I really think the name ‘American Pharoah’ will always be remembered,” Baffert said. “He’s the one that did it. We were just passengers.”
“I’m happy for the horse, for the fans and for this man [Baffert],” said Ahmed Zayat, the 52-year-old Egyptian-American owner of American Pharoah who leapt into the sport only 10 years ago.
Five Saturdays prior, American Pharoah had come to the Kentucky Derby as a subject of widespread hope. One year after California Chrome had sprinkled charm across the spring as a son of an $8,000 mare and a $2,500 stallion, then reached the Belmont stretch and wearied, another 3-year-old had wowed the equine intellectuals.