American Pharoah Dismantles Rebel Stakes Field
A four month layoff was not an issue for American Pharoah as he destroyed his Grade 2 Rebel Stakes foes by more than 6 lengths. Madefromlucky was second, Bold Conquest was third, and The Truth or Else finished fourth.
American Pharoah had an awkward start, but was able to gather himself and immediately go to the lead with no pace pressure whatsoever. That allowed jockey Victor Espinoza to relax his horse and control the pace of the race.
Paid Admission and Madefromlucky were second and third a length and a half behind early on with Bold Conquest in fourth by 3 lengths. The Truth or Else was fifth, Sakima was sixth, and Tizwonderfulcreek was last of seven.
Meanwhile, American Pharoah set a tepid pace in the slop of 24.41 for the opening quarter, 49.63 for the half-mile, and 1:15.22 for the first six furlongs. Paid Admission was in second until the far turn when he was through with Madefromlucky and Bold Conquest neck and neck for second.
In the stretch, it was only a matter of how much American Pharoah would win by. That margin ended up being 6 1/4 lengths over Madefromlucky who pulled away from Bold Conquest in third. The Truth or Else finished fourth with the final three places going to Paid Admission, Sakima, and Tizwonderfulcreek. Equibase’s official chart can be found here.
For the win, American Pharoah earned 50 points towards the Kentucky Derby Points Leaderboard to give him a total of 60. Madefromlucky earned his first 20 points, Bold Conquest earned 10 points to bring his total up to 17, and The Truth or Else earned 5 points to give him a total of 11.
American Pharoah is by Pioneerof The Nile out of the Yankee Gentleman mare Littleprincessemma. He was ridden by Victor Espinoza and is trained by Bob Baffert. He ran the one mile and one sixteenth in 1:45.76 over a sloppy and sealed track. He paid $2.80 to win as the 2/5 favorite.
The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues next weekend with two stakes races. The first is on Saturday at Turfway Park with the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at one mile and one eight over the synthetic main track. The second race is on Sunday with the Grade 3 Sunland Derby from Sunland Park also at one mile and one eight. Both races carry point distribution of 50, 20, 10, and 5 to the top four finishers.
