While American Pharoah already had wrapped up 2015 Eclipse Awards as both Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male before the gate opened for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, his emphatic victory provided just the right exclamation point to his year. But what of the other divisions?
Del Mar struggled to attract ontrack business from Thursday through Sunday for the opening week of its autumn meeting but benefited from strong all-sources handle helped by simulcasts of the Breeders’ Cup races from Kentucky.
A pair of stakes-caliber 3-year-old fillies should make for an interesting match-up Thursday in one of three allowances on a solid 10-race card at Churchill Downs.
A second-level allowance sprint for fillies and mares and a first-level allowance at 1 3/8 miles on dirt are co-features on a Thursday card with conspicuously small fields.
It was a struggle to fill entries for Thursday’s program at Aqueduct, and the eight-race card is topped by a $67,000 first-level optional claimer for 3-year-old fillies scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf.
They cheered him when he emerged from the saddling stalls to make the long walk to the far end of the forested Keeneland paddock. They cheered louder when Espinoza got a leg up from Barnes and steered his colt out onto the track. And they cheered loudest of all when the field for the 32nd Classic broke from the gate at the top of the Keeneland stretch and American Pharoah went immediately to the lead.
Toss her races in the Grade 2 Prioress at Saratoga and the $75,000 Miss Woodford at Monmouth, and Sky Gold looks like a standout in a second-level allowance race that has a $62,500 claiming option Thursday at Gulfstream Park West. The six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares drew eight horses and goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
Melmich and Pender Harbour ran one-two Sept. 2 in the Elgin Stakes and will face each other again in the Thursday feature at Woodbine, a 1 5/8-mile allowance on Polytrack that will serve as the local prep for the Grade 3, $150,000 Valedictory Stakes on the meet’s closing day, Nov. 29.
For the last six months, the New York Racing Association has enjoyed a spike in business at Belmont Park and Saratoga in part due to appearances by American Pharoah and the kindness of Mother Nature. Starting Wednesday, Aqueduct is NYRA’s home for racing for the next six months, and although American Pharoah is retired, officials are hoping Mother Nature doesn’t retire her racing-friendly weather.
Joshua Griffin reached up and touched American Pharoah on Sunday morning at Keeneland, and the pure joy on his face, the squeals of delight, brought his parents to tears. American Pharoah may have been favored in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but the thought of meeting American Pharoah, well, they thought that was a longshot.
