Social obligations complete, American Pharoah gallops at Churchill

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – American Pharoah resumed training Monday morning at Churchill Downs with a 1 3/8-mile gallop that reaffirmed the colt has emerged from his Triple Crown sweep in good order.

American Pharoah was given Sunday morning off by trainer Bob Baffert and his assistant Jimmy Barnes following the public celebration at Churchill on Saturday night. “It was a long night,” said Barnes.

Baffert and his family went home to California early Sunday, and Barnes again has been left in charge of the colt until an equine charter flight transports American Pharoah and his stablemates to California on Thursday.

Monday morning, American Pharoah walked onto a fast surface at 6:40 and proceeded into his familiar routine with Jorge Alvarez aboard. They jogged clockwise to the wire, turned around, and went through another spirited circuit of the track, pulling up midway down the backstretch on his second time around. It was all done in eight minutes.

In contrast to a raucous several days when American Pharoah and his connections were honored Saturday night and fans and media were out in force every morning at his Barn 33 headquarters, Monday was very quiet, with only a handful of onlookers coming out to see the colt. One of those was Jean Cruguet, the jockey who rode Seattle Slew to win the 1977 Triple Crown. Before the colt trained, a beaming Cruguet was given a leg up on American Pharoah for a photo opportunity.

Barnes said American Pharoah would gallop Tuesday and Wednesday but would not train Thursday morning prior to the flight. Churchill officials were planning some sort of send-off Wednesday that would entail inviting the public out to watch the colt in his final gallop before departure.

After his historic victory in the June 6 Belmont Stakes, American Pharoah was flown back to Churchill the following day, getting several days of rest before resuming training Friday with a jog. His first post-Triple Crown gallop came Saturday morning.

Baffert and owner-breeder Ahmed Zayat have not confirmed the next start for American Pharoah, although they have mentioned the Aug. 2 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park as a good possibility.