American Pharoah struts his stuff in final Belmont Stakes work

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner American Pharoah turned a dreary morning into a pretty special one Monday at Churchill Downs with an eye-catching final work for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.

Light rain was falling when the racetrack opened at 5:45 a.m. and continued throughout the morning, increasing in intensity about the same time American Pharoah left the barn nearly three hours later. But despite the precipitation, the track itself remained fast and was in perfect shape after being harrowed at the break.

With jockey Martin Garcia aboard and accompanied by a pony, American Pharoah backed around to the wire, garnering some cheers from the sparse crowd that had gathered at the rail in front of the grandstand to watch the work. Garcia wasted little time reversing direction with American Pharoah, leaving the pony at the 5 1/2-furlong marker before breaking off, under a hold, at the five-eighths pole.[bc_video_id:357394:]

American Pharoah relaxed beautifully through a 12.84-second opening eighth-mile, but appeared a bit eager to go on with it once entering the turn, completing his opening quarter in 25.09. He got to the top of the stretch in 36.64, eased about three paths off the rail exiting the turn, then switched almost imperceptibly back to his right lead at the head of the lane. American Pharoah continued to glide effortlessly down the stretch, completing his final quarter in 23.44 without a hint of urging. Garcia did appear to nudge him just a tad about 100 yards past the finish line and instantly got a response, producing a brilliant gallop-out of six furlongs in 1:12.82, seven-eighths in 1:25.94, and a mile in 1:39.59.

Trainer Bob Baffert said there’s always some doubt about whether any of these 3-year-olds truly want to go 1 1/2 miles, but that the edge American Pharoah has is the efficiency and fluidity of his stride. He wastes much less energy than the others when he runs, and that effortlessness of stride was on full display this morning as he appeared to be doing little more than galloping over the Churchill strip.[bc_video_id:357444:]

American Pharoah has not had a bad day of training since returning to Churchill Downs after the Preakness. His two works have been terrific, and it seems safe to say he leaves for New York about as well prepared as Baffert could hope him to be.

Lost in the shadow of American Pharoah here these past two weeks has been Keen Ice, the only other Belmont hopeful training at Churchill Downs. Keen Ice has made a very favorable impression during gallops over the past couple of days, picking up the pace nicely during the final half-mile of his two-mile gallop Sunday. On Monday, he was a little more conservative, gliding through a very easy 1 3/4-mile gallop in advance of breezing early Tuesday and then boarding the flight that will take him and American Pharoah to New York.