American Pharoah to stand in Japan until U.S. return next summer
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Triple Crown winner American Pharoah will stand in Japan, where he has been popular and successful, for a second breeding season in 2027, according to an announcement from the international Coolmore group, which stands the stallion.
American Pharoah, now 14, is based at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky. He stood the 2026 breeding season, which has wound down, at the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders’ Association’s Shizunai Stallion Station on the island of Hokkaido. Current plans call for him to remain there through this year and the first half of next year before returning to Kentucky in the summer of 2027.
“American Pharoah has proven extremely popular with breeders in Japan, so we have agreed with the JBBA to extend his stay for another season,” Ashford Stud manager Dermot Ryan said in a release issued Thursday evening. “He will continue to be looked after by an Ashford Stud groom until he returns to Kentucky.”
In addition to his upcoming Japanese crops, American Pharoah, who entered stud in 2016, shuttled to Coolmore Australia for five seasons early in his career and has had several European-based runners thanks to his support from the international Coolmore outfit. He is the sire of 666 winners worldwide, including 68 stakes winners, as of June 26.
In Japan, American Pharoah is the sire of champion dirt horse Cafe Pharoah, two-time winner of the prestigious Grade 1 February Stakes; Grade 3 winner Luxor Cafe; Grade 1-placed June Blair; Japan Dirt Derby winner Danon Pharoah; and stakes winners Advance Pharoah, Per Aa, and Reframe.
As a result of his success, there was interest from Japanese parties for a number of years in purchasing American Pharoah before a compromise was reached for the 2015 Triple Crown winner to stand overseas before eventually returning to Kentucky. Statements by Coolmore, which also stands 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, have seemed to recognize both the business realities of placing a stallion where he will be most successful and American Pharoah’s place in American history as the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.
“We are delighted that breeders here will get the opportunity to send their mares to American Pharoah for a second season,” JBBA executive vice president Yoshiharu Ueno said in the release. “He's an iconic horse with worldwide appeal and everyone here is already looking forward to the arrival of his first Japanese foals next year.”
Trained by Bob Baffert, American Pharoah was the 2015 Horse of the Year following his Triple Crown sweep and was a divisional Eclipse Award champion in 2014 and 2015. In addition to the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, he won five other Grade 1 races, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
In the U.S., the versatile sire’s runners are led by dirt Grade 1 winners American Theorem and As Time Goes By, turf Grade 1 winners Harvey’s Lil Goil and Marketsegmentation, and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Four Wheel Drive. He is also the sire of French Group 1 winner Above the Curve, a pair of Victoria Derby winners in Australia in Goldrush Guru and Riff Rocket, and Canadian champion Skygaze.
American Pharoah stood for an advertised fee of $45,000 at Ashford in 2025. He entered stud for an advertised $200,000 in 2016. The JBBA’s advertised fee for American Pharoah in 2026 was 4 million yen, approximately $26,203 in U.S. funds using the conversion rate at the time of that announcement – seemingly a bargain for a horse for whom the market has expressed excitement.
His book was quite selective as a result, with more demand than spots in his book. American Pharoah’s fee for 2027 has not yet been announced.
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