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ESPN News
Associated Press October 31, 2015
LEXINGTON , Ky. --
Hail and farewell, American Pharoah.
The Triple Crown champion won the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic by 6½
lengths Saturday, taking charge out of the gate in his final race before
retirement.
The 3-year-old colt ran 1¼ miles in a track-record 2:00.07 as the
sentimental 3-5 favorite among the crowd of 50,155 at Keeneland. Fans stood
20-deep all along the rail, cheering and snapping cellphone photos of the
superstar horse and jockey Victor Espinoza.
Except American Pharoah didn't hear them. He wears ear plugs to muffle any
sounds that might startle him.
"This
was for Pharoah," trainer Bob Baffert said. "We wanted him to go out
the champion he is."
American Pharoah took on seven rivals after Smooth Roller and champion mare
Beholder dropped out. Beholder had the speed and the class to potentially make
the race a contest, but a lung ailment sidelined her on Thursday.
It probably didn't matter how many faced American Pharoah on a cloudy, cool
day in the cradle of American horse country.
He smashed the old track record of 2:05.36 by more than five seconds.
"The winner is one of the most amazing things I've seen," said
Irishman Aidan O'Brien, who trained last-place Gleneagles.
It was a feel-good moment for a sport that has been battered and bruised --
all the troubles of declining attendance and drug controversies were wiped away
in two magical minutes.
"It's a horse racing fairy tale and I just happen to be in it,"
Baffert said.
American Pharoah was moving easily under Espinoza, keeping Effinex a length
back in second for the first half-mile. Effinex was never a threat, though, and
American Pharoah extended his lead to 3½ lengths turning for home.
"I was trying to open it up as much as I can," Espinoza said.
"I saw the wire maybe 20 yards [away], and for me it was not coming fast
enough because I want to cross that wire and get it over with."
After easing across the finish line, Espinoza took the colt far up the first
turn before slowly walking past the grandstand to the winner's circle,
accompanied by raucous cheers all the way. The champion even had his own
military escort walk him back to his barn.
The fans knew they had just witnessed history, the final chapter in a story
that may never be repeated.
Victor
Espinoza rode Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to a $5 million victory in
Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic, the final race of the horse's historic
career. Pharoah topped the old track record of 2:05.36 by more than five
seconds. Richard Mackson/USA TODAY Sports
American Pharoah put an exclamation point on a brilliant career in which he
lost just twice -- in his debut last year at Del Mar and again in the Travers on Aug. 29.
In the Classic, he paid $3.40, $3 and $2.40. The win, place and show pool
wagered on the race was $8,269,736.
Effinex, a 33-1 shot, returned $14.20 and $6.60. Honor Code was another 4½
lengths back in third and paid $3.40 to show.
Keen Ice, who vanquished him at Saratoga ,
finished fourth in the Classic. Tonalist, the 2014 Belmont winner, was fifth, followed by Hard
Aces, Frosted and Ireland-bred Gleneagles.
Frosted unexpectedly pressed American Pharoah on the lead in the Travers,
leaving him vulnerable to the rally by Keen Ice.
This time, no one could keep up with the champ.
"It's a lot of pressure to train a horse like this because I didn't
want to let the horse down and I didn't want to let the fans down,"
Baffert said. "I'm just so proud of him; it's like watching my child out
there."
American Pharoah won nine of his 11 career starts, including the first sweep
of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 37 years this spring. He earned
a total of $8,650,300 for Ahmed Zayat, the Egyptian-born owner who chose to
keep his popular horse in training so fans could see him run.
"We wanted him to go out as a winner," Zayat said. "He is a
winner."
American Pharoah had already ensured his place in history by ending the
Triple Crown drought. He won the Derby
by a length and then easily handled a sloppy track in the Preakness to win by
seven lengths. In the Belmont ,
he led all the way en route to a dominating 5½-length victory.
After winning the Haskell Invitational in early August in Zayat's home state
of New Jersey , American Pharoah took his show
to upstate New York
to run in the Travers. His loss by three-quarters of a length raised the
question of whether he had peaked, and an emotional Zayat considered retiring
him.