Happy Birthday, American Pharoah
Sports fans are, as a general rule, a superstitious group. Horse racing fans are the most notoriously superstitious of all. Before most every race I, and almost every other horse racing fan I know, will stop to do two things: We say a little prayer that all the jockeys and horses make it though the race safely, and we hope that this year, we'll see a once-in-a-lifetime horse. The horse who'll win the Triple Crown. The horse whose name everyone -- not just the people at the track -- will remember.
Image via bobbaffert.com
In 2015, we saw a once-in-a-lifetime horse. Foaled on February 2, 2012 at Lexington's Stockplace Farms and subsequently acquired Zayat Stables, by American Pharoah's name was misspelled when electronically submitted to the Jockeys Club. By 2015, his list of wins amazed the world. In his three-year-old season, he won th Rebel Stakes, the Arkansas Derby, the Haskell Invitational, all three races of the Triple Crown, and the Breeders' Cup Classic.
The excitement at this year's Breeders' Cup is hard to describe. I'd never seen a racetrack so crowded, not even on Derby Day. The crowd spilled farther down the rail at Keeneland than I even imagined possible.
We all just wanted to say that we saw the final race of the Greatest Horse of Our Lifetime. He certainly didn't disappoint.
Happy birthday, American Pharoah!
