Watching what will go down as one of the sport's biggest upsets, thousands of fans packed into Saratoga Race Course changed their tone from cries of excitement to sighs of disbelief after Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was overtaken by Keen Ice Saturday in the $1.6 million Travers Stakes.
It was a close race, and had Pharoah won, he would have been the first Triple Crown winner to take the Travers since 1941.
Immediately following the race, the rock star thoroughbred's connections sat defeated before the press. Hours earlier, the scene was almost unfathomable. After months of anticipation and intense lobbying, racing's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years had been lured east for another million-dollar purse.
But now, he had lost after rattling off eight straight victories.
Trainer Bob Baffert admitted they took a gamble when they brought the horse to the Spa.
"It's sort of sad to see him get beat. I'm just...when you see him get beat...I feel bad for him. There's nothing different Victor could have done. He rode a good race but you get beat...there's not much to say about it."
After a strong start from the number two position, jockey Victor Espinoza rode American Pharoah to the lead, but about halfway through the race, Keen Ice, ridden by Javier Castellano, pulled up from behind and the pair battled for first all the way to the end.
"He bumps out of there nice and I put him right in the lead. The pacing, it was not too fast, but it was good. But I feel like from the 5/8 pole, his energy level was not the same like before. He was not really, like, strong like he used to," said Espinoza.
Owner Ahmed Zayat said he was uncertain about Pharoah's future.
"It was an unbelievable run, and it made so much happy my family and Bob's family and everybody in this sport. But my gut feelings say, 'You know, maybe it's time to, really, be on Pharoah's schedule.' And he told us today he wasn't the Pharoah we know."
Keen Ice co-owner Jerry Crawford said his horse has steadily improved throughout the season. The sold out Travers in front of 50,000 fans was Keen Ice's fourth race against American Pharoah this year. The horse placed third at Belmont and second behind Pharoah at the Haskell Invitational.
"The horse has developed more front-end speed as we've gone along and we were able to put him into contention sooner today," said Crawford.
Crawford, whose horse went off at 16-1 odds, thanked team Zayat for its role in the race.
"The reason this is a great victory for us is because they were willing to be true sportsmen. They made this race as huge as it was, probably one of the biggest ever, and so I'm grateful to them for being true sportsmen."
Although Pharoah Phever gripped race fans in Saratoga and beyond, after months of excitement, it all comes down to that two-minute race. For his part, Zayat says American Pharoah's next move might be retirement to the stud farm.
And it seems the Spa once again proved its nickname the "Graveyard of Champions."
