The coolest thing about the wonderful performance in the Belmont Stakes was that American Pharoah ran the second six furlongs in 1:13.24, .17 of a second faster than the first six furlongs. This amazing colt, the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, was running as fast at the end of the race as he was at the beginning.
Thoroughbred racing jumped the rails in a big way last Saturday with the triumph of American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes. Suddenly, after 37 years of wondering which horse would be next, or if there ever would be another, the one thing everyone knew about horse racing was made flesh and blood once again. The Triple Crown.
AMERICAN PHAROAH became the 12th Triple Crown winner, the first in 37 years, and only the fourth since Citation in 1948 with this dominating performance. He needed to gut out a victory in the Kentucky Derby, relished a sloppy track in the Preakness, and then, at the end of an ambitious campaign, left no doubt as to his superiority and deserving place in history with a 5 1/2-lenngth victory, his seventh straight, earned at six different racetracks.
Frosted had moved into second leaving the five-sixteenths pole of Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, and for a moment, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin allowed himself to get excited.
After winning the Triple Crown, what can a horse do for an encore? It is a question that has not been asked for 37 years, but as with the 11 who preceded him, American Pharoah will get a chance to further cement his legacy with a post-Triple Crown campaign before he goes off to stud.
Mike Marlow, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, was home from a full day’s work when American Pharoah walked into the starting gate for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Marlow, who heads the stable’s division at Los Alamitos, was settled in his living room, anxious to see if American Pharoah could sweep the Triple Crown.
American Pharoah is not another Secretariat, Affirmed, or Seattle Slew. But after his front-running victory Saturday, he deserves an exalted place in racing history, for he swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes at a time when the feat has become more difficult than ever.
Though there was a predictable drop-off in handle, Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, for the most part, was logistically, aesthetically, and historically a success for the New York Racing Association, officials said.
The overnight rating for NBC’s Belmont Stakes broadcast Saturday was a 12.3, down 5 percent from the 12.9 overnight rating posted for last year’s broadcast, according to figures released by the network Sunday.
American Pharoah carried 126 pounds to victory in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. His jockey, Victor Espinoza, on the other hand, had the weight of the world on his shoulders before erasing memories of past Triple Crown failures with a flawless ride that helped guide American Pharoah into history as racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner.
