American Pharoah wins in Ireland with his first starter

Triple Crown winner American Pharoah got off to a perfect start with his highly anticipated first crop, as first starter Monarch of Egypt became his first winner Saturday at Naas in Ireland. That colt is now eyeing the Royal Ascot meeting in June – and could be one of a few to fly the flag for his young sire there, if the stars align.

Monarch of Egypt easily won a five-furlong maiden race under Ryan Moore for trainer Aidan O’Brien, kicking clear in the stretch and staying on by 2 3/4 lengths despite greenly changing leads in the stretch and drifting in slightly once clear.

Monarch of Egypt is out of the multiple group stakes-winning Galileo mare Up, the runner-up in the 2012 French 1000 Guineas and a half-sister to Group 1 winner Dutch Art. Up was a $2.2 million purchase by RanJan Racing, the breeder of Monarch of Egypt, at the 2015 Keeneland January sale of horses of all ages. Monarch of Egypt was purchased for $750,000 last year at the Keeneland September yearling sale by Peter Brant and the international Coolmore group, which stands American Pharoah. The colt ran in Brant’s colors on Saturday.

“That was lovely,” O’Brien told the Racing Post after the race, indicating that the Group 2 Coventry Stakes in June at Royal Ascot is a possible target for Monarch of Egypt. “He’s a straightforward and honest horse who has been showing us plenty on the gallops at home. Ryan said he would have no problem getting six or seven furlongs. This was his first time away, so you’d imagine there will be plenty of improvement. He’s still babyish and he was green when he got there. He’s uncomplicated. He has a lovely mind. He would have to run again before Ascot.”

With Coolmore strongly supporting its young stallion, both with its own broodmare band and at public auction, several more of American Pharoah’s offspring are likely to debut in O’Brien’s care this year. Those include Hong Kong, a half-brother to Coolmore’s multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Caravaggio, as well as to My Jen, a Grade 2-winning dirt sprinter in New York. Coolmore went to $1 million to purchase Hong Kong as a short yearling at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.

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American Pharoah, a champion juvenile before going on to sweep the 2015 Triple Crown, never raced on turf or synthetic surfaces, but his sire, the late Pioneerof the Nile, was a winner on turf and a multiple Grade 1 winner on synthetic. He is the sire of turf Grade 1 winner and millionaire Midnight Storm, as well as turf graded stakes winners Cash Control and Insta Erma.

American Pharoah is expected to have his first U.S. starters on Wednesday, as Aqueduct cards the first 2-year-old race of the year in New York. Trainer Wesley Ward, known for developing young horses, has entered Lady Delaware, a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hootenanny, and Tesorina, whose dam is Grade 1 winner Nonsuch Bay. Lady Delaware will be scratched, according to trainer Ward.

On Friday at Aqueduct, Ward will saddle the American Pharoah colt Maven, who is out of the multiple stakes winner Richies Party Girl.

Ward said the three American Pharoah juveniles he has entered at Aqueduct “are very precocious in their breezes and there was no reason to not move early with them.”

“They both are very smart and show a lot of talent,” Ward continued. “To get to Royal Ascot with them would be fantastic, not just for me but the team as well. American Pharoah was a great 2-year-old himself and they both look like they’ll run early.”

A decade ago, Ward became the first American trainer to win at Royal Ascot, and has saddled a total of 10 winners at that meeting. Those include Lady Delaware’s half-brother Hootenanny, who won the Windsor Castle Stakes and was later Group 1-placed in France. American Pharoah’s offspring could be part of his Royal Ascot contingent this year.

“I’m excited. Coolmore has always been good to me,” said Ward, who bred his Eclipse Award champion Judy the Beauty to American Pharoah in his first season. “American Pharoah was a tremendous racehorse and hopefully a tremendous sire as well.”

American Pharoah’s first-crop 2-year-olds were conceived on an advertised stud fee of $200,000 at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky. He covered 208 mares that season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Of those, 55 were Grade 1/Group 1 winners or the dams of winners at that level.

Ten members of the crop were sold as weanlings, fetching an average of $445,500. American Pharoah went on to average $453,273 from 70 yearlings sold worldwide last year – a staggering figure for a first-crop stallion in a market that trends toward proven sires. He is averaging $514,800 this 2-year-old sales season.

◗ When your classmate in the stallion barn is a Triple Crown winner, of course you’re going to be overshadowed. But Coolmore’s Ashford Stud has another Grade 1-winning juvenile in this year’s deep freshman sire class in Competitive Edge, who is coming alive with his first runners.

Competitive Edge, by Super Saver, recorded his first winner last week when his daughter Reiterate finished in a dead heat for the victory with Marva in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park. Competitive Edge’s first runner was Competitive Queen, who finished second in her debut on April 7 at Keeneland, and is entered back on April 18.