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With 40 days remaining until the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Oct. 31, Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) returned to the worktab for the first time since being upset by Keen Ice (Curlin) in the GI Travers S. Aug. 29, breezing a half-mile in a leisurely :49.80 under the watchful eye of trainer Bob Baffert Monday morning at Santa Anita.
“Champ breezed very easy. Relaxed,” owner Ahmed Zayat tweeted. “Looked awesome according to Bob. Very easy 1/2 in 50. Ears [pricked], exactly what we wanted.”
Following his victory over Saturday's GII Pennsylvania Derby hero Frosted (Tapit) in the GI Belmont S. June 6, American Pharoah was returned to Kentucky for a time before flying back to California to prepare for the second half of the season. He hit the road for the sixth straight time to post a 2 1/2-length victory over Keen Ice in the GI William Hill Haskell Invitational S. at Monmouth Park Aug. 2, and, after some deliberation, was confirmed for the Midsummer Derby. In that 10-furlong affair, American Pharoah was shadowed through above-average fractions by Frosted and just failed to withstand the late run of Keen Ice to drop a narrow decision.
After first suggesting the colt could be retired following the Travers, Zayat had a change of heart and reported that the homebred would be pointed for the Classic.
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