Now, after his dominant victory in the Belmont Stakes to become only the 12th ever to capture the Triple Crown, the debate shifts from whether American Pharoah can make history to his place in it. The best way to address that, I think, is to compare American Pharoah to other Triple Crown winners at this stage of their careers, although that isn’t so simple. But I do think it’s very safe to say he’s better than Assault and Omaha, who are widely regarded as the weakest Triple Crown winners. I seriously doubt American Pharoah is the equal of Citation at this point in their careers. Jack Wilson, the legendary Daily Racing Form chart caller who I worked alongside for almost nine years, once told me Citation, when he was right, could “beat Secretariat pulling a wagon.” Jack might have been embellishing a bit, comparing a horse I knew he loved to a horse he knew I loved, but I got the point. Citation was an all-time great. But I can’t really compare American Pharoah to horses like War Admiral and Count Fleet at this point in their careers. There are nuances there of which I’m unfamiliar. However, I can compare American Pharoah, through the Belmont, to Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed, at the same points of their careers. When Secretariat came along, I was still seven years away from working in the racing industry, but I was already a rabid, seasoned (okay, cynical) racing fan for almost five years. I lived and breathed those horses. So I think I can speak from a position of some knowledge. American Pharoah does not compare to Secretariat, but really, who does? Secretariat is the frame of reference by which all modern day Thoroughbreds are measured. It’s frankly unfair to compare any horse to Secretariat. Comparisons to Affirmed are tricky, and perhaps impossible. Affirmed had Alydar, who was truly a fantastic racehorse, to affirm (no pun intended) his greatness. American Pharoah has no such foil. This was considered a strong crop of 3-year-olds in the run up to the Kentucky Derby, and I think it still is. But American Pharoah is just so much better than his contemporaries that there is no one to really push him the way Alydar pushed Affirmed. But Seattle Slew … I think I was one of the first to draw a comparison between American Pharoah and Seattle Slew, doing so in this space a couple of months ago. I just felt as though their untapped brilliance in the run up to the Kentucky Derby was comparable, as were their running styles. But now, I will say this: At this point in their careers, American Pharoah is better than Seattle Slew was. People either don’t know, or forget, that Seattle Slew was not embraced by the racing public, even after becoming the first and only horse to complete the Triple Crown while undefeated. It was not until what Seattle Slew accomplished as a 4-year-old that he was widely accepted as being a great horse. The main reason for that was, Seattle Slew beat a very, very weak group through his Triple Crown run. American Pharoah has beaten much, much better horses through his Triple Crown march, and for that reason, he gets this nod from me. Two other points I want to make, and both have to do with why American Pharoah was able to succeed in winning the Triple Crown when so many other horses in recent years failed. First, unlike others who were recently denied  the Triple Crown in the Belmont, American Pharoah was dominant over his age group from the get go. He is not a horse who got good just over the last three months. He was champion 2-year-old male last year despite not having raced after Sept. 27. That is almost unheard of in the Breeders’ Cup era, and illustrates just how brilliant he has been from early on. Secondly, this Belmont Stakes just set up perfectly for him. He was the controlling speed, a controlling speed who could also rate, and figured to be pressured mainly by Materiality, another who could also rate, and who completed an equation that would result in a very easy early pace.   Sure enough, this Belmont was nearly over when American Pharoah posted a half-mile split under a hammerlock in 48.83 seconds, and it was really over after six furlongs in 1:13.41.   Honor Code at his best around one turn Despite what his connections have long thought, Honor Code, after what he did in the Met Mile, might well be a one-turn horse. But what a one-turn horse he might be. Even if the torrid early pace – opening half in 44.92 – played to his deep closing style, Honor Code blasted past his field in the stretch with such breathtaking force that you couldn’t help but be awed. And this was no modest group Honor Code humbled. Tonalist, who had never lost in four prior starts at Belmont, including last year’s Belmont Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup, had a similar favorable pace setup for his late kick, and was simply no match. Bayern, controversial winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, backed up after pressing the early pace, and finished last. Bayern did stumble at the start, which certainly didn’t