'Pharoah' Arrives At Coolmore

Triple Crown and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile–Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman) arrived at his new home, Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky, Monday morning. Traveling from Keeneland with the aid of a police escort, the bay colt stepped off the van at 8:30 a.m. and was greeted by his regular contingent–trainer Bob Baffert and his wife Jill and son Bode; assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes, exercise rider Georgie Alvarez and groom Eduardo Luna–as well as MV Magnier and numerous other Coolmore personnel. After a quick stop at his new stall American Pharoah was taken outside for a photo op, a process he has become accustomed to.

“He's wondering where he's going to race next,” Baffert quipped as American Pharoah took up his familiar statuesque pose. Horse and trainer entertained onlookers for a further 15 minutes before Baffert hugged the horse, bid his farewell and American Pharoah headed back to the barn to begin his life at stud.

Coolmore has stood nearly countless champions at its farms across the world, but MV Magnier indicated this was a unique occasion.

“We're extremely lucky to have the horse,” he said. “In fairness to Bob, from a long time ago he was telling us how good this horse was and that we should try and get him, and thankfully we got a deal done with the Zayats and they're very good people. He's an exceptional horse, everything about him; Bob was saying he could handle absolutely everything. Hopefully we'll do half as good a job with him as Bob has.”

Of American Pharoah's 6 1/2-length Classic demolition Saturday, Magnier added, “his performance in the Classic was exceptional; it blew everyone away. He finished up racing the way he deserved to.”

Magnier said American Pharoah's stud fee would be announced in the coming days.

“There's a lot of interest in him, which there should be,” he said. “We're going to discuss his fee over the next few days and Wednesday or Thursday we'll release it, I'd say.”

Baffert was quick to praise the Coolmore team for sealing the stud deal on American Pharoah early in his career.

“The Coolmore team zero in on hot prospects; they're constantly in communication and they had their finger on the pulse,” he noted. “They know when there's something and he caught their eye. They rolled the dice; he was a horse coming off an injury and they took a chance and it worked out beautifully.”

“I can't wait to see what he does [at stud],” Baffert added. “His mechanics–trainers all say he was so great and all that–but this horse is so special, and what I love about this horse is his mechanics, the way he travels, the way he moves, his speed, his temperament, soundness; he's a throwback to the old hickory. He's run on every kind of track and surface imaginable, and it didn't matter. We never had to make an excuse for him, he just showed up. That's how I'll always remember him; he made my job so much easier. He's a magical horse for me. He's a horse trainers dream of having one day in their life.”

Stud groom Richard Barry has been with Coolmore for 30 years, and he said the closest he has seen to the reception received by American Pharoah was when Cigar (Palace Music) arrived at the farm in 1996. Barry also revealed what American Pharoah's routine will look like as he transitions into his next career. He said American Pharoah would be turned out in the next couple days in a paddock next to fellow GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont S. winner Thunder Gulch (Gulch), who, as a pensioner at 23 years of age, would act as a “babysitter.”

“Young horses, when they get out, tend to run around a lot but if you put a 23-year-old boy beside him he'll kind of look at him and go, 'son, run on your own.' [American Pharoah] will spend an hour looking at Thunder Gulch eating grass and trying to get him to run, and he won't run anywhere. Then he'll figure out he should eat some grass himself. Then after that it's pretty easy.”

“He'll get into a routine where he gets turned out first thing in the morning,” Barry added. “We're here at 6:30 in the morning and he'll get turned out as soon as it's daylight, brought in before lunch and groomed.”

Barry said that routine would continue until the breeding season starts in February, and he noted American Pharoah would likely test-breed his first mare in December.

“When the season starts we breed at 7:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., if necessary,” he added. “That'll be the routine for the breeding season.”

American Pharoah retires from racing with nine wins from 11 starts and earnings of $8,650,300. He owns an Eclipse award–with others in the waiting–as America's champion juvenile of 2014 and holds Grade I wins in the Del Mar Futurity, FrontRunner S., Arkansas Derby, Kentucky Derby, Preakness S., Belmont S., Haskell Invitational and Breeders' Cup Classic, which he won by a combined 38 1/4 lengths. A horse of dreams, indeed.