There's more racing in Pharoah's future

In a moment that was 37 years in the making, owner Ahmed Zayat, his wife, Joanne, trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Victor Espinoza pulled together on a cord Sunday morning and unveiled a banner. Before American Pharoah charged into history in Saturday's Belmont Stakes, many thought racing had seen its last Triple Crown hero.

Zayat's blue and yellow silks hung from the ceiling on Belmont Park's fourth floor beside the colors of the other 11 Triple Crown winners — Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed.

Pharoah's 5-length runaway made the bay colt that rarest of creatures, a living immortal. Zayat reiterated his intention to have his superstar's millions of fans see him in the flesh again. They'll have their first opportunity Saturday night at Churchill Downs, where the colt will be paraded down the stretch. Zayat told Newsday he will be there to receive his Kentucky Derby trophy.

Zayat said that instead of retiring Pharoah, he wants him to do more than walk down the stretch again.

"I know I've sold his breeding rights," the New Jersey-based owner-breeder said. "But as I've said before, a sport without stars is not a sport, and I have the desire to race him. We owe it to the sport to campaign him properly and run him as often as we can. It's all about the fans now."

Baffert mentioned the Jim Dandy Stakes on Aug. 1 at Saratoga and the Haskell Invitational the next day at Monmouth Park as possible spots for Pharoah's return. The picturesque track along the Jersey Shore has been an ATM for Baffert, who has won the million-dollar Haskell a record seven times. Zayat's colt Paynter won it in 2012, and Monmouth is only a 90-minute drive from the owner's home in North Jersey.

Zayat acknowledged the risk of injury and high insurance premiums as reasons not to run American Pharoah again. He's already a lock for Horse of the Year, and the Triple Crown guarantees he'll attract the best-bred mares. Even if he won the Haskell, the Travers and the Breeders' Cup Classic, his value for Ashford Stud would rise very little.

Baffert didn't want to speculate about the future because he still was trying to process the day before.

"I've never seen a horse run like that," he said. "He just flew home. When he passed the wire, the crowd erupted."

It was a 90,000-person love fest for a colt who loves attention and enjoys being petted.

"It was amazing," Baffert said. "I never saw one heckler, nobody saying, 'Not today, Bob.' Everybody was on board."

Pharoah left Belmont Sunday at 8 a.m. to return to Louisville. He returned to Baffert's Barn 34 at Churchill Downs, where he has spent much of the spring.

"For a horse who just ran a mile and a half, he looked pretty darn good today," Baffert said. "He's a tough horse. We'll give him a couple of days off."

Starting in 1979, American Pharoah was the 14th Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to come to Elmont, N.Y., going for a sweep. Twelve lost the Belmont, and I'll Have Another was scratched the day before the race in 2012. Baffert endured three disappointments, including Real Quiet's defeat by a nose in 1998.

"For a while I was starting to believe it was never going to happen," he said. "I was thinking maybe it was the breed. It's not the breed, you just have to wait for a really superior horse, and he's got to be tough.

"The Pharoah, he's golden."