Amercian Pharoah is coming back to New York.
The bay colt who in June became the first horse in 37 years to capture thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown will run in Saturday’s Travers Stakes at historic Saratoga Race Course.
“Saratoga here we come!!!!!!!” owner Ahmad Zayat tweeted on Sunday.
The three-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile and Littleprincessemma, who worked fractions of four furlongs in 47.2, five in 58.8, seven in 1:23.2 and a mile in 1:36.4 before about 2,000 fans on Sunday at California’s Del Mar Racetrack, will fly to Saratoga on Wednesday in advance of the Midsummer Derby, which will carry a $1.6m purse.
The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes champion owned by Zayat Stables and trained by Bob Baffert will be the fourth of 12 Triple Crown winners to run in the Travers. Of the previous three, only Whirlaway won in 1941. Even the great Secretariat lost at Saratoga in 1973, felled by an unheralded horse named Onion.
It will mark American Pharoah’s second race since his history-making triumph at Belmont Park in June. On 2 August, he won the $1.75m Haskell Invitational Stakes by two and a half lengths at Monmouth Park.
The Haskell marked American Pharoah’s eighth consecutive victory, including seven Grade I races.
It’s unclear whether Zayat will try for one more race between the Travers and the Breeders’ Cup Classic on 31 October at Keeneland. Intrigue surrounding that race only redoubled over the weekend as the five-year-old mare Beholder became the first female to win the Pacific Classic on Saturday, running away by an eight-and-a-quarter-length margin and prompting buzz over a showdown in Lexington.
The post-position draw for the 146th running of the Travers will take place Tuesday night.
