Thirty-seven years of denial came crashing down in thunderous, graceful style June 6 at the Belmont Stakes as American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.In truly dominant fashion, much like he did in the first two legs of the Crown, trainer Bob Baffert's horse held off a field of seven other contenders, winning the race by five-and-a-half lengths.American Pharoah did not have the perfect start out of the gate. His usually explosive exit was a bit more tame.Victor Espinoza, the oldest jockey to win the Triple Crown at 43 years old, spoke of his start toGary LintnerofThe Courier-Journal, calling it "a step backwards."But within fractions of a second, he recovered. Gary Stevens, the jockey of seventh place Tale of Verve, told Lintner that"the race was over in the third jump from the gate."Those few strides shot the Triple Crown winner to the front of the pack where he established his lead on the inside rail.And by the first quarter mile, American Pharoah was flirting with a one length lead."That's right where I want to be, a length in front of everybody and just steady, steady all the way around," Espinoza said to Lintner. "I tell you, I had the best feeling ever when he crossed the first turn."With long, powerful strides that almost made it seem he was trying to rip up the earth beneath him, Pharoah's lead grew.Jim Rome was impressed by the three-year-old's power.American Pharoah stayed on the inside and slowly but surely, the advantage grew. By the mile mark, he was two lengths ahead at the top of the stretch and Belmont was rocking with excitement, according to Daily Racing Form's Eric Wing.The home stretch seemed more like a coronation rather than anything else. For a horse that had not raced a distance this long before, it was abundantly obvious that he found no challenge to such a task.Crossing the finish line a Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah galloped his way into the history books among the legends of horse racing as he delivered, according to ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg, one of the most iconic sporting moments ever.The 12th member of the Triple Crown club is set to go back home to Churchill Downs in Kentucky and will most likely compete for the rest of the season after his owner, Ahmed Zayat, toldJohn Clay of theLexington Herald Journal, "we need to enjoy him."
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