American Pharoah has demanding workout for Haskell

DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Bob Baffert wanted to get a strong workout into Triple Crown winner American Pharoah on Saturday at Del Mar, and he got what he desired, with a six-furlong drill officially timed in 1:11.40 that came on a morning when training was delayed owing to lightning strikes in the area.

Once the lightning passed, American Pharoah came out at around 7:45 a.m. and went six furlongs from the five-furlong pole under jockey Martin Garcia, his regular work rider. Baffert had American Pharoah in splits of 24 seconds, 35.60, 47.20, and 59.60 as he came under the wire. He had his six-furlong time in 1:11.58 and had him going out seven furlongs in 1:24.20 and a mile in 1:38.20, by far the longest and most demanding of the four works American Pharoah has had since he started working anew in preparation for the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on Aug. 2.

"He needed that kind of a work," Baffert said. "It was good for him."

American Pharoah worked at the time he had been coming out for training in recent days, after the second of three scheduled midmorning renovation breaks. Training was suspended for more than 30 minutes, beginning before 7 a.m., owing to lightning strikes in the area, which accompanied rain and thunder.

Baffert said the rain probably helped the track.

"I thought it would do the track some good. I worked some horses earlier yesterday, and they seemed to be struggling with it," he said. "We needed a good rain to get it right."

Baffert said he was not sure when American Pharoah would have his next workout.