American Pharoah splashed home an easy winner of the Preakness (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com)

In the end, Kentucky Derby (G1) hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) sloshed to an easy victory over the sloppy track, reminiscent of when he opened his sophomore career in the sloppy Rebel S. (G2) at Oaklawn Park on March 14.

"This is a dream come true," owner Ahmed Zayat said. "God willing, he comes out of his race well, and we could be talking about history."

"It was unbelievable. You can't script this story right now," agreed Zayat's son and stable manager, Justin Zayat, who just graduated from NYU earlier this week. "I took my last final Thursday after having the craziest week of the upcoming Preakness, the drawing and everything. Took my final, literally left right after. Handed in my test, came right down to Baltimore, and it's show time. To have the Derby, and then the Preakness and graduation, it's unbelievable.

"It's a little different feeling than the Derby. We came in here with much added pressure being the Derby winner," he admitted. "We drew the 1 post which wasn't easy either. So we had our cards full, and we had to really get it. I felt good all day, but I also was cautiously optimistic because I knew the competition we were facing.

"It's really special to have my family, my friends and everyone here. It's an unbelievable experience. We're flying high right now."

Ahmed Zayat exuberantly holds aloft the coveted Woodlawn Vase as trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Victor Espinoza look on (Horsephotos.com)

"(It) all changed with the rain, but it worked out well," Espinoza said in regards to strategy for the race. "I took a chance and sent him as quick as I can. Sometimes you have to make decisions. That's my job. Today, I made the right decision.

"I was freezing. I was just so wet. It worked out well. I had to bounce out of the gate to take the lead with all the rain.

"I hope the third one is the charm," he added about his third attempt at sweeping the Triple Crown following his tries with War Emblem in 2002 and California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) last year.

"I've never been through anything like that. That was crazy," Baffert said in regards to the storm that hit right before the race. "I thought I don't know what's going to happen with the thunder. These horses, I could tell they didn't like it when they get pelted like that, and I was worried about the cotton balls in his ears. What if they're getting soaking wet? How is he going to react? Maybe I should have taken them out. I was thinking of all these different things.

American Pharaoh could not be caught in Preakness 140 (Spencer Tulis/Horsephotos.com)

"He is the sweetest horse of this caliber that I've ever been around. I mean, you feed him carrots, and he's like a pet," Baffert added about his classic champion. "But he's just so ‑‑ usually they're like athletes. They want to get it on. But he's just the sweetest horse. He's spoiled to death."

American Pharoah cruised under the wire seven lengths clear of 25-1 longshot Tale of Verve (Tale of Ekati), who rallied to deny Divining Rod (Tapit) second in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown by a length.

"What a horse," trainer Dallas Stewart praised Tale of Verve, who just broke his maiden at Keeneland on April 23. "I had no idea where he was in the race. He's a tremendous horse. He's getting better all the time.

"Congratulations to the winner. We will see him at Belmont. I think this validated what he is. He's an improving horse. It was a wonderful run."

The soggy conditions couldn't dampen the spirits of American Pharoah's connections following his win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com)

American Pharoah, who ran 1 3/16 miles over the sloppy track in 1:58 2/5, paid $3.80 for his win as the 4-5 favorite. He has been the public's choice in all but one of his races, and saw his total earnings bumped to $3,730,300 thanks to the winner's share from the Preakness.

A record crowd of 131,680 fans watched the colt score in the 140th edition of the race, surpassing the previous record set last year of 123,469. Total handle on the day was $85.161 million, topping last year's mark of $83.786 million.

American Pharoah has now gone six-for-seven in his career, with his only loss coming as a fifth-place run in his debut last August over Del Mar's synthetic Polytrack. The Zayat Stables homebred broke his maiden next out in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and closed his juvenile campaign with another easy win in the FrontRunner S. (G1) at Santa Anita Park while stretching out to 1 1/16 miles.

It's now on to the 147th Belmont Stakes for American Pharaoh (Spencer Tulis/Horsephotos.com)

American Pharaoh is truly a family affair for Zayat, who purchased the colt's dam as a yearling and named her Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman) after his daughter. The mare, who is a half-sibling to Grade 2 winner Storm Wolf (Stormin Fever) and Grade 3 victress Misty Rosette (Stormin Fever), sold last November in foal to American Pharoah's full brother for $2.1 million.

American Pharaoh passed through the sales ring himself, but was a buyback at $300,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected yearling.