Born to Run: What made American Pharoah's 2015 Triple Crown win so special | PART 1 | NBC Sports

[Music] american pharaoh he is a regional one that doesn't come around very often hence why we want to give him the very best opportunity that we can to succeed as a stallion the walk each morning from american pharaoh's barn to the breeding shed is about 30 yards long yet it's become the most significant stretch of real estate in the breeding industry and that's exactly how the culmore operation envisioned it when they purchased american pharaoh and began breeding him in 2016. obviously the hope is for american pharaoh to become one of the the dominant salines not just here in in kentucky but all over the world we are breeding the very best mares to him up to three meals a day it's a huge responsibility and it's not one that we take lightly the owners who sent their mares to american pharaoh that first year paid handsomely for what was essentially a gamble two hundred thousand dollars for a single date with him some 30 million dollars in all despite no proof his offspring would be any good their investments were driven by one thing only hope this is a business that is all about hope you find a horse like american pharaoh and you want some of that magic and some of that ability and i would assume that a lot of people who are breeding to him feel the same way if those gambles pay off if american pharaoh's offspring run anything like he once did he could breed for another 20 years earning half a billion dollars it all hinges on that magic american pharaoh unleashed on the track and whether or not it runs in the family when you breathe to american pharaoh you get the chance to breed a horse of a lifetime it's what we all want introducing a whole new breed of mustang [Music] to truly understand why american pharaoh is valued so highly as a sire you need to go back to the beginning the spring of 1979. a gallon of gas cost 86 cents the montreal canadiens had just capped a magical season and a powerful three-year-old named spectacular bid was going for the fourth triple crown in seven years people who know thoroughbreds watch this horse and say can he move spectacular bid has a good chance to win horse racing's triple crown so in the 1970s we started to think that winning the triple crown wasn't that hard [Music] we saw three triple crown winners and then spectacular big goes into the belmont stakes it was almost like a coronation i don't see how i can lose i don't see how he's anyway he can lose unless something very very bad happens out there it's going to be the easiest one that he's ever ran i think it was a given he would win the triple crown of course he [Music] and then he didn't that was the beginning of sort of the unraveling of winning the triple crown being an easy thing that people took for granted after pleasant colonies wins in the kentucky derby and the preakness trainer johnny campbell has conducted this week's workouts at belmont with absolute confidence when you go miley hills they're going out for some afternoon drives just sit there and do together there is going in the last 11 years the triple crown it's magical but it's also extremely tough to win i did not have too tight it felt like i touched it you know i i felt it for a moment charismatic denied the triple ground it's been 24 years 25 years 26 years it has been 30 years 34 years this is officially to tell you this [Music] in my lifetime i'll never see another triple crown when i never see another triple crown winner on a chilly morning in ocala florida in the spring of 2014 a small crack and the triple crown curse began to emerge the best trainers in the world squeezed onto a porch to see if the rumors about ahmed zayed's budding cult were true he was said to have an eerily calm demeanor with unusual speed even his name was auspicious american pharaoh you have the horse breathing and then all of a sudden it's silent every night [Music] jamie tell me the time please 11 3. the guy on the farm is saying the times that he's going and we're all just like oh my god [Applause] you have my dad in the background just like holy holy scare this horse figure out who you want to send him to get him out of here you look at your watch it's really going that fast but for him it's so easy he honestly floats on the ground the first time you saw him braise it's almost like you're watching an old seabiscuit movie or something right away i responded i want that horse there was no way of keeping that a secret he was the buzz in the horse world everybody knew that they have a freak on their farm it's american pharaoh 18 three-year-old horses will race a mile and a quarter at churchill downs this is the 141st kentucky derby by the time the 2015 kentucky derby rolled around american pharaoh had come a long way after that memorable morning in ocala he was shipped out west to trainer bob baffert and won many of his early races in convincing fashion american pharaoh breathtaking and a mesmerizing performance let's talk about the favorite american pharaoh he's not even run in the derby yet they're already calling him one of the all-time greats he was the first horse in my career that i started to hear people say not only do i think he'll win the kentucky derby i think he'll win the triple crown they're all in line we're ready for the start they're off in the kentucky derby despite the unprecedented expectations the kentucky derby was less of a coronation than just about anyone had expected going into the far turn american pharoah was in third place he usually wins his races by four or five length it's the first time that i felt he was tested he had to work and earn it and they're into the stretch and it's american pharaoh who has taken the lead on the outside american pharaoh has won the kentucky derby two weeks later in the preakness stakes the second leg of the triple crown no forces of mother nature or horses in the field for that matter stood a chance against american pharaoh i never rode like in death conditions before but seems like american pharoah he was he was having fun i was like yeah that's the american pharaoh that i know the american pharaoh is all by himself american pharaoh and victor espinoza have won the preakness the third leg of horse racing's triple crown is tomorrow and all eyes on american pharoah comes to new york as the latest super horse with a chance to make history and become the first triple crown winner in 37 years with the entire country watching 13 horses over the previous 36 years had arrived at the belmont stakes with a triple crown on the line none of them succeeded the task american pharaoh faced seemed insurmountable we had seen it elude us so many times that there was no reason to really believe it was going to happen until he crossed the wire in front the 147th belmont stakes over a mile and a half with a triple crown on the line [Music] of champions first time ever any of these horses going a mile and a half on the deepest track in america fresh horses coming in and now he will try to do something that people have been waiting for for 37 years so all odds are against it and it is american pharaoh who leads the way by three quarters of the length once he got in the lead going to the first turn what do i see those ears go forward and he's got that stride going i'm going oh i just i can't believe this as soon as he turned to the stretch that was it i can't wait longer i had to just go and when i just turned and lose that was the best feeling and they're into the stretch and american pharaoh makes his run for glory spectacular the crowd was going crazy people behind me are crying everyone wanted this to happen and here it is what i remember is the roar of 90 000 people it was an eruption of euphoria this is when i knew he's not mine this is america's horse when american pharaoh crossed the finish line and ended that 37-year drought it really felt like the sport had been set free horse racing finally had a story and a star american pharaoh's reign it turned out was short-lived five months after winning the triple crown he retired from racing and began a new career as a father welcome to your new home buddy you see in racing a champion like american pharaoh can potentially make far more money in the breeding shed than on the race track soon american pharaoh's impact on the sport would be felt in new ways in 2017 his first crop of offspring arrived 162 foals in all are this kid's going to be as good as him are they going to be as brilliant as he was time will tell from birth every stage of their young lives would be carefully mapped out from being sold as one year i would be surprised if they didn't sell through the roof to learning to race as two-year-olds when they come right here they don't know anything all across the globe good fighting spirit yes and finally hitting the track aiming for the biggest races for three-year-olds the plan is to win and win as much as we can over these three years as they go so too for american pharaoh's legacy it all hinges on this first crop and whether they can grow strong enough that big shoulder good time quarter muscle learn quick enough he's got a great mind a lot like his dad race faster he's definitely got that magical stride to follow in your father's footsteps this is a game of dreams i want a horse that runs like that this is the story of the next generation you

Channel: NBC Sports

Views: 212,540

Keywords: Horse racing, American Pharoah, Triple Crown, Born to Run, NBC Sports documentary, Horse racing on NBC Sports

Id: gEmdJfU6TUY

Length: 14min 26sec (866 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 06 2020