Bob Baffert Recalls Breaking 37-Year-Old Drought With American Pharaoh

On this very day ten years ago, something incredible happened at the Belmont Stakes. A three year old colt named American Pharaoh, ridden by Victor Espinoza and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, became the first horse in 37 years to have won the Triple Crown, i.e., the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes, all in the same year. It is a challenging feat, physically, mentally, and logistically, for all involved. And ever since American Pharaoh, who was the twelfth horse to do it, only one other horse has repeated the feat (Baffert’s Justify), making this tenth-year anniversary all the more special.

In a recent interview with Carlos Morales, Bob Baffert reflected on his memories of that historic day. “It doesn’t seem that long ago,” Baffert said. “Time passes, but you know, I remember coming up there and leading him up there. I remember the work; right before the race, he worked just beautifully at Churchill Downs, put him on the plane, brought him in here. I’d already been through the Triple Crown three times before.”

A veteran of the sport (to say the least), Baffert was no stranger to the Triple Crown grind. “I always prepare for the worst, hope for the best sort of attitude, but I felt different with him because I knew, he was a superstar kind of horse. The other horses were nice horses, but everything had to go right for him.” And everything did go right for him, with American Pharaoh crossing the finish line with a lead of 5.5 lengths!

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How did it feel to secure that feather in his cap? Baffert reminisced further: “Once he got the lead in the first turn, he was running easy, he had a beautiful rhythm had his ears forward, I knew right then he was going to win. Everything was going well,” Baffert said, adding, “I saw Frosted, the one I was worried about, he started making a run at him. He made a little run, like I thought, ‘Oh, maybe this is where it was gonna get bad. But then Frosted didn’t have anything. And he took off.”

10 years ago AMERICAN PHARAOH become a Triple Crown champion following his big win in the @BelmontStakes and HOF trainer Bob Baffert shares on this anniversary day with Carlos Morales his fondest memories of that day.

Hoy se celebra el 10mo aniversario de la victoria de AMERICAN… pic.twitter.com/4NUFWl0U8C

— Agentes305 (@agentes305) June 6, 2025

Frosted ended up coming up second, and the moment of victory had all eyes on American Pharaoh, with Baffert saying, “I just watched in silence, 37 years history, I didn’t know what it would feel like to win it.” Baffert went on to describe the moment as “emotional” adding, “That horse brought us so much joy. He brought the sport back.”

Bob Baffert even pointed out an interesting comparison, given he’d had experience winning the Kentucky Derby, but not the entire Triple Crown. “The Derby is like the Master’s (in golf), it’s THE race, but the Triple Crown, it’s all about the horse, he’s going down in history, he’s going to be joining these great horse that have won this Triple Crown race. It was 37 years, and to get it done it was chaos. So loud. Crazy. It was like the greatest sports moment I’ve been to.” Unlike traditional sporting events where two sides root for different teams, Baffert noted that this was different. Everyone had come from all over the country to watch American Pharaoh’s triumph.

It’s true, the title of a Triple Crown winner is not something that a horse can simply outgrow, and ten years later, American Pharaoh still dons his feat proudly.

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Where is Bob Baffert’s Triple Crown winner, American Pharaoh, these days?American Pharaoh, who is living the good life at the Ashford Stud Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, is visited by over 6,000 people a year! Yes, fans still come and take photos next to the handsome bay stallion.

In a video posted to NBC Sports to commemorate the tenth year after American Pharaoh’s win, a tour guide at the stud farm said of the many visitors to American Pharaoh, “Some will cry, and they remember where they were when he won. [We] had a 90-year-old, spry as could be; her family wrote and said it will be the highlight of her life [to see him].”

While American Pharaoh doesn’t race anymore, he has been doing some professional modeling work for Vogue Magazine and even Hilton hotels, enjoying his continuing reign as one of the most recent winners of the Triple Crown races.

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Bob Baffert, on the other hand, hasn’t seen success like that since and certainly hasn’t seen it this year with his losses in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. He has some hope in the Belmont Stakes with Rodriguez, who has recovered from his quarter crack. But it’s still a far cry from the days of American Pharaoh. In any case, luck will make itself clear in a few hours, and if it lands on Baffert’s side, it would be a special day to celebrate a win and remember 2015.