'Pharoah' takes on history in Triple Crown bid

American Pharoah will battle seven rivals and the weight of history on Saturday as he bids to end a 37-year Triple Crown drought in the Belmont Stakes.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, is an odds-on favorite and owner Ahmed Zayat says there will be "no excuses" if the sweet-striding bay colt fails to clinch the coveted treble.

Then again, the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, dubbed the "Test of the Champion" has proved the undoing of 13 Triple Crown contenders since Affirmed became the 11th horse to win all three races in 1978.

Baffert, who saw his Triple Crown contenders Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem beaten in the Belmont, can't even contemplate what it would feel like to pull off the feat that so fascinates US racing fans.

"It's just something that I don't think about," he said. "I know how tough it is and so I never get ahead of myself.

"I think the horse is deserving of it, what he's done this year," Baffert added of the colt that overcame unfavorable posts in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, winning the Derby by a length with a late stretch run before romping to a seven-length win in the Preakness on a sloppy Pimlico track.

"He's an exciting horse to watch, and he's an exciting horse for me to train -- the way he does things easily," Baffert said.

The pressure wasn't affecting American Pharoah in the buildup to the biggest race of his career.

He worked impressively on Monday at Churchill Downs in Kentucky, then jogged happily at Belmont on Wednesday after making the trip to New York.

While Baffert acknowledges the 1 1/2-mile Belmont distance -- rare in US racing -- is an unknown, Zayat notes that none of the three-year-olds in the field have any more experience with the longer distance than Pharoah.

- The horse to beat -

"I think his stride and the way he's going to carry himself will allow him to get any kind of distance," Zayat said. "The horse looks very healthy, happy -- weight-wise, coat-wise, we're going in with no excuses.

"It's an incredible feeling to go in confident that you have the horse to beat."

The horse to beat, however, has in fact been beaten in the past nine years at Belmont, where Afleet Alex in 2005 was the last favorite to win, and the favorite has won just twice since 1995.

The roll call of upset victims includes last year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome, whose defeat at Belmont sparked a rant from bitterly disappointed owner Steve Coburn, blasting the fact that fresher horses -- who skipped either the Kentucky Derby or Preakness -- could play spoiler in the Belmont.

That's always been one of the obstacles to Triple Crown glory, and it's the same this year.

"I think any time you're trying to win three consecutive races it's hard to do under any circumstances," said trainer Todd Pletcher, who has saddled two Belmont winners.

"Maybe those three consecutive races, in five weeks, at three different racetracks, in three different states just to start with that's pretty hard.

"Plus, it's very difficult competition at different distances. I don’t think it's any big secret why it's hard to win."

The Pletcher-trained Materiality -- which sat out the Preakness after a sixth-place Kentucky Derby finish -- is among the top threats to American Pharoah, along with Frosted -- a fast-finishing fourth at Churchill Downs who was also held out of the Preakness.

Frosted was the only horse gaining ground on the top three horses over the final three-quarters of a mile in the Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he expects his horse to stick closer to the pace on Saturday and hopefully "work out a better trip."

Pletcher is counting on familiarity with Belmont Park to work in Materiality's favor.

"Anytime you are at home, it is an edge," said Pletcher, who will also send out Madefromlucky and has worked both horses at Belmont for several weeks.

It's just one more factor making American Pharoah's task harder.

- Is this the one? -

"Thirty-seven years -- there's a reason for that," Baffert said, although even the trainer trying hard not to get ahead of himself can't help but wonder if American Pharoah will be the drought-buster.

"I don't think it takes a great trainer and a great jockey to win the Triple Crown. It takes a great horse," Baffert said. "Every time he runs, he's showing me -- he looks like maybe this is the one."
Source: AFP