Despite Thoroughbred racing’s sometimes turbulent forces, people willingly allow themselves to get sucked into its vortex and release passions they never knew existed, such as the idolatry and love of a racehorse, with varying degrees of zeal. At some point when turning for home, I saw the horses slow down and start coming back to me so I knew that I had a chance to win the race.
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But Saturday, Keen Ice knocked Pharoah off in the Travers Stakes, winning by just under a length.
Bryan R. Smith /Bryan R. Smith Jockey Victor Espinoza and American Pharoah come up short in Saratoga on Saturday.
The upset solidified Saratoga’s reputation as the “Graveyard of Favorites”. Besides, the colt had beaten six of the rivals lined up alongside him in the starting gate.
Frosted finished third after running alongside Pharoah for most of the race. On Saturday, he simply didn’t have it as he tried to hold off a charging Keen Ice. In fact, a couple of odd things. “This horse has been the highlight for us for a while now, and I had confidence he could pull this off for us today”. Ben Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR, which won the opening regatta in Portsmouth in July, was second in both races with Emirates Team New Zealand in third.
-Trained by Dale Romans, who won the 2011 Preakness with Shackleford.
At the start, American Pharoah took the lead, pressed immediately by Belmont runner-up Frosted.
“It’s about time the Travers got back to the pinnacle of where it belongs”, he said.
“He was not the same like when I’ve always been riding before”, said Espinoza.
Patrick Cox of Manhattan went to the window with a smile, too, after betting on American Pharoah to finish second.
“His energy was not the same as it was before”.
He told reporters: “I wanted to see how taxing this race was on him”.
Of course, for a career that will long be celebrated in racing lore for debunking the impossibility of a Triple Crown sweep, there’s no real need for apologies. And the loss won’t have any effect on American Pharoah’s value, DeNardo said. This was not his colt’s A game on display. “His tank wasn’t as full as we hoped”.
Then, he said, he told his family, “My gut feeling right now, without being outspoken, is to retire”.
Jerry Crawford, the president of Donegal Racing, which owns Keen Ice, had said going into the race that it was like competing against Secretariat.
“It’s the nostalgia of getting a ticket with American Pharoah’s name on it”, he said. But how much? American Pharoah, who was the.35-1 favorite, paid $2.40 and $2.10.
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Keen Ice completed the race in just over two minutes, finishing strong to take the win from American Pharoah. Those scenes typified just some of the inexplicable facets of American Pharoah’s allure that go beyond winning and losing. They made no excuses. Until then Espinoza had the beloved American Pharoah out in front, the position he’s used to. “It’s hard to digest right now”.
