American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile's) victory in the GI Belmont S. that clinched racing's first Triple Crown in 37 years, was named the 2015 NTRA Moment of the Year at the fourth annual ThoroFan Awards Breakfast Friday morning at Frankey's Sports Bar in The Village at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Bob Baffert accepted the Moment of the Year award–a glass timepiece set to 6:55 p.m., the moment American Pharoah crossed the wire–from NTRA Director of Media and Industry Relations Jim Mulvihill. The Moment of the Year will be the subject of a video and presentation at Saturday night's Eclipse Award ceremony at Gulfstream Park.
“American Pharoah's win in the Belmont was more than the NTRA Moment of the Year; for many of us racing fans it was the moment of a lifetime,” said Keith Chamblin, NTRA chief operating officer.
The Belmont victory was named the moment of the year over American Pharoah's wire-to-wire success in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Some 1000 racing fans cast their vote for the honor via Twitter.
Prior events to be named the Moment of the Year included Chris Antley's heroic actions to help save the life of Charismatic following the 1999 Belmont S.; the passing of Seattle Slew in 2002; Afleet Alex's dramatic victory in the 2005 Preakness S.; Barbaro's gallant fight against laminitis; Zenyatta's historic defeat of the boys in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic; and California Chrome's dominating tally in the 2015 Kentucky Derby.
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