American Pharoah Romps in Rebel Stakes
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American Pharoah bobbled at the break but never looked back, galloping gate-to-wire to win the $750,000 Rebel Stakes (gr. II) by 6 1/4 lengths in his season debut March 14 at Oaklawn Park.
The defending 2-year-old champion made a long-awaited return to the races on a rainy day at the Arkansas oval, sent off favored at 2-5 but with many still wondering whether he would handle his first outing on a sloppy track. Owner Ahmed Zayat even wondered whether he should scratch the colt from his first start since last September, but when sent out to run American Pharoah answered the question with a resounding "yes," carrying on to victory under jockey Victor Espinoza despite twisting his right front shoe leaving the gate.
"I was a little bit concerned at the break because Victor said he moved right before they broke... he stumbled and he grabbed himself," said Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has now won five of the past six editions of the Rebel. "I just talked to (assistant trainer) Jimmy (Barnes) and I guess he sprung the right shoe pretty well, he noticed it when he came back. He was running with a shoe bent the whole way around there, which just goes to show you what kind of a horse he is.
"Once he got to the first turn and he was just in his groove, galloping, I just thought 'Well, if he's the horse we hope he is, he's in good shape.' You're always hoping that he's going to run like that. He showed us in the mornings he does that, so it was just a perfect kind of race for him to come back.
"When you run on a track like that you're always concerned about something coming up, but so far everything looks good. It was pretty exciting."
American Pharoah hadn't raced since a victory in the Sept. 27 FrontRunner Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park, a win he earned off a maiden-breaking score at second asking in the Sept. 3 Del Mar Futurity (gr. I). The colt was named 2-year-old champion at the end of the season despite missing the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) Nov. 1 with an issue in his left front foot, and came into the Rebel for a late start to his 3-year-old campaign after training steadily at Santa Anita.
"We took an X-ray and it was totally clean; we took an ultrasound and it was totally clean," Zayat said of American Pharoah's injury last season. "We treated it as if he tweaked a suspensory. We wanted to err on the side of caution. They said to give him 30 days, we gave him 60 days, although Bob always kept him walking after that. So he was fit, he never lost any conditioning. But with a horse like that, I just wanted to be a little bit more cautious."
The Rebel gave American Pharoah 50 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), upping his total to 60 points, which assures a spot in the 20-horse starting gate on the first Saturday in May. American Pharoah now ranks fifth on the Derby leaderboard, while Zayat Stables' New York-based El Kabeir tops the list with 75 points for trainer John Terranova II. The Zayats also have Mr. Z in training with D. Wayne Lukas at 14th on the list with 14 points. Baffert conditions undefeated Dortmund as well, who ranks third on the list with 70 points for owner Kaleem Shah.
"I'm just glad to get this one out of the way. We've got him back. I feel fortunate to have two really top horses in him and Dortmund," Baffert said. "It's just very rare to have two horses like that."
American Pharoah set modest early fractions of :24.41, :49.63, and 1:15.22 in the Rebel before hitting the head of the stretch and lengthening away through a mile in 1:39.76.
"He was very impressive," Espinoza said. "He's an amazing horse. The first time I rode him, Bob said 'He's the real deal.' Bob's a Hall of Famer, so he knows. Bob was confident, so that made me confident."
The winner finished the 1 1/16-mile Rebel on a sloppy track in 1:45.78, with Madefromlucky a distant second. The runner-up is a son of Lookin at Lucky , who was Baffert's first Rebel winner.
American Pharoah returned $2.80, $2.20, and $2.10. Madefromlucky paid $3.40 and $2.80 in second, while Bold Conquest brought $2.80 when 2 1/2 lengths back in third. The Truth Or Else, Paid Admission, Sakima, and Tizwonderfulcreek completed the order of finish.
A homebred out of the Yankee Gentleman mare Littleprincessemma, American Pharoah has now won three of four starts, with earnings of $811,500.
"I don't think it was too easy for him," Baffert said of the Rebel victory. "The track was very demanding. We learned a lot from this race because he handled it well, he handled the shipping and he handled the off track.
"There is a good chance we might be back for the (April 11) Arkansas Derby (gr. I) with him."
A mid-March debut was the initial step of the two champion 2-year-old males among the past 10 to win classic races. Street Sense , champion 2-year-old male of 2006, first started in his 3-year-old season March 17, 2007, with a narrow victory in the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) before winning the Derby seven weeks later. Champion 2-year-old male of 2009 Lookin At Lucky also made his 3-year-old debut seven weeks before the Derby with a narrow Rebel win. While Lookin At Lucky finished off the board in the Derby, he scored a clear victory in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).