AP's Belmont Victory NTRA Moment of Year
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
American Pharoah's win in the Belmont Stakes was named "Moment of the Year."
American Pharoah 's win in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) to land the first Triple Crown in 37 years was named the 2015 National Thoroughbred Racing Association "Moment of the Year."
The result was announced the morning of Jan. 15 during the fourth annual ThoroFan Awards Breakfast at Frankey's Sports Bar at Gulfstream Park.
Under regular rider Victor Espinoza, heavily favored American Pharoah led every step of the way in the June 6 Belmont, drawing clear in the stretch to score by 5 1/2 lengths. The result ignited a raucous celebration among the 90,000 fans on track and 22 million more watching on NBC, and also established the 3-year-old colt as an international celebrity.
Throughout his racing career, American Pharoah was trained by Bob Baffert for Ahmed Zayat's Zayat Stables.
Baffert accepted the Moment of the Year award—a glass timepiece set to 6:55 p.m. for the moment American Pharoah crossed the Belmont finish line—from Jim Mulvihill, NTRA director of media and industry relations. The NTRA Moment of the Year will also be celebrated with a video and presentation during Saturday night's Eclipse Awards ceremony at Gulfstream.
NTRA Moment of the Year voters chose from 10 images illustrating a range of human emotions, as well as outstanding displays of equine athleticism. American Pharoah's Belmont win was selected by nearly 1,000 racing fans on Twitter using hashtag #APTripleCrown for voting purposes.
Finishing second was American Pharoah's victory in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I), which made him the first horse to win the Triple Crown and the Classic in the same season. Those votes were cast with the hashtag #APClassic.
"American Pharoah's win in the Belmont was more than the NTRA Moment of the Year—for many of us racing fans, it was the moment of a lifetime," said Keith Chamblin, NTRA chief operating officer.