help, but one should hesitate using that as a blanket excuse for what was an empty effort, his second this year from as many starts. With Shared Belief out for the season and California Chrome in England chasing his muse on turf, the handicap division is seeking a new leader. The Met Mile would have produced a new leader of this division had Tonalist or Bayern won, because both have past top-level accomplishments going a distance, which fits what the older male division is really all about. But I don’t think Honor Code can be elevated to the top of this class, not yet, anyway, even if he did win so impressively. He’s just not comparably accomplished going a distance. Yes, Honor Code won the Remsen going two turns at 2, but his two route attempts since were shaky, and simply not in the same league as his one-turn performances. But being a brilliant one-turn horse? That’s not too shabby. Short notes • Wedding Toast was able to get out to a comfortable, uncontested early lead in the Ogden Phipps. But even with that in mind, she was very good in victory, and has arrived as a top-tier member of the older female division. As for Untapable, she came up empty after making a nice outside move on the far turn, and right now doesn’t seem anywhere near the filly she was last year at the time she won the Kentucky Oaks. • Our male turf division is in a weak state right now. The Manhattan field was proof of it, and Slumber’s going away victory in it just sealed the deal. When Slumber first came to the United States., every wise guy agreed (when does that ever happen?) that he was a sure-fire Grade 1 horse to be. And then he made us all look stupid for ever thinking so by burning more money over the last two years than the law allows, hanging, losing races he should have won, or just not showing up. So what does it say about the Manhattan that Slumber won the way he did? And please don’t say it was the blinkers. I’m well aware of what blinkers on can do, and the blinkers Slumber got, trainer Chad Brown said after the race, were small ones. I mean, this is Slumber we’re talking about here. • Curalina, winner of the Acorn in her stakes debut for her third straight victory, might be a very nice filly. But I’ve believed since the Kentucky Oaks that this year’s group of 3-year-old dirt fillies are likely to take turns beating each other, and I’m going to see if Curalina is the one to establish firm order in this group rather than have faith she’s the one to do it, which I don’t just yet. In the meantime, turf specialist or not, Lady Eli is still the best 3-year-old filly I’ve seen this year, and decisively so. • I’ll admit that I didn’t like Tepin in the Just a Game. She capitalized on an easy, uncontested early lead when she won the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile on Derby Day. She wasn’t getting that sort of base on balls this time, not with Discreet Marq in the race, and I didn’t think she could be as effective at this level coming from off the pace. Well, I was wrong about Tepin. Her Just a Game win from a little off the pace confirms she is much improved and the real thing. But she was also a little lucky as runner-up Filimbi had a tough trip and was most unlucky not to have done better than second. • I know there is a segment of the racing public that wants to see more extended-distance racing on the order of Friday’s two-mile (on turf) Belmont Gold Cup, thinking that more of that will eventually introduce some needed stamina influences into American breeding. But frankly, I don’t see how that will happen to any meaningful extent, even if you increase the number of extended-distance stakes races from the handful we currently have by whatever multiple you choose. For one, it will take much more than this to change the course of 30 years of breeding for speed in the American bloodstock industry. More practically, the horses who compete in these extended-distance stakes are really midlevel allowance horses disguised as stakes performers, and throwing an overly generous purse of $250,000 at them won’t change that. Finally, I don’t know who would consider winners of the Belmont Gold Cup, or any race like it, attractive stallion prospects. And if these horses aren’t really stallion prospects with some impact, then they won’t introduce the stamina influence some folks are looking for. • Another impressive win from Rock Fall in Friday’s True North. A sprinter with loads of natural speed who can also stalk effectively is an extremely dangerous thing, and that’s Rock Fall. • My Miss Sophia’s turf debut Friday was an eye-opener. When an established horse such as My Miss Sophia, who has been racing off form for a while, makes a dramatic change like dirt-to-turf surface switch, it is often a sign of desperation, making one last-ditch effort to get the horse back to former glory. This was the exception. My Miss Sophia could not have been more impressive in crushing a salty allowance field, and it’s hard not to think there’s a graded grass stakes out there with her name on it.