American Pharoah

2015 Triple Crown Winner Profile

Sire: Pioneer of the Nile
Dam: Littleprincessemma

Owner: Ahmed Zayat
Breeder: Ahmed Zayat
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Primary Jockey: Victor Espinoza

Race record: 11 starts, 9 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds
Earnings: $8,650,300

American Pharoah was the highly regarded 2015 Triple Crown winner following victories at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

In his career he racked up 9 victories, including the Del Mar Futurity at Del Mar, the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita, and the Rebel and Arkansas Stakes at Oaklawn Park. His wins at the Haskell Invitational in 2015 and then the Breeders' Cup Classic solidified his place as one of horse racing's great champions.

Victor Espinoza was the jockey for all of the colt’s wins.  American Pharoah's Kentucky Derby win was Espinoza's 3rd triumph in the historic race and his second consecutive win, as he was aboard winner California Chrome in 2014. American Pharoah was trained by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, and earned the trainer his fourth Kentucky Derby victory, but more importantly his 1st Triple Crown.

American Pharoah’s win in the Derby vindicated the loss suffered by his sire, Pioneerof the Nile, in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Pioneerof the Nile, also trained by Bob Baffert, ran second to notorious 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird. Pioneerof the Nile has shown success in his limited career at stud thus far, as he also sired 2014 Preakness Stakes third-place finisher Social Inclusion.

American Pharoah was named Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in 2014, despite not competing in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. However, the third place finisher in Pharoah’s impressive FrontRunner performance, Texas Red, continued to the Breeders’ Cup to defeat the Juvenile field by over six lengths, further validating Pharoah’s two-year-old races. American Pharoah joined Street Sense as just the second horse to be named Champion Two-Year-Old and return to win the Kentucky Derby.

The great thoroughbred concluded his career with his victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic. American Pharoah was the first horse to win horse racing’s Grand Slam of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, the Belmont Stakes, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic all in the same year.

In early 2016, American Pharoah was named Horse of Year by the Eclipse Award voters.