American Pharoah by Shelley Fraser Mickle

Author:Shelley Fraser Mickle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

“JUMPIN’ JEHOSHAPHAT, HE’S A FREAK!”

AN OLD SAYING expresses both surprise and awe through two words, which are often said when no other words will do. Jumpin’ and Jehoshaphat —saying them quickly together gets the job done.

Early on the morning of March 23, 2014, at the McKathan Brothers Farm in Florida, those two words would best convey what the humans felt as they watched at the training racetrack when the two-year-old American Pharoah was breezed.

In breezing he would be allowed to go at a fast speed—maybe about thirty to forty miles an hour—for a certain distance. The rider would give no encouragement—that is, there would be no use of a jockey’s whip or urging through the reins. Breezing is simply a way to time a horse’s fast workout to see if he is ready to race and train.

For two-year-old racehorses, a breezing workout is a precursor of what might be their future success. In two months, American Pharoah would be sent to Bob Baffert’s training stable in California to begin his racing career. His breezing times would be on his record, much like an incoming student’s test scores.

On that extraordinary day, American Pharoah was tacked up in saddle and bridle. He had grown to 16.1 hands. With four inches to each hand, he stood five feet five inches at the top of his shoulder. His long neck placed his head well above that. Certainly, he was no weakling. Even being racehorse lean, he was so well-muscled that he weighed over half a ton.

Fog was lifting in the early light. Ahmed Zayat and his son, Justin, had come from New Jersey to see the Pioneerof the Nile colt, as well as the other two-year-olds they had in training there. A small group of people joined them in the viewing stand. Their laughter and joking joined the sounds of neighing horses, the clanging of feed buckets, and the usual early-morning birdsong.

A gray horse, also saddled, stood waiting to lead the bay colt to the practice track. With the chatter coming from the viewing stand, few noticed the young woman, Susan Montanye, the breeze rider, swinging up on the bay colt now named American Pharoah. She was to breeze him one fourth of a mile. The average time for a quarter breeze is about twenty-four seconds.

Susan specialized in showing young horses in these workouts. She’d been told that the bay colt was aggressive, that he was hard to slow down. Knowing this, she was prepared to protect him, to keep him from hurting himself by too much enthusiasm. By now, another rider had mounted the gray lead pony, and together the two horses headed to the track.

For some time, American Pharoah simply trotted beside his lead-pony buddy. Then the pony faded off to the side, and the bay colt, at Susan’s cue, lifted into a rhythmical canter with its three-beat gait like a gentle rocking horse. His short tail trailed behind like a feather duster.

Susan rode him on contact, with the racing snaffle acting as the instant messenger holding him to a slow speed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.