Pharoah Plays Saratoga

American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) trumped the legend of the mighty Secretariat Friday as an estimated 15,000 people turned out to watch his morning gallop at Saratoga Race Course.

That figure–and it could have been more because everyone got in for free–was about three times the size of the crowd in 1973 that watched America's new Triple Crown winner Secretariat turn in a speedy work for the Whitney. Secretariat lost that Whitney to Onion to join the roster of stars that met defeat at the track that has been known since the 1930s as the 'Graveyard of Favorites.'

American Pharoah, winner of eight straight races, will face nine other 3-year-olds Saturday in the 146th running of the GI Travers S., Saratoga's oldest and most famous race. The New York Racing Association decided to cap attendance for the Travers at 50,000, so the morning gallop on Friday was the only opportunity many people had to see America's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. On a beautiful sunny morning, they came, they watched, they cheered and they snapped photos and took videos. It looked like a race day at America's oldest track.

Under exercise rider Jorge Alvarez, American Pharoah was brought out on to the track at 8:45 a.m. and was led the 'wrong way' around the first turn from the backstretch to the middle of the stretch.

They turned and galloped a complete circuit of the 1 1/8-mile track and kept going. Trainer Bob Baffert said they covered about 1 1/2 miles and he deemed it good piece of exercise on a new track the day before a race.

“Everything went really smooth,” Baffert said. “I could tell he really liked the track. He was floating around there like he usually does. I wanted to make sure what I saw today. He was moving around there pretty well.”

Baffert noted that the weather was better in upstate New York than what American Pharoah left behind at Del Mar in Southern California.

“He looks like he's really enjoying himself,” Baffert said. “I think he thinks he's at camp.”

After his time on the track, the colt was walked and bathed while dozens of people took thousands of images. Baffert said it was the new normal in him, his family and his staff.

“It's like the Pharoah tour,” he said. “We get to take him all over the country, and he really enjoys what he does. He enjoys the crowds, as you can see. That's just how he is. He's like a pet. He's a superstar pet. That's why the pressure to me is just to make sure everything's got to be 100%. Everything's got to be perfect. I feel like I'm protecting the President of the United States. I'm the Secret Service guy, making sure nothing happens to him.”

Baffert said he was impressed by the reception that American Pharoah received, that so many people– roughly equal to half the population of the city of Saratoga Springs–came to see a gallop. It was anything but routine, even by Saratoga standards.

“I was pretty overwhelmed by everybody and the fans,” he said. “It was pretty incredible. I know he's got a big backing and he's got a lot of fans, but it just keeps growing and growing and growing. Every time I see that it puts more pressure on me. I'm like his guardian. I think it's great. I think a lot of younger kids will remember this. I know my little son Bode couldn't believe it. He was excited; he signed an autograph.”

Baffert took a more serious tone as he talked about how the public has reacted to American Pharoah since he swept the Triple Crown and then added a victory in the GI William Hill Haskell Invitational to his resume.

“This is what you want to see in horse racing. We needed a boost,” he said. “We have some really great horses that run and put out great performances, but sometimes a lot of people aren't there to see them. It's unique that everybody is here actually watching this horse. They watched him win the Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont, the Haskell. A lot of fans have been able to follow this horse and latch onto him.”

Baffert knows the history of Saratoga, where the likes of Man o' War, Gallant Fox, and Rachel Alexandra have lost.

“There is a lot of pressure,” he said. “I think that he's such a great horse that you want to do the right thing. It's racing. Things can happen. You have no control over it. I just feel that as long as the Pharoah runs his race, that's what we're looking for. He looks great. He worked great at Del Mar. He came here and I love the way he went over the track. He shipped well. That's him. He's a low-key kind of horse, but when he goes to the paddock he turns it on. He has to break well. It's still horse racing. Everything has to go right.”