Champion American Pharoah Romps in Rebel in Season Debut

American Pharoah was in control at the top of the stretch in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on Saturday and cruised to an easy win at Oaklawn Park. (Coady Photography)
American Pharoah looked every bit the champion on Saturday in the $750,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, where the Pioneerof the Nile colt set an uncontested pace and rolled to a 6 1/4-length runaway win.
Contested on a sloppy track, the 2014 champion two-year-old male went right to the front and set a leisurely pace through three-quarters of a mile in 1:15.22 under Victor Espinoza. American Pharoah accelerated powerfully in the stretch and opened up a commanding lead on six overmatched opponents as the 2-to-5 favorite. He coasted to victory while finishing the final sixteenth of a mile in just over six seconds, so he was really moving late.
The reality is there was not much in the way of serious competition for American Pharoah in the Rebel, but you don’t get to pick your opponents on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
After American Pharoah won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity by 4 ¾ lengths and the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes by 3 ¼ lengths in his final two races at two, it’s pretty easy to understand why connections other highly regarded Derby hopefuls might choose another path once American Pharoah was pointed to the Rebel. Consider, he defeated eventual Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red by 4 ¾ lengths in the FrontRunner and was training like a monster in Southern California leading up to his season debut.
Regardless of competition, the Rebel was an ideal three-year-old debut in many ways for American Pharoah. He won outside of California for the first time in his career; he barely broke a sweat in a dominating performance; and American Pharoah looked like the time away to recover from a minor injury did him well.
American Pharoah completed the 1 1/16-mile Rebel in 1:45.78 for his third win in four races for owner-breeder Zayat Stables and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who also handles unbeaten multiple graded stakes-winning three-year-old Dortmund, another top Derby hopeful.
The 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard moved American Pharoah to fifth place with 60 total. The win also cemented his spot in the Kentucky Derby field, which is limited to 20 starters.
Runner-up Madefromlucky banked his first 20 points and third-place finisher Bold Conquest picked up 10 points to boost his total to 17, good for 13th on the leaderboard with 10 points races remaining, including seven that award 100 points to the winner.
The winner’s share of the Rebel boosted American Pharoah’s career earnings to $811,500. Bred in Kentucky, American Pharoah is one of two winners from as many starters out of the Yankee Gentleman mare Littleprincessemma.
Some horses improve dramatically from two to three, while others excel as precocious two-year-olds but struggle to maintain their elite form when other horses catch up developmentally. It appears that American Pharoah was not only very talented at a young age, he still had room to improve with physical and emotional maturation. He looked like a serious Kentucky Derby contender in the Rebel and punched his ticket to Louisville on the first Saturday in May with an easy victory.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
AMERICAN PHAROAH ROMPED IN REBEL STAKES

Coady Photography