OCEANPORT, N.J. — A white sign with gray letters above a folding table read “American Pharoah merchandise.” The early morning line for a T-shirt, hat or green No. 1 foam finger was longer than those at betting windows.
Waiting to be overcharged were the usual blend summoned by a big horse race: Members of high society — if legit or imposters only for a day — with floppy hats and bow ties; the daily players, fitted with half-open shirts, a paunch, chewed-up cigars, and a legacy of crumpled betting tickets in their wake; and the otherwise disengaged lured by the scent of history.
A handful in the crowd were inspired to wear pharaoh headgear. One even rounded out the look with a scepter. His can of beer undid his projected status in the kingdom.
In front of this swarm, American Pharoah cruised. Striding second alongside Competitive Edge for much of the 48th running of the 1 1/8-mile Grade I Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park Racetrack, American Pharoah moved to the front at the three-quarter pole then glided to the finish under the restraint of jockey Victor Espinoza. The clock hit 1:47.95 when he crossed, almost a second off the track record for the race. Into the bank was a purse of $1.75 million. The first Triple Crown winner in 37 years had won eight consecutive races. A record crowd of 60,983 watched a journey as pleasurable as the nearby ocean breeze.
Trainer Bob Baffert and owner Ahmed Zayat claimed pre-race nerves. That’s because risk exists in the subsequent races for Triple Crown winners. In 1973, Secretariat finished the most forceful Triple Crown in history, then lost The Whitney Handicap in Saratoga to Onion less than two months later. The upstate New York track is renowned for its soul-sucking power as the so-called “graveyard of champions.” It’s also trying to convince Baffert to eschew the ghosts.
On Saturday, the New York Racing Association announced the purse for the Aug. 29 running of the 149th Travers Stakes would rise from $1.25 million to $1.6 million if American Pharoah shows. Baffert and Zayat surprised no one after the Haskell Invitational by not committing to the location of the horse’s next race. The Pacific Classic at Del Mar, the Travers at Saratoga and the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing are in play.
“Mr. Zayat told me you don’t run him unless he’s 100 percent,” Baffert said. “You do right by the horse.”
The small borough of Oceanport braced for American Pharoah’s arrival. Traffic warnings started late in the week. Local publications printed alternate routes to the track, which opened in 1870. Pre-race predictions of Sunday’s crowd ranged from hopeful (65,000) to hyperbole (80,000). Once gates opened at 9 a.m., the summer dresses and cooler-toting hopefuls began to wander in, the race still nine hours away.
At 11:31 a.m., track announcer Frank Mirahmadi began to call the day’s first race. The crowd, coming over from the city and inland from the beach, grew as hours passed along with races few cared about.
American Pharoah was the first Triple Crown winner to run at Monmouth Park and sixth to race in New Jersey. Whirlaway, the winner of the Triple Crown in 1941, won the first running of the $10,000 Trenton Handicap at Garden State Park on Aug. 29, 1942. Seventy-four years later, the tree-ringed paddock had become a magnet, sucking people toward its white fence for a glimpse of American Pharoah before the 12th race of the day.
He was easy to identify. A cameraman circled with him. The horses saddled and ready, actor Bill Murray shouted, “Riders up!” American Pharoah walked out to cheers and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born To Run.”
Espinoza said American Pharoah handled the whoops and Jersey rock well. Baffert and Zayat managed varying levels of nerves as they balanced the horse’s future. Breeding rights have been sold. The horse now has the gravity of history and public embrace following him, which is enough to penetrate the will of the Egyptian businessman.
“I think I was extremely nervous before the race,” Zayat said after the race. “Believe me, more than the Belmont. I saw him in the paddock at the Belmont and I knew he was so focused and full of energy, and I was extremely confident in his performance.
“Today, there had been a lot of questions marks: What do you do with a Triple Crown [winner]? Do you race him or not race him? And, frankly speaking, I had a lot of faith in my horse, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t have, eh, two percent second-guessing myself. Am I doing this right by the sport or not?”
Baffert had won the Haskell Invitational a record seven times prior to Sunday. The track was fast, the surface to his liking, and with the field whittled to just seven by the time the horses left the gate, it was a prime setting for his 3-year-old bay colt to dominate. But, there was that hot dog.
Before each Haskell Invitational, Baffert consumes a hot dog from Max’s Famous Hot Dogs in Long Branch, about five minutes from the track. The Hall of Fame trainer deems the consumption lucky, becoming one of the few to label eating a hot dog as such. His butterflies did not help digestion.
“I feel there’s a lot of pressure now with this horse,” Baffert said. “I was pretty anxious there before he went into the gate. I was probably more nervous than I’ve been since I’ve ever run him.”
Baffert’s unease was quelled on the back stretch. He saw Espinoza treading lightly with American Pharoah, running solid if not spectacular second-place fractions, but needing little effort to do so. He turned to Ahmed Zayat’s son, Justin, and told him, “We’re good.”
Quickly after the race, the park emptied. Leftover merchandise was stowed, and the sweeping of the soiled grandstand began. American Pharoah had done what was expected, which is the only thing he can do now.
“He’s a gift from God or something, I’m telling you,” Baffert said. “He’s just a brilliant race horse and one that, as a trainer, we wait a lifetime to get one like this.”
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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