Triple Crown winner: American Pharoah
Twelve horses have won the American Triple Crown – composed of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes – which was patterned after the English Triple Crown that dates to 1809. When Sir Barton won the three races in 1919, it was not considered a Triple Crown feat. The three races were not acknowledged as being tied together as the Triple Crown until the 1930s. The Thoroughbred Racing Associations commissioned Cartier to craft a Triple Crown trophy – with three sides representing the three jewels – in 1950, and the trophy retroactively was awarded to the eight previous winners of the three races. In 1973, Secretariat was the first horse to be awarded the trophy after he accomplished the sweep.
AMERICAN PHAROAH - 2015
B. c., 2012, by Pioneerof the Nile—Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman
Owner-breeder: Zayat Stables (Ky.)
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Victor Espinoza
Race record: 11 starts ages 2-3, 9 wins, 1 second, 0 third, $8,650,300
At 2: Won FrontRunner S., Del Mar Futurity.
At 3: Won Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, Breeders’ Cup Classic, Haskell Invitational, Arkansas Derby, Rebel S.
American Pharoah ended the longest drought in Triple Crown history when he won the Belmont Stakes to complete the sweep. He was the 13th horse to start the Belmont with a chance to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed. Trainer Bob Baffert had been down the road three times previously – with Silver Charm, War Emblem, and Real Quiet – and jockey Victor Espinoza had been there twice before, with War Emblem and California Chrome, and that collective experience worked in American Pharoah’s favor, as did the colt’s considerable ability.
American Pharoah was champion at 2 but bruised a foot before the Breeders’ Cup and missed the race. That left him behind his contemporaries in preparing for the Triple Crown, and he did not make it back to the races until the Rebel in March, which he won, and he followed that with an easy, eight-length victory in the Arkansas Derby.
In the Kentucky Derby, he was put to his stiffest test when he had to come from just off the pace to defeat Firing Line by one length in a stretch-long duel. In the Preakness on a sloppy track, the colt went to the lead and drew off to win by seven lengths. Against seven rivals in the Belmont, he employed similar tactics, setting all the pace before drawing away in the stretch run to win by 5 1/2 lengths.
After ending the drought, American Pharoah returned for a summer campaign to great fanfare, winning the Haskell Invitational in New Jersey by 2 ¼ lengths before finishing second, beaten three-quarters of a length by the closing Keen Ice, after an early pace duel in the Travers Stakes in Saratoga.
Prior to both races, thousands turned out for the morning gallops by the colt, whose kind nature enabled his connections to allow fans to get up close and personal with the long-awaited Triple Crown hero.
American Pharoah coasted to a wire-to-wire 6 ½-length victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31 in his career finale, which marked his only start against older horses. He was subsequently voted both Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male. Two days after the Classic, he vanned to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, where he took up stallion duties in 2016. The champion’s first foals debut on the racetrack in 2019.