American Pharoah back at Santa Anita, to parade Gold Cup Day

Victor Espinoza was just one of American Pharoah’s many greeters upon his arrival at Santa Anita Thursday (Benoit Photos)

It wasn’t quite the reception Lindbergh received at Orly
Field after conquering the Atlantic solo in 1927, but American Pharoah (Pioneerof
the Nile) was
treated like a Triple Crown winner should when he arrived at his Santa Anita
home late Thursday morning before a throng of media and well-wishers that
included Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts.

After a flight from Kentucky and a police escort from
Ontario Airport to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s Barn 5 at 11:40 a.m. (PDT), the
three-year-old colt owned and bred by Ahmed Zayat settled in
comfortably without so much as hiccup after much fanfare following a historic
five-week run during which he became the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to
capture the Kentucky Derby (G1), Preakness S. (G1) and Belmont S. (G1).

“It’s great to have him back home,” Baffert said whilst among a
crush of media Thursday morning at Barn 5. “Honestly, winning the Triple Crown is
bigger than anything I could’ve imagined. I figured it would be kinda like
winning the Kentucky Derby. That things would quiet down after a few days,
but this is just getting bigger and bigger. We had helicopters following him
from the airport and I thanked the guys with Arcadia P.D.

“It’s just tremendous
and we’re so fortunate to have a great horse like this.”