Here is to waiting. American Pharoah became the 12th winner of the US Triple Crown and the first in 37 years when he captured the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park early Sunday morning.
In his third attempt at winning the third race of the series, Victor Espinoza guided America’s new poster horse to a an easy success, ahead of Godolphin’s Frosted and Joel Rosario before a crowd of 90,000 in New York.
Keen Ice and Kent Desormeaux beat UAE Derby winner Mubtaahij into fourth.
American Pharoah was the only horse in the field to also race in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and was immediately propelled into the pantheon of great thoroughbreds, having beaten 31 three-year-old rivals in a span of 36 days covering the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and the Belmont.
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That record compares favourably to War Admiral, who beat 32 horses in his dash to glory in 1937. In comparison, Affirmed, the last horse to win the Triple Crown, in 1978, beat only 20.
Just 12 months after he had failed to secure the cherished prize with California Chrome, who ran second in the Belmont, Espinoza was in rapture. At 43, he was the oldest of the 11 jockeys to have achieved the feat. Eddie Arcaro won the Triple Crown twice.
“It is unbelievable how things work out. I came in to this race with so much confidence, more than the last two times,” Espinoza said.
Espinoza had ridden trainer Bob Baffert’s War Emblem to eighth place with the Triple Crown on the line in 2002.
For the silver-haired Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer, it was a fourth attempt. Real Quiet was beaten by a nose in 1998, then Silver Charm was three-quarters of a length adrift a year later.
Having lifted the Belmont Stakes trophy in conjunction with Espinoza, Baffert said: “I was really beginning to dislike this trophy. It has caused me a lot of misery.
“I am blessed with a super three year old. I couldn’t be any happier. I thought he was a great horse and that he was going to do it.
“I felt good about him and I knew he was training well but you have to have the horse. I just feel like I have a very special horse. He was the one that won, it wasn’t me.”
Almost from the start Espinoza felt he was on a thoroughbred that could make history. The Mexican rider took American Pharoah to the lead from his seven rivals, and from there his mount was never headed in the mile-and-a-half test of stamina to become to be the first horse to go from gate to wire since Da’Tara in 2008.
Materiality, who was sixth in the Kentucky Derby, was slotted into second by John Velazquez and they were closely followed by Keen Ice, another who ran at Chruchill Downs but missed the Preakness Stakes.
Mike De Kock’s Mubtaahij was on the rail under new rider Irad Ortiz, and they were penned in by Godolphin’s Frosted.
The field packed up behind American Pharoah in the far turn and Espinoza had a cheeky look to gauge how much his toiling rivals had left in the tank. As he came out into the stretch within moments he had converted a three-quarters of a length lead into two full lengths.
Frosted chased gamely, as did Mubtaahij, who eventually ceded third in the shadow of the post.
“When he broke, he broke a little slow, but in two jumps he was right in the lead, which is where I wanted to be,” Espinoza said. “I was then steady, steady all the way around. I had the best feeling ever.”
When asked what made American Pharoah so great, Espinoza had little hesitation describing the champion.
“The way he runs, the way he travels, the way he stretches his legs, the way he hits the ground,” he said. “You don’t even feel how fast he hits the ground. He goes in slow motion.”
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