It is an iconic image that still resonates with fans and horse racing professionals 10 years later. Jockey Victor Espinoza (a 2017 Hall of Fame inductee) with his arm raised in triumph and the world's biggest smile crossing the finish line on American Pharoah . They had just won the Belmont Stakes (G1), becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner in history and the first since 1978, ending a long drought of 37 years.
Espinoza and American Pharoah will be forever linked in sports history. Though he never rode Pharoah in his morning workouts, he did ride him in 10 of his 11 races. They had a unique relationship solidified by their extraordinary accomplishments. He remembers the first time he rode the colt for trainer Bob Baffert in the 2014 Del Mar Futurity (G1). "I think right away when I get on Pharoah, I can feel a difference. The way he walks, the way his body moves, his breathing. It's such a powerful feeling and I thought, 'Wow, this is different.'"
"He just had everything that I wanted in a champion. When he broke out of the gate, he was a little bit slow, and I had to encourage him. It was amazing how he started moving. He accelerated so quickly in the blink of an eye; we were in front of everyone. 'Wow! This horse is really special!' When we turned for home, I knew he was going to win but I'm just curious. I want to know how good it could be with this horse. I wanted to test him a little bit and I encouraged him. In no time, we opened up and drew away in the stretch and crossed the wire. … 'Wow! This is the best feeling ever!'"
Espinoza didn't have a pet name for Pharoah, nor did he talk to him during their races. "I never felt any connection as good as American Pharoah. His body language is more unique than any other horse. I just always hugged and petted him and was soft with him. I had confidence in him, and he paid attention to me."
Baffert shared: "Victor took really good care of American Pharoah in his prep races leading to the Kentucky Derby. He didn't allow him to win by much. I told him the easier the race, the easier for me to train him. Victor geared him down for preps and the Haskell."
One of their most difficult races was the 2015 Kentucky Derby (G1) with a field of 18 3-year-olds. Pharoah was rattled by the super-sized crowd and had difficulty settling down in the paddock. Espinoza was a Derby veteran who had previously won with War Emblem in 2002 and California Chrome in 2014. "The Derby is the toughest race ever. Sometimes a horse will not perform as good as any other race, and they can completely change. It could be the number of horses and with so many things going on. I had to encourage Pharoah. It's a very complicated situation for me to judge the race and timing for him. Of all the races he ran, it was the toughest."
Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, who rode runner-up Firing Line, said the 2015 Kentucky Derby was "as tough a race as I've been in in 20 years the last eighth of a mile." Espinoza and American Pharoah made a forward move on the outside taking the lead as they entered the final furlong. With steady urging from Espinoza, the duo won by a length. In his post-race interview, he reflected, "I feel like the luckiest Mexican on earth. He has been a special horse since the first time I rode him. He has a lot of talent and is an unbelievable horse. Turning for home, I started riding a little bit harder. At the eighth pole, I couldn't put that other horse away, but he got it done."
It was a different scenario in the Preakness Stakes (G1). The weather played a huge role. The crowd was hustled inside to safety under the grandstands due to lightning and torrential rain. It was so wet that Espinoza remembers he poured water out of his boots. But American Pharoah? He was a happy horse. He had already proved himself by winning the Rebel Stakes (G2) on a sloppy track in Arkansas. This time, he was calm and professional. Was it a more difficult race because of the sloppy track? "No, it was not," Espinoza said. "It was fun for him. He used to love that. He had such a good time running in those conditions. He was happy. He was having such a great time in the warm up. I could tell right away."
American Pharoah set the pace and turned back all seven challengers. He was hand-ridden and only shown the whip. Joe Drape of the New York Times wrote, "Espinoza crossed his reins, smooched to him, and scrubbed his neck, and suddenly American Pharoah was floating like a swamp buggy atop the water leaving first Mr. Z and then his stablemate Dortmund in his wake."
The hopes and dreams of a Triple Crown were launched again. Espinoza found himself in the same situation during the 2014 Triple Crown bid with California Chrome but was denied in the final leg of the series. The Belmont Stakes would be Espinoza's seventh race with Pharoah. He knew his mission.
"My job was to take him out of the gate and make sure he was clean and get his rhythm. I was just sitting there --just cruising—and he would do the rest of it. He was so light when he was running. He was such a powerful horse and the way he was built made him so unique. I always think about cats and when they jump so high, and yet they land so light. That's how this horse used to run. He covered so much ground and no one could keep up. I had so much confidence in him winning the Triple Crown."
According to the official Equibase chart: "American Pharoah propelled himself to the top after coming away in good order, quickly shook free, was glided over to the rail before reaching the beginning of the clubhouse turn ... felt the presence of (Materiality) … and began to edge away from the closest pursuers approaching the quarter pole, settled into the upper stretch and was given his cue, responded and drew well clear, capping off his crowning achievement."
The roar of the crowd was seismic. Espinoza agreed. "I will never forget that. It's probably one of the best feelings ever. Everyone was cheering for me and American Pharoah. I normally hear a little bit of the crowd, but it was insane. Even better was the ride down the grandstands. It was amazing to see so many people happy about the Triple Crown."
Espinoza described the feeling when riding Pharoah as, "it feels like you're going in slow motion." Baffert said before the Belmont, "I've never had a horse that moves or travels over the ground like he does." Pharoah had a 25-foot stride, which won him the Derby by a length and the Preakness by seven lengths.
When asked that as a high-performance horse, could Pharoah be compared to a Ferrari or a Corvette? Espinoza quickly responded with a different brand of sports car, "He is a Bugatti. I drove a Bugatti a couple of times and that's the feeling I got when I sat on his back."
Espinoza and American Pharoah electrified the sport of horse racing with their accomplishments together. After winning the Triple Crown, they won the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1). The only flaw was coming in second to Keen Ice in the Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. In their continued quest to make history, they teamed to win the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland in track-record time in a gate-to-wire romp.
With the tremendous roar of the crowd still echoing through time, they cemented their legacy in horse racing history. Espinoza puts it quite simply. "American Pharoah is the best horse I ever rode."
Where is he now?
American Pharoah retired with nine wins from 11 starts and $8,650,300 in purse earnings. He stood his first season as a stallion at Ashford Stud in Central Kentucky in 2016 and was the leading freshman sire of 2019. American Pharoah was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2021 and continues his second career as a sire at Ashford with his seventh crop of runners 2-year-olds in 2025.
