June 6, 2015: For the 1st time in 37 years, a horse wins American thoroughbred racing's "Triple Crown." With some appropriateness, he has a royal name: American Pharoah.
Bred in Kentucky, his father was a Pioneerof the Nile, who finished 2nd in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden by Mexican jockey Victor Espinoza, he ran 3 races as a 2-yer-old, winning the last 2. As a 3-year-old, he ran 2 warmups for the Kentucky Derby, both in Arkansas, and won both: The Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby.
On May 2, 2015, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, at 3-1 odds, American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby, in 2 minutes, 3.02 seconds, by 1 length over Firing Line. Two weeks later, on May 16, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, at 9-10 odds, he won the Preakness Stakes, in 1 minute, 58.46 seconds, by 7 lengths over Tale of Verve.
Since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, there had been several near-misses, horses winning the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont Stakes, the mile-and-a-half "True Test of Champions." Spectacular Bid had failed in 1979, Pleasant Colony in 1981, Alysheba in 1987, Sunday Silence in 1989, Silver Charm by 3/4 of a length in 1997, Real Quiet in a photo finish in 1998, Charismatic due to an in-race injury in 1999, War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in 2003, Smarty Jones by 1 length in 2004, Big Brown due to an in-race injury in 2008, I'll Have Another scratched from the Belmont due to an injury in 2012, and California Chrome due to an in-race injury in 2014. Racing fans were wondering if they would ever see another winner.
On June 6, American Pharoah was loaded into the paddock at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island, New York, just over the City Line from Queens, at odds of 3-4. There was no injury, no fade, and not even any drama: He won by 5 1/2 lengths over Frosted, in a time of 2 minutes, 26.65 seconds.
The Triple Crown had been achieved. Baffert said, "This little horse deserves it. There's something about this horse that he just brought it every time. He's a joy to be around."
The Breeders' Cup meet had been founded in 1984. The feature race is the Breeders' Cup Classic, a mile and a quarter like the Kentucky Derby. Usually, it is won by a horse that has won at least 1 of the Triple Crown races. American Pharoah was the 1st Triple Crown winner to whom it was available. On Halloween, October 31, 2015, at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky -- practically home soil -- he won by 5 1/2 lengths, in 2 minutes, 0.07 seconds, by 6 1/2 lengths over Effinex. Thus, he became the 1st winner of an American thoroughbred racing "Grand Slam." Through the 2021 event, he remains the only one.
It was his last race. Unlike many 3-year-old champions, he did not have a money-making 4-year-old season, and was immediately retired to stud. As of June 6, 2022, American Pharoah stands at Ashford Stud farm in Kentucky. Most of his descendants who have gone on to race have done so outside the United States, winning races in Britain, Europe and Australia.
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June 6, 2015, like all "Triple Crown" race days, was a Saturday. Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played at Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3. However, the Hawks went on to win the Cup in 6 games.
The NBA Finals were also underway, although this was an off-day. The Golden State Warriors went on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 6 games.
Football was in midweek. And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-2 at Yankee Stadium. Adam Warren was the starting and winning pitcher -- both halves of which, in hindsight, are a little hard to believe. The Yankees scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, and coasted from there. Brian McCann hit a home run. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-1 with 3 walks. For the Angels, Mike Trout hit a home run, and Albert Pujols went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The New York Mets lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-5 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals, 4-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Houston Astros, 7-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 t Progressive Field in Cleveland.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-7 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat their former arch-rivals, the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Target Field in Minneapolis.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Miami Marlins, 10-5 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Clayton Kershaw allowed just 1 hit and 2 walks over 8 innings, and still had Kenley Jansen pitch a perfect 9th in relief to finish the shutout.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
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