American Pharoah Gallops in Slop at Churchill (Video)
Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) and Preakness Stakes (GI) winner American Pharoah continued his training for the June 6 Belmont Stakes (GI) by galloping 1 ¼ miles over a sloppy Churchill Downs main track on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET with Jorge Alvarez up.
"He went great," Alvarez said. "He loves the slop."
Jimmy Barnes, chief assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, also was pleased with how the homebred son of Pioneerof the Nile galloped over the sloppy going.
"He went very nice and looked good," Barnes said. "He likes an off track. Everything seems fine."
American Pharoah is 2-for-2 on an off track. His two wins in the slop came in the Rebel (GII) at Oaklawn Park and the May 16 Preakness.
Baffert is scheduled to fly into Louisville from California on Monday night to oversee his string of 12 horses that are stabled at Churchill Downs. Aside from American Pharoah, he has last year's Breeders' Cup Classic (GI) winner Bayern and 2014 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) winner Hoppertunity in training at Churchill Downs. Barnes said that Baffert would determine Tuesday morning when American Pharoah would resume breezing.
Baffert is expected to be at Barn 33 Tuesday morning and will return to California later that day.
In other Belmont Stakes news, Conquest Stables' Conquest Curlinate jogged and galloped one mile with exercise rider Jorge Balbuena in the irons for trainer Mark Casse.
Christopher Dunn, Glenn K. Ellis and Ron Paolucci's War Story galloped 1 ½ miles with exercise rider Marvin Orantes up for trainer Tom Amoss.
Jerry Crawford's Keen Ice galloped 1 ½ miles with exercise rider Faustno Agular in the irons for trainer Dale Romans.
American Pharoah (Barn 33), Conquest Curlinate (Barn 36), Keen Ice (Barn 4) and War Story (Barn 29) are the locally-based Belmont Stakes contenders stabled at Churchill Downs.
BELMONT STAKES POSSIBLE FIELD - The possible 11-horse Belmont Stakes lineup (with jockey and trainer): Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner American Pharoah (Victor Espinoza, Bob Baffert); Blue Grass champ and Kentucky Derby 10th Carpe Diem (undecided, Todd Pletcher); Peter Pan runner-up Conquest Curlinate (Shaun Bridgmohan, Mark Casse); Blue Grass fourth and Kentucky Derby 11th Frammento (Mike Smith, Nick Zito); Wood Memorial and Kentucky Derby 4th Frosted (Joel Rosario, Kiaran McLaughlin); Louisiana Derby 4th and Kentucky Derby 7th Keen Ice (Kent Desormeaux, Dale Romans); Peter Pan winner Madefromlucky (undecided, Todd Pletcher); Florida Derby champ and Kentucky Derby 6th Materiality (undecided, Todd Pletcher); UAE Derby winner and Kentucky Derby 8th Mubtaahij-IRE (Irad Ortiz Jr., Mike de Kock); Preakness runner-up Tale of Verve (Gary Stevens, Dallas Stewart); and Louisiana Derby 3rd and Kentucky Derby 16th War Story (Colby Hernandez).
Source: Churchill Downs