The Graveyard of Champions claimed another favorite on Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, when Keen Ice ran down American Pharoah in the lane to deny him victory in the Travers Stakes.
In defeat, American Pharoah joins Gallant Fox, Secretariat and Affirmed as Triple Crown winners that came to Saratoga and lost, along with a host of other champions and favorites to be bested by the track in Saratoga Springs.
The loss was American Pharoah’s first since last August, when he lost his first race, the defeat interrupting an eight-race winning streak.
As he did in the Belmont Stakes, American Pharoah went to the front under jockey Victor Espinoza. But unlike that race, where he was allowed a largely uncontested lead, American Pharoah was harangued early and steadily in the Travers by Frosted, the Belmont Stakes runner-up, ridden by substitute jockey Jose Lezcano after Joel Rosario, named to ride Frosted, was injured earlier in the card.
Tracking him insistently, Frosted pounced heading into the far turn of the 10-furlong Travers, only to be repelled by American Pharoah. But by that time, Keen Ice and jockey Javier Castellano had made their move, running down a wearying American Pharoah and passing him late to win by three-quarters of a length.
Said a disconsolate Espinoza, “Maybe it was just a little too much for those three weeks (between the Haskell and the Travers), flying back and forth. He was running pretty comfortable there, but not like he used to. By the half-mile pole, I knew I was in trouble.”
Espinoza also said that, unlike his other races, the horse was anxious going into the starting gate.
“We gambled,” said trainer Bob Baffert. “He showed us all that signs that he was ready to go, but you really don’t know until they actually run.”
Baffert and owner Ahmed Zayat had delayed a decision on whether to run American Pharoah at Saratoga until last Sunday, when an impressive workout convinced them to head east for the third time in three months.
Though the plan had been to run American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland in Kentucky in late October, Zayat put that plan in doubt immediately after the race.
“My gut feeling right now is to retire him,” he said.
Zayat has already signed a stallion deal for undisclosed terms with Coolmore, based in Lexington, Kentucky. Whether he retires now or after the Breeders’ Cup, his stud career will begin early next year.
Keen Ice came to the Travers with one win to his credit, that coming a year ago at Churchill Downs. Third in the Belmont and second in the Haskell, he didn’t exactly garner the public’s confidence, sent off at odds of 16-1 and paying $34.00 to win.
“This horse is a different horse since coming out of the Haskell,” maintained trainer Dale Romans. “He trained sharp all week.”
“American Pharoah’s legacy is not tarnished in any way,” he went on. “Secretariat got beat, Seattle Slew got beat, Affirmed got beat.”
Keen Ice was ridden by Javier Castellano, who set a record in winning his fifth Travers Stakes, more than any other jockey. The win was Romans’ first in the Travers and first at this summer’s racing meeting.
Fifteen thousand people showed up at Saratoga on Friday morning to see American Pharoah work over the traffic, and the New York Racing Association sold out all 50,000 tickets it put on sale for the event. NYRA capped attendance for the Travers for the first time this year.
But as much as the crowd wanted to see the Triple Crown winner add to his victories at Saratoga, they cheered for Castellano and Keen Ice, appreciating a hard-fought race at one of the country’s most historic racetracks.
The Louisville-based Romans said that Keen Ice will point towards the Breeders’ Cup Classic, where he may or may get a chance at a rematch with American Pharoah. While more non-committal than Zayat about the horse’s future, Baffert wouldn’t speculate on what might happen next.
“I want to see how taxing this race was on him,” he said. “This is something we have to sit and figure out.
“I’m not really used to being in the position with him, so it’s sort of hard to digest right now.”
He added, “It’s going to be a long plane ride home.”
