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Straight from the jockey’s mouth: Victor Espinoza dishes on American Pharoah

American Pharoah is a gift from God – our own Pegasus, our own wingéd spirit. So when I received an invitation to hear Victor Espinoza speak at Steiner Sports Marketing in New Rochelle, N.Y. on Aug. 3 – well, wild horses couldn’t drag me away.

The “Triple Crown Celebration With Victor Espinoza” was a revelation both for what we amateurs learned about horses and horse racing and the frankness with which Espinoza discussed these subjects.

Looking natty in a gray suit and sky-blue tie, the Mexican-born Espinoza – who guided American Pharoah to the first Triple Crown in 37 years, then capped it with a resounding win in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park Aug. 2 – was both humble and humorous as he reflected on a career of more than 3,000 victories. (He doesn’t know the exact number.) He had been to the Triple Crown dance before – aboard War Emblem, with AP trainer Bob Baffert in 2002; and then with California Chrome just last year. Or so Fox 5 New York sportscaster Tina Cervasio – the evening’s expert interviewer – reminded him. ...

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American Pharoah to be a Jersey Boy

It’s official: American Pharoah’s next race will be the $1 million William Hill Haskell Invitational Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park on the Jersey Shore.         

“We want to do right by him, so he comes first," owner Ahmed Zayat, himself a Jersey Boy (by way of Teaneck), said. "He's told us he's happy. He's gained weight back. He's been paraded, literally, from coast to coast, and Bob (trainer Baffert) said we need to go back to work. I want to maintain my promise to the fans that if he's healthy he will continue to run, and that's what we're doing..."

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