American Pharoah Stakes Present by DK Horse (G1)
"Intrepido"
This year’s American Pharoah Stakes was billed as a match between the Bob Baffert trained pair, Desert Gate and Kristofferson and they were sent off with SPs of 2.38 and 2.63 respectively. However, whilst they looked likely to dominate the race at halfway, Jeff Mullins and Hector Berrios hadn’t read that script and it was ultimately the long striding Intrepido who came out on top. When they reflect on this race, Bob Baffert and his team may reach the conclusion that their 2 horses did too much in the early stages and there is a certain element of truth to that theory. Drawn widest in stall 6, Kristofferson was sent forwards and both he and Desert Gate reached the 7 furlong pole in around 17s (Desert Gate 16.95s, Kristofferson 17.04s). That helped to ensure that this race was run at a fast pace, with a finishing speed of 92% and that certainly seemed to affect Kristofferson, who recorded the shortest average stride length in the field and trailed in last of 6. Sat behind the pace, Intrