Page 12 - July 2015

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A little more than a month has passed since his- tory was made at Belmont Park, and yet I still get a smile on my face every time I think about American Pharoah’s Triple Crown accomplishment with his Belmont win. I watched the race from Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colorado, and I will never forget how race fans cheered on the champ from 1,800 miles away. I didn’t want to get my hopes up even though I thought the colt was capable, but when he turned for home and Victor Espinoza finally took his foot off the brakes and AP hit another gear, the tears welled in my eyes. What an amazing moment for our sport!
Did you notice Burger King standing behind Bob Baffert in the Belmont grandstands? The marketing team at Burger King wanted to capitalize on the excite- ment and knew that the cameras would be focused
on Baffert during the race. Baffert, being a good guy and pretty wise about marketing himself, agreed to the king’s visit with a few stipulations.
Following American Pharoah’s Kentucky Derby victory, Baffert dedicated the win to one of his heroes, the late, great Quarter Horse jockey Bobby “The Master” Adair. With an estimated $200,000 donation
from Burger King, Baffert is honoring Adair once again. This time with a $50,000 donation to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (www.pdjf.org)
in Adair’s memory. An additional $150,000 is being split equally between the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (www.thoroughbredaftercare.org), CARMA of California (www.carma4horses.org) and Old Friends (www.oldfriendsequine.org). These three organizations are dedicated to caring for racehorses after they retire from the track.
Thanks to Baffert and his wife, Jill, for honoring the athletes – both two- and four-legged – that give so much to our sport.
American Pharoah’s Triple Crown success is fueling momentum and excitement that we haven’t seen in the sport in three decades. You’ve no doubt had conversations about the race with your friends, family and acquaintances who are casual race fans. We always talk about what the sport needs to grow and prosper, and always seem to place the burden on growing our sport on others in the industry. Well, don’t miss your opportunity to invite your friends and family out to the track or even take it a step further and bring up the subject of racehorse ownership. There’s
The MonTh in review
by Jennifer K. Hancock
AmericAn PhAroAh: TriPle crown momenTum
10 SPEEDHORSE, July 2015
Track chaTTer
Coady Photography