American Pharoah Still Top of Class in Eclipse Race

American Pharoah is still in the driver's seat for the 2-year-old Eclipse award according to Bob Ehalt. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
One of the original intents of the Breeders’ Cup was to crown Thoroughbred racing’s champions, and these days, with 13 races in the two-day event, there’s ample opportunity for a variety of horses to prove their worthiness of an Eclipse Award.
Texas Red was one of those horses who seized the grand stage and registered an absolutely electrifying performance. Rallying from last in a field of 11, the 2-year-old son of Afleet Alex surged to an utterly decisive 6 ½-length victory in the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
It was a performance worthy of a champion, except for one important facet of the equation.
Someone else deserves the Eclipse Award.
As dominant as Texas Red may have been in the BC Juvenile, there was a shadow hovering him and everyone else in the field, which added an important element of perspective to the race.
Zayat Stables’ American Pharoah didn’t run in the Breeders’ Cup, but the Juvenile surely flattered him.
A two-time Grade 1 winner, American Pharoah was a highly popular morning-line favorite in the BC Juvenile off an impressive 3 ¼-length score in Santa Anita’s FrontRunner, a $300,000 Grade 1 stakes contested at the same track and distance as the BC Juvenile. Unfortunately for owner Ahmed Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert and handicappers searching for a horse to single in a wagering sequence, American Pharoah suffered a bruised foot and had to be scratched.
In his absence, Texas Red dominated the Juvenile with the kind of performance that historically forms a coupled entry with a championship. Of the 30 previous winners of the BC Juvenile, 23 were named that year’s 2-year-old champion. Only in this case, when Texas Red crossed the wire, it was nearly impossible to not flash back in time a month when American Pharoah beat Texas Red by 4 3/4 lengths in the FrontRunner.
TEXAS RED EARNED THE BREEDERS' CUP BLANKET WITH HIS JUVENILE VICTORY

In terms of an Eclipse Award resume, Texas Red may own a victory in the biggest and most important race of all, but American Pharoah has two Grade 1 victories to his one, and when they met head-to-head for the only time, American Pharoah won easily. Texas Red also owns two wins from five starts while American Pharoah stands two-for-three, and as strong as the Juvenile field may have seemed, also missing was Calculator, who finished second - ahead of Texas Red - in the FrontRunner but was scratched in the Breeders’ Cup due to a sore foot.
There’s no doubt Texas Red took a huge step forward in the Juvenile, but unfortunately we’ll never know if American Pharoah was sitting on an equally magnificent performance. Perhaps if Zayat had steered his horse clear of the Juvenile by design to keep him fresh for a 3-year-old campaign, it could work against them. In this instance, though, to penalize American Pharoah per se for an injury seems unfair.
An interesting dynamic is the presence of the old Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Los Alamitos, now named the Los Alamitos Futurity, which could possibly give Texas Red a crack at that coveted second Grade 1 win. A year ago, a win in the Cash Call paved the way for another non-Breeders' Cup starter, Shared Belief, to be named the 2-year-old champ.
In terms of the big picture, down the road we’ll find out which horses emerge as the best Triple Crown candidates from this group of 2-year-olds, and judging by the way Texas Red ran away and hid from his rivals in the stretch run of the Breeders’ Cup it would seem it’s the more the merrier for him in terms of a distance of ground. Yet as far as honoring a 2-year-old season, from start to finish, it’s the words of Texas Red’s trainer, Keith Desormeaux, that best describes the top candidate.
“How good is American Pharoah?” he said after Texas Red’s rout in the BC Juvenile. “You never want to see a defection, but it had to help.”
Good enough to be a champion seems the best response right now.