American Pharoah breezes five furlongs at Churchill

Last updated: 6/1/15 5:23 PM

American Pharoah worked flawlessly under wet conditions at Churchill

(Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography)

Under cloudy skies, light rain and 58 degrees on Monday morning, Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the
Nile) completed his serious preparation for Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont S.
(G1) with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 1/5 on a fast Churchill Downs track
under Martin Garcia.

With a few hundred spectators on hand, the Bob Baffert
trainee came onto the track at 8:30 a.m. (EDT) after the renovation break during
the special 15-minute training period for Churchill Downs-based Belmont S.
contenders. He broke away from the stable pony Smokey and assistant trainer
Jimmy Barnes at the 5 1/2-furlong pole and began his breeze at the five-furlong
marker.

Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols caught the Zayat Stables homebred
through 1/8-mile fractions in :13, :25 (:12), :36 3/5 (:11 3/5) and :48 3/5
(:12). After crossing the finish line in :11 3/5 for his last eighth, American
Pharoah continued around the turn and onto the backstretch in 1:13 (:12 4/5) for
six furlongs, 1:26 (:13) for seven-eighths of a mile and 1:39 3/5 (:13 3/5) for
the mile.

Video of the work is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oor5Fu2RSu8.

American Pharoah will attempt to become Thoroughbred
racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner — and first since Affirmed in 1978 — in
Saturday’s 1 1/2-mile Belmont.

“Everything went really well today,” Baffert said outside Barn 33. “I was
worried about the rain a little bit but the track was in perfect shape. He went
around there really nice and it sort of let up a little bit when he worked so it
went just as we thought. He just kept on clicking right along and so now we just
play the waiting game. We’ll ship out tomorrow morning and hope everything goes
well when we go to the Big Apple.”

On Sunday, Baffert said that he is usually nervous going into a breeze and
this morning was no exception.

“(I was) very nervous,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “This morning I saw
the rain and the track was really dry this morning, so I think the rain (put)
just enough moisture in it to make it have some bounce to it. But the track was
in excellent condition. I slept pretty well last night. I didn’t think it was
going to rain today and then I woke up went ‘Whoa, where did that come from?’
But had I known it was storming that night I probably would have had a hard
time. I didn’t want to work on a sealed track.”

As opposed to going into the workout,
Baffert isn’t quite as nervous as far as the race is concerned.

“We’re sort of used to running in
these big races, so it’s not like it’s the first time for us,” Baffert said. “We
know that as long as we’re prepared and we know what we need to do — that’s the
whole thing. The only thing that I would get nervous about would be if things
aren’t going well, but so far everything has been right on schedule. There
haven’t been any setbacks — no hiccups — so that’s the main thing.”

The dual classic winner will fly out Tuesday morning for his date with destiny
(Rickelle Nelson/Horsephotos.com)

Baffert has been down this road
before having trained three horses to win the Derby and Preakness only to come
up short in the Belmont (Silver Charm, 1997), (Real Quiet, 1998) and (War
Emblem, 2002).

“I know what I’m walking into,” he
said. “I had a meeting with everyone yesterday and said that when we get there
it’s going to be pretty crazy, but we’ve been through it. Jimmy (Barnes) has
gone through it with Real Quiet and War Emblem, but one thing about is that we
know what to expect so we’re not going to be overwhelmed by it because we’re
used to the big show.

“The vibe here with this horse has
been just to enjoy him. They don’t come around very often so try not to get in
his way, prepare him the best we can and get him into position to win. So we’re
doing that and try to keep everyone updated. Basically everyone wants to be
updated to see how the horse is doing and that’s what the media is about.”

Baffert acknowledged how important a
Triple Crown on the line is for racing and its potential to attract new fans to
the sport.

“I think it’s big for the sport right now,” Baffert said. “It’s about
the sport and the Thoroughbred industry. This is a time where people are tuning
in to see if it can happen and I think that’s like any sport.

“People in this
country are sports fanatics (and) will tune in to see if there’s something on
the line or some historic thing. And now with social media, people will know
what’s going on. But I think the Thoroughbred industry needs a jump to get
people involved. That’s how you get people involved, getting more people in that
maybe buy and breed horses.

“If you can’t own a baseball team, football team or
basketball team, you own a horse. It’s the same enjoyment.”

American Pharoah will walk the shedrow of Barn 33 Tuesday morning before
departing on a van ride to Louisville International Airport at approximately 10
a.m. The H.E.
“Tex” Sutton Forwarding Co. charter flight to Long Island MacArthur Airport, which
also will include Belmont S. rival Keen Ice (Curlin) and other horses for stakes
races at Belmont Park, is scheduled to depart at approximately 11:15 a.m. with a 12:45 p.m. arrival
time.

Donegal
Racing’s Keen Ice (Curlin) galloped two miles over the main track under exercise
rider Faustino Aguilar Monday. The Dale Romans pupil is scheduled to breeze
Tuesday morning before shipping out.

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