American Pharoah Wins Breeders Cup in Final Race of His Career

American Pharoah, who earlier this year became the first horse to win the horse racing’s Triple Crown in 37 years, closed out his career with a win in the Breeder’s Cup in Lexington, Kentucky on Halloween. For emphasis, under the guidance of jockey Victor Espinoza, American Pharoah won the race in a record time of 2:00:07, breaking the old mark by over five seconds, and winning by 6 1/2 lengths over 2nd place Effinex.

Horse racing’s Grand Slam, as it is called, includes the Triple Crown races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes), plus the Breeder’s Cup. American Pharoah is the first horse to win this Grand Slam, but then none of the other Triple Crown winners raced in the Breeder’s Cup, as the race was not run until 1984. This does establish another standard of greatness for horses in the future to be measured by.

Here’s the race, and one last look at one of the greatest race horses ever. The announcer certainly went nuts calling the race at the end. American Pharoah will retire to a career as a breeding stallion, which when you think about it, is good work if you can get it.