So far, that looks as if it will be exceedingly hard to do. “The last thing we want to do is embarrass the horse,” Baffert said. 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. So Zayat and Baffert would receive $150,000 each, and the track is also likely to raise its purse.īaffert has repeatedly said that he is taking American Pharoah’s schedule one race at a time. Similar to at 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. It is run over a distance of 1.125 of a mile at Monmouth Park, New Jersey. Occurring between the end of the Triple Crown season and the Breeders’ Cup, it is open to 3-year-old thoroughbreds. 29 race, the so-called Midsummer Derby.Įxecutives at Parx Racing, near Philadelphia, are lobbying for American Pharoah to run in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. The Haskell Invitational Stakes is one of the premier races on the horse racing calendar. 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. 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. Indeed, there was little doubt the big bay colt was even stronger on Sunday than he was 57 days ago at Belmont Park when he became the 12th Triple Crown winner in history and the first since Affirmed in 1978.īut how great, and where will American Pharoah next prove it? Saturday’s 1 million, Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park marks the resumption of what has so far been a very exciting season of racing in the 3-year-old male division. As American Pharoah loped down the stretch with Espinoza sitting atop him as still as a statue, the NBC announcer Larry Collmus said it better: “He could have won by 20.” But that does not begin to capture the transcendent performance. The official results will say that American Pharoah covered the mile and an eighth in 1 minute 47.95 seconds and finished two and a quarter lengths ahead of the second-place finisher, Keen Ice. “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 ears of American Pharoah, the Triple Crown champion, were wiggling. Espinoza peeked beneath one shoulder, glanced over the other, then narrowed his eyes between his colt’s ears and stared down the stretch. 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.
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