and Dortmund, winning the Kentucky Derby and building hope for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes that he could become the seventh horse in the last 14 years to win
“We have a whip that is very humane. It’s more like hitting a dog with a newspaper.”
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas
“I wouldn’t criticize (jockey Victor Espinoza) in any way if he was riding for me.”
D. Wayne Lukas
the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
But the race also raised questions. Whether it was his pedestrian final time (2 minutes, 3.02 seconds), the fact that Espinoza went to the whip roughly 30 times in the stretch or the all-out effort it took to finally put away Firing Line, American Pharoah did not necessarily look the part of a dominant 3-year-old ready to take his place in history.
“It was the first time American Pharoah had been in a battle,” said Gary Stevens, who rode Firing Line. “My horse is a racehorse. He’s an exceptionally good colt, and after we both went to the well, neither one of us had a whole lot left.”
Perhaps the visual of American Pharoah struggling to get clear in deep stretch, after drawing even at the quarter pole, is a credit to the experience and grit of Firing Line, who had twice lost photo finishes to previously unbeaten Dortmund in prep races this spring in California. There was simply no quit in Firing Line that day, and it’s possible his effort proved how talented American Pharoah really is, especially to win on a day Baffert said he didn’t bring his “super A game.”
But in the race’s aftermath, Espinoza’s ride drew a significant amount of attention because of how many times he needed the whip to get his colt to respond. Stewards at Santa Anita Park fined Espinoza $300 last week for his use of the whip April 4 while riding Stellar Wind in the Santa Anita Oaks, noting it caused a break in the filly’s skin.
Baffert defended Espinoza’s Derby ride, and others within the industry have spoken up in defense of the modern whips, which are padded and lighter than traditional leather crops.
“You have to put that in perspective here,” said trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has won 14 Triple Crown races. “We have a whip that is very humane. It’s more like hitting a dog with a newspaper. It pops and makes a lot of noise, but it’s not punishing.
“In Victor’s defense, when a jockey of his caliber is whipping a horse, he feels like he’s getting some result. He’s out there getting paid to win the race. If he didn’t feel that horse was moving and giving him some effort, he’d have put the stick away. But he had a chance to win it, and he won it. I wouldn’t criticize him in any way if he was riding for me.”
The fact American Pharoah needed so much coaxing — and still ran a fairly slow final quartermile compared with horses that went on to win the Triple Crown — is potentially the bigger story for the Preakness because it calls into question whether his dominant victories in the Arkansas Derby and Rebel Stakes were as much about lackluster competition as his potential brilliance.
“I think they’re very close in ability,” Firing Line’s trainer, Simon Callaghan, said, referring to comparisons among his horse, American Pharoah and Derby third-place finisher Dortmund. “I think everyone’s got a lot of respect for all three horses, and probably not everyone is going to (run their best race) coming back in two weeks. Hopefully we do.”
It’s also possible American Pharoah, after not getting tested much this winter, needed to extend himself and will come back as a more fit horse Saturday. Whether he’s still building up to a peak performance or whether the Derby took too much out of him with two weeks to recover, is the defining question of this race.
“He’s learned his last two outs,” Baffert said. “I could tell the horse is still figuring it out. He’s learning how to track. But those horses were fighting. ... So we were just fortunate we came out on top, and he proved he’s a really good horse. The (previous) two races he never had to touch him, so he had to ride him aggressively, but the horse responded and got the job done.”