Haskell Invitational

Triple Crown champ romps to roar of 60,983

American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza (right), in their first race together since winning the Belmont Stakes on June 6 to complete the Triple Crown, lead the field around the final turn en route to capturing the $1,750,000 Grade I Haskell Invitational on Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.H.
American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza (right), in their first race together since winning the Belmont Stakes on June 6 to complete the Triple Crown, lead the field around the final turn en route to capturing the $1,750,000 Grade I Haskell Invitational on Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.H.

OCEANPORT, N.J. -- Victor Espinoza was curious as he gave American Pharoah his head and let the colt slingshot around the far turn at Monmouth Park, a charming racetrack on the Jersey Shore. Espinoza peeked beneath one shoulder, glanced over the other, then narrowed his eyes between his colt's ears and stared down the stretch.

The Triple Crown champion's ears were wiggling.

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AP

Victor Espinoza, aboard American Pharoah, (right) smiles at jockey Kent Desormeaux and Keen Ice after crossing the finish line in front of 60,983 at Monmouth Park.

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AP

Trainer Bob Baffert (center) and owner Ahmed Zayat (right) celebrate Sunday after American Pharoah cruised to a 2 1/4-length victory in the Haskell Invitational.

"He was having fun, and so was I," a barely winded Espinoza said after burying six rivals in the 48th running of the William Hill Haskell Invitational.

The official results will say that American Pharoah covered the mile and an eighth in 1 minute, 47.95 seconds and finished 2 1/4 lengths ahead of the second-place finisher, Keen Ice. But that does not begin to capture the transcendent performance. As American Pharoah loped down the stretch with Espinoza sitting atop him as still as a statue, the NBC announcer Larry Colmus said it better: "He could have won by 20."

There was little doubt the big bay colt was even stronger Sunday than he was 57 days ago at Belmont Park when he became thoroughbred racing's 12th Triple Crown winner and the first since Affirmed in 1978.

It was American Pharoah's eighth consecutive victory, and the colt became the eighth Triple Crown champion to win his next start after sweeping the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

The victory brought a triumphant end to a lucrative day for American Pharoah's owner, Zayat Stables, and his trainer, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Each was guaranteed $75,000 for racing here. And last week, after American Pharoah arrived on the Jersey Shore, Monmouth Park officials announced that the race's $1 million purse would be raised to $1.75 million.

That meant Zayat Stables earned a $1.05 million first-place check, lifting American Pharoah's career earnings to more than $5.5 million. Those who plunked money on the colt were not exactly dancing to the betting windows to cash their tickets; as the prohibitive 1-10 favorite, he returned just $2.20 for a $2 a bet.

But the record crowd of 60,983 that reveled in the sunshine and sea air hardly left disappointed. Fans roared as American Pharoah first stepped onto the track to the full-throated strains of the Haskell anthem, Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run," and then watched him float around the racetrack as the others flailed to keep up.

Baffert won this race for the eighth time, but he made it clear this was not an ordinary day at the Jersey Shore, although he did have lunch at Max's Hot Dogs in nearby West Long Branch, as he has before every Haskell since 1997.

Baffert said that he was in uncharted territory as a newly minted Triple Crown trainer and battled nerves most of the day. Baffert had given American Pharoah seven stout timed workouts since his Belmont victory, each more impressive than the last.

"Every time we run him and work him, he keeps showing he's getting faster and stronger," Baffert said.

As soon as American Pharoah broke from the gate, Baffert's anxiety subsided. Espinoza and his colt seemed to be on a Sunday trail ride as they tracked the front-running Competitive Edge around the first turn and into the second.

When Espinoza let American Pharoah go on that far turn, he said, he knew the race was over. The colt inhaled Competitive Edge and watched Upstart fade away as well.

"I knew it would be hard for them to keep up with a horse this fast," Espinoza said.

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. Behind him, Keen Ice was running full-throttle, but barely making up ground.

"He just keeps bringing it," Baffert said in the moments after the race, his voice breaking and his eyes filling with tears. "He's a great horse."

But how great, and where will American Pharoah next prove it?

The goal is for the colt to have his final race before retiring to the breeding shed in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 31 in Lexington, Ky. Getting there, though, will be tricky.

The New York Racing Association announced that it would raise the purse for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga to $1.6 million if American Pharoah ran in the Aug. 29 race, the Midsummer Derby.

Executives at Parx Racing, near Philadelphia, are lobbying for American Pharoah to run in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 19. Similar to the Haskell, the Pennsylvania Derby has a bonus of $50,000 for the winning owner and for the trainer of an entrant that won any Triple Crown race. So Zayat and Baffert would receive $150,000 each, and the track is also likely to raise its purse.

Baffert has repeatedly said that he is taking American Pharoah's schedule one race at a time. He had said that he would evaluate American Pharoah after the Haskell and let the colt's fitness and attitude decide where he went next.

"The last thing we want to do is embarrass the horse," Baffert said.

So far, that looks as if it will be exceedingly hard to do.

Sports on 08/03/2015

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