American Pharoah Wins Haskell Invitational

Park officials are expecting a crowd of more than 60,000 for the Haskell Invitational, which would break a New Jersey record, WCBS 880’s Ginny Kosola reported. Older horses are eligible to ride in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and California Chrome would have been a formidable challenger after winning the first two Triple Crown legs last year and finishing fourth in the Belmont.

The first Triple Crown victor in 37 years is expected to race once more prior to the $5 million Breeder’s Cup Classic at Keeneland in October.

Kay said Saratoga will cap attendance for the Travers if American Pharoah arrives, just as NYRA did for his win in the Belmont Stakes. Now, the Bob Baffert-trained horse has notched up another feather in its crown by winning the Haskell Invitational race on Saturday.

There was no traffic trouble for American Pharoah at Monmouth Park Sunday in the William Hill Haskell Invitational.

Zayat has said he owes it to the sport to show off his champion. “He makes me emotional because he’s a gift from God, or something”.

“(Baffert) has also indicated, though, he needs to let the horse speak to him, ” Kay said. About midstretch, “America’s Horse” opened up on his competition, running by himself with Victor Espinoza acting only as a mere passenger. “I was pretty anxious”. “One thing about that, Mr. Zayat told me you don’t run him unless he is 100 percent, don’t worry about anything and just do right by the horse”.

Gabriel Saez, who finished sixth in the seven-horse field, said all he tried to do was move up during race, “but American Pharoah kept getting smaller and smaller.”.

$200,000, Grade 2 Monmouth Cup: Bradester and jockey Corey Lanerie took the lead right out of the gate ans stayed on to win the mile and a 1/16 race for older horses. A Monmouth University poll from early July found that most New Jerseyans want him to resign now that he is running for president.

They hit the stretch with a 5-length lead, and Espinoza said he knew instantly that it was time to power American Pharoah down and preserve his brilliance for another day. We want to see that this feat was not just a fluke, that American Pharoah is indeed great.

Alvarez added that American Pharoah’s keen intelligence on top of his extraordinary talent is what helps set him above.

“We are going to be improving our stock and hopefully have a Triple Crown-caliber horse”, de Paz said. “I’m looking at this horse like, ‘Where did he come from?” Pharoah easily blew past Competiive Edge and Upstart on the final turn and then coasted to the finish line to win by three lengths.

It’s easy to look ahead and speculate what’s next for American Pharoah, due to how much he dusted the competition.

The New York Racing Association is keeping no stones unturned to stage American Pharoah along the Saratoga racecourse.

American Pharoah has not been beaten since his career debut at Del Mar 51 weeks ago. I wanted him sharp today because I knew the pace was going to be fast.

American Pharoah has now won eight straight. Actor Bill Murray instructed “Riders up, ” and Gov. Christie was in the winner’s circle. This is a superstar – he’s touched everybody’s heart.