American Pharoah, an American Thoroughbred race horse, in 2015 became the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown of American horse racing . The three-race Triple Crown for 3-year olds is the most important event in American Thoroughbred racing. Thoroughbreds are horses whose ancestry can be traced to three Arabian stallions that were brought to England, probably from the Middle East, in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. Stallions are male horses that can be used for breeding .
The Triple Crown is run over a five-week period in May and June. In the order of their running, the Triple Crown consists of the Kentucky Derby , the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. Mexican jockey Victor Espinoza rode American Pharoah in all three races. The horse was trained by Bob Baffert.
American Pharoah was born on Feb. 2, 2012, near Lexington, Kentucky. The horse’s name was mistakenly spelled “Pharoah” instead of “Pharaoh”—the term used for Egyptian rulers—when his name was registered with the Jockey Club, an American horse racing regulatory agency. American Pharoah was bred and is owned by Ahmed Zayat, who uses the name Zayat Stables to designate ownership. The horse’s sire (father) was Pioneerof the Nile, and his dam (mother) was Littleprincessemma. American Pharoah finished fifth in his first race, on Aug. 9, 2014. He then went undefeated in his next seven races, climaxed by the Triple Crown victories. American Pharoah was the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. It was the longest gap between winners in the history of the Triple Crown. Since 1978, 13 horses had won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness without winning the Belmont Stakes.
American Pharoah won the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, New Jersey, on Aug. 2, 2015, before finishing second on August 29 in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Springs, New York, ending his eight-race winning streak. He was retired from racing after winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31, 2015, at the Keeneland Racecourse in Kentucky.
