Triple Crown winner American Pharoah wins Haskell in return

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

American Pharoah will walk the barn area Sunday morning, and then await the race slated to start at 5:52 p.m. Finally, he could no longer contain himself. One of his handlers slipped and fell.

The two spoke briefly before Zayat spied the media slowly gathering around and smiled.

“Our horse keeps better and better”, said Jerry Crawford of Des Moines, who is president of Donegal Racing. “The horse is fine”. We had a lot of respect for the other horses in there, so we tightened the screws.

American Pharoah flashed his speed in the stretch and easily won the $1.75 million Haskell Invitational on Sunday in his first race since sweeping the Triple Crown.

American Pharoah’s subsequent begin is now the most important query in racing. A record crowd approaching 60,000 is expected.

They came to glimpse greatness, not so much watch a competition.

But one name overshadowed them all on a picturesque day at the Jersey Shore.

Trainer Bob Baffert and Justin Zayat, the son of Ahmed Zayat, American Pharoah’s owner, each have said that the thoroughbred could run in the Travers on August 29, the premier stakes race at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs.

This wasn’t the Belmont Stakes. The Triple Crown hero used E-ZPass in the $1.75-million Haskell Invitational while his opponents scrambled for loose change. “But it’s once in a lifetime having a Triple Crown victor run in your backyard”.

Mr. Jordan, stabled at Monmouth Park and trained by local favorite Ed Plesa, was going to line up in the stall next to American Pharoah and he was going to need way more than luck. Trainer Bob Baffert could hardly hold his emotions. Physical ailments sidelined him the rest of the year, but he came back and won five of seven as a 4-year-old. “He makes me emotional because he’s a gift from God”. He also has a poor record at the track, though he did win the 2001 Travers with Haskell victor Point Given (who, by the way, never ran again). Three Triple Crown winners lost their first outing after the Belmont.

The last time he got a pre-race bath, he was hidden away from prying eyes. But this horse, what he does, he’s just incredible.

Baffert’s plans call for American Pharoah to be shipped back to his home base at Del March Nothing was immediately clear after that. If there weren’t any 3-year-old races left, then he would run with the olders.

At times, Team Pharoah has been criticized for running where it can make the most money before retirement, but Baffert and Zayat insist that’s not the case.

For now, the horse’s connections are more comfortable talking about their good fortune. It’s a lot of pressure coming here. “And it definitely goes through your mind. He’s ready. But I’m still very nervous because we want to have a special day”. That was his last loss.

The goal is a final race in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky on October 31.

“Yeah I mean I like him, he’s a great horse, and if he wins he wins – good for him”, Pat said.

“We’ve achieved everything with him”, said Zayat, an Egyptian businessman who lives with his family in Teaneck, N.J. “If he’s asked a question, I want him to be able to answer”.