The King is NOT Dead…
How did American Pharoah lose? Before I answer that question, I want to offer “respect” to Frosted – who really was the instrument of American Pharoah’s defeat. Frosted came to play today and he turned it up to the max, which as it turns out was not enough for him, but just enough to take the finish out of the great American Pharoah. I felt that Texas Red was the clear “next” horse to consider, while others, such as Patrick M. who offers his opinions alongside of Jon Lindo and myself each day on Race Day Las Vegas, felt that Frosted was clearly the 2nd best. While that is certainly not exactly clear at this time, because it’s now clear that Keen Ice has thrown his hat into the ring. And then their is Gimme De Lute on the West Coast and a whole slew of others that are really talented, including the late developing RunHappy who is really the horse of the day, with his amazing – near track record at 7 furlongs – effort in King’s Bishop .
Consider this- the multi Grade 1 sprint winner, Private Tales who won the Forego against the best older sprinters in the country, would have been sucking wind behind RunHappy who absolutely blazed…
Let’s get back to American Pharoah, this is a classic case of a horse bouncing. Now people often thing that horses who bounce look poor before the race, well that’s simply not true. If they looked poor before the race, they would NOT RUN! It’s usually just the exact opposite, they look great, they eat up great and they work great, but somewhere during the running of the race, they start to feel the effects of their combined previous efforts. With great horses, they can do more for longer, with cheaper horses it happens more quickly. Let’s take a quick look at Texas Red, Maggie W. who does inspection analysis at the walk ring for most races at NYRA’s comment on Texas Red was, ” He has gained more muscle since his last race, this is the horse I would consider betting to beat American Pharoah!” Here comment on American Pharoah were that he is a “Rock STAR and even looks better than when he posted for the Belmont!”. And yet, both of these – simply beautiful, well turned out horses , ran beneath their expected best!
Keen Ice on the other hand has been slowly – but surely coming to hand, and today was his day!