Monday, November 2, 2015

Breeder's Cup 2015 Trip: American Pharoah

I don't even know where to begin on our trip to Lexington for the Breeder's Cup, so I'll just get to the best part (and probably the only part that most people care about): American Pharoah.



I'm not exactly one to get mushy over Bob Baffert, but no matter how a person feels about him, no one can deny how truly amazing American Pharoah is. 

Let's start with his last work to prep for the race:



Yeah, when a horse of his quality works like that, in that time, that easy....well, it's a little hard to see them getting beat. Watching this put any doubts after his defeat in the Travers to rest. The Triple Crown winner was not only back to looking like his same old extraordinary self, he may have possibly looked the best he has in his entire career.


Sorry about the blurry pics, I was more concerned with watching than quality pictures, so it was a point in the general direction and shoot kind of thing.

In the post parade, even if you had no idea which horses were in the race, AP looked like the winner (I was about thirty feet away from him). He was calm and relaxed, pure class. His weight was good and his coat gleamed. Most of all, he oozed confidence. Everything about him gave the impression that there wasn't a horse on the planet that was going to beat The Champ that day, much less one in the race. 



When it came to Espinoza, I got the feeling that he didn't have a care in the world. It didn't seem like he was cocky, he definitely didn't come across as nervous. More than anything, pride for the horse underneath him was shining through. Everything about Espinoza's demeanor said "I'm on the best horse in the world and he's going to win this. I'm just here to enjoy my last ride on him."






I'm sure you all saw the race. A few jumps out of the gate American Pharoah was just galloping along with his ears pricked while the riders on every other horse in the race seemed to choose riding for second rather than risk it all going hard after AP. It probably wasn't a bad decision on their part. 


See ya!

American Pharoah winning the Breeder's Cup Classic after winning the Triple Crown was impressive. The fact that he did it so easily while setting the track record was absolutely incredible! 

*The value of the track record was initially questioned  by some because track records are reset when the track surface is changed. Keeneland went from dirt to synthetic back to dirt. When it was discovered that American Pharoah had run the fastest 1 and 1/4 mile EVER, over any of the surfaces at Keeneland, the different footings became irrelevant and his feat became even more extraordinary.


Y'all just sit back and watch while I make history.

I doubt that I can ever describe what it was like to be that close to American Pharoah as he ran past me towards such an amazing victory. I don't remember the cheers of the crowd or hearing the race being called. The one thing I will always remember is seeing what true perfection of a thoroughbred running looks like. Every detail of the grace and athleticism of American Pharoah as he soared by will forever be ingrained in my mind. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.


I don't know if I was still high on watching AP, if it was the bourbon, or if being out of those heels and carrying a pizza, but I ended up looking like I was hitchhiking in front of our (ridiculously overpriced) crappy hotel. I was attempting to sum up exactly how awesome the day was.

I'll cover the rest of the trip in my next post.


19 comments:

  1. Ah, I am so happy that you go to be there for that. And the whole trip. It looked amazing in all of your photos!

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  2. I bet it was an amazing experience. I've never watched a horse race live but it would be fun to do so. I'm a little sorry that AP is retiring from racing, I bet that he will miss it.

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  3. incredible - it must have been thrilling to be there in person!

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  4. So thrilled that you got to witness history making in person! I jumped up and down in my family room watching on Sat. and cried when he won :)

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    1. He ran such an amazing race! I got a little tears eyed too and that's really unlike me.

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  5. That work though, seriously! I have a serious AP crush, cant even read this post with out getting tears in my eyes.

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    1. He's just such an amazing horse it's hard not to.

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  6. That is so cool! I think it's extra cool bc you appreciate the full magnitude that went in AP bc of what you and your fiancee do. What an experience

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  7. What an experience to have gone through in person! His connections have been such class acts the whole time, it was great to see him go out on such an unbelievable high.

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  8. That race was incredible. So happy you were able to see it in person. :-)

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  9. I have NO pics because I was so fascinated watching, so you did better than me :)

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  10. I loved following your photos on Facebook! Looks like you had an absolute blast. 😊

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  11. Lucky!! Can't wait to hear the rest of your trip :)

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  12. What an incredible opportunity! I regret I never took the time to go see him work out at Santa Anita. Literally 2.5 miles from where I'm typing this right now. Do you go to the Breeders' Cup every year? I might try to go next year (it's at Del Mar, right?).

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    1. We're planning on going next year! I believe that it's at Santa Anita next year and Del Mar the year after. I definitely want to go to the one at Del Mar too. It would be really cool to get together for one of them!

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