At 1 ½ miles, it's well clear of the Preakness and Derby as the longest of the Triple Crown races, and if you're hoping to come from the stars and close into a victory, chances are you're going to be left disappointed.īeyond that though, this group has shown nothing in the way of cheap speed and has been multiple seconds slower than what we'd normally expect in the Triple Crown races. Winning the Belmont is all about placement. He and Espinoza ran up against a weak, top-heavy field at Pimlico, and the torrential downpour and sloppy track only helped them on their way to capturing the second jewel of the Triple Crown. That said, if we dig deep enough, Pharoah has left a few clues for us to follow. Honestly, this win doesn't say a whole lot about AP's chances to complete the Triple Crown. Yes, the track was wet, but I dug through Equibase's historical charts for the Preakness (they go back as far as 1991) and found nothing slower, making this the slowest Preakness in at least the last 25 iterations. Pharoah and Espinoza finished the race with a mind-boggling time of 1:58.46 seconds. Ultimately, he kicked clear of his competition and worked his way to a seven-length victory ahead of the second- and third-place finishers, Tale of Verve and Divining Rod, respectively. Then, in the fourth quarter, AP managed to increase his lead while practically walking to a time of 26.32 seconds. 47.34 seconds), per The Daily Racing Form, and coming into the 3/4-mile mark, AP was in complete control of the pace, logging a 24.93 second third quarter (that's really slow). His half-mile time was nearly a second faster than the one the leading group ran in the Derby (46.49 seconds vs. Z by the time he finished his first quarter mile.ĪP breezed through the opening quarter in 22.90 seconds and continued to widen his lead out to two lengths after finishing the second quarter in just 23.59 seconds. “He’s the real deal and the sport needs him.This was to be expected, as AP has always shown good gate speed. However, what we didn't necessarily expect was for him to be a length clear of second-place runner Mr. “I’ve always told everybody the real American Pharoah will show off today,” owner Ahmed Zayat said. American Pharoah had slopped through the Rebel Stakes in March, giving him a decided edge over the other top contenders Firing Line and Dortmund.Įspinosa is now the only jockey with three chances to claim the Triple Crown, having slipped up last year with California Chrome and in 2002 with Baffert’s War Emblem. Trainers and jockeys kept each contender warm by walking around just prior to entering the gate.Įspinosa, 42, even admitted after the race he wasn’t going to burst out of the gate, but the rain changed everything.
Heavy rain began to fall roughly 10 minutes before the start of the race and jockeys boarded their horses. He's the first horse to win the Preakness from the No. The lead was cut to about a 1/2 length as the pack entered the home stretch, but Espinosa opened up American Pharoah for a victory by about seven lengths for a time of 1:58.46. He then held the lead at 2 1/2 lengths after the first turn and backstretch. Employing the 3-year-old colt’s front running style, Espinosa roared out of the gate to avoid getting pinned inside at the dreaded No.
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