American Pharoah

Zayat Stables's American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) drew post four in what will be his first start since his historic sweep of the Triple Crown in Sunday's GI Willliam Hill Haskell Invtiational S., which is a "Win and You're In" event for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Oct. 31. Monmouth Park's oddsmaker Brad Thomas has installed the champion as the 1-5 morning-line favorite in this field of eight. "He's holding his form and that's the whole key after all he's been through," said Hall of Famer Bob Baffert,...

Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) took his first spin around the Oceanport oval Thursday morning after the first renovation break around 7:30 a.m. in preparation for Sunday's GI William Hill Haskell Invitational. The bay, who arrived in the Garden State Wednesday afternoon, jogged once around the track the opposite way under a tight hold from regular exercise rider George Alvarez. Although American Pharoah understandably attracted the most attention during his jog, two other contenders were on the track during the designated time for Haskell starters in GIII...

Just minutes before Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) arrived at Monmouth Park, the Oceanport, N.J. oval announced a $750,000 purse increase to Sunday's GI William Hill Haskell Invitational S., which was previously worth $1 million. "The Haskell has been called the fourth jewel of the Triple Crown," said Bob Kulina, president of Darby Development LLC, operators of Monmouth Park Racetrack. "With the Derby purse at $2 million and the Preakness and Belmont going to $1.5 million, it's only fitting that we join in that mix for our...

By T.D. Thornton With the only business voted upon at Wednesday's New York Racing Association Reorganization Board of Directors meeting being rubber-stamp unanimous approvals certifying the slate of NYRA officers and the roster of peace officers, the talk among board members touched on topics related to bolstering big days on the circuit and whether or not Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) could be incentivized to compete in the GI Travers S. at Saratoga Race Course. "We are trying our best," said NYRA chief executive officer and president...

Canterbury Park in Minnesota has emerged as the latest track to take a stab at wooing Triple Crown champion American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). According to Eric Halstrom, Canterbury's vice president of racing operations, track management is considering completely overhauling and raising the purse of an existing non-graded stakes race by a factor of 10 to lure America's most sought-after horse. Halstrom said the $200,000 Mystic Lake Derby at one mile on the turf Aug. 29 would be moved to 1 1/8 miles on the dirt for a purse of...

The $2.1 million Jane Lyon spent to purchase Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman), who was in foal to young sire Pioneerof the Nile, at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale may have seemed a little steep at the time. However, it proved to be a steal at 6:53 p.m. June 6 when her son American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) captured the GI Belmont S. and in turn became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. "Pioneerof the Nile was still a young stallion, although he had obviously already produced a Grade I...

In the swirling, indefinite haze of which races might be next for Triple Crown champion American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), the Aug. 2 GI Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and the Oct. 31 GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Race Course loom as the most logical, according to tentative plans put forth by the colt's connections in myriad published reports. But the 13-week gap between those two starts remains a wild card, and it could shape up as a prime spot for an outlier track to step up with a...

When Coolmore did the deal to buy the breeding rights to American Pharoah in January, before the Eclipse Awards, they were just hoping they were buying their fifth champion 2-year-old colt in six years to stand at their Kentucky arm, Ashford Stud. They couldn't have bought the sixth anyway; that was the gelding Shared Belief, in 2013. But they stand 2009 champion Lookin At Lucky; 2010 champion Uncle Mo; they stood 2011 champion Hansen for a year before he was sold to South Korea; and they stand 2012 champion Shanghai...

The morning after ending the 37-year Triple Crown drought, American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) was in fine form, according to trainer Bob Baffert. "Looking at the horse today, he looked pretty darn good for a horse that just ran a mile and a half," Baffert said outside of Barn 1 in Elmont. "He's a tough horse. Today he looked like he could run back in three weeks." Baffert allowed members of the media to pet American Pharoah outside of the barn to demonstrate the colt's demeanor. "I just wanted to...

The morning after ending the 37-year Triple Crown drought, American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) was in fine form, according to trainer Bob Baffert. “Looking at the horse today, he looked pretty darn good for a horse that just ran a mile and a half,” Baffert said outside of Barn 1 in Elmont. “He's a tough horse. Today he looked like he could run back in three weeks.” Baffert allowed members of the media to pet American Pharoah outside of the barn to demonstrate the colt's demeanor. “I just wanted to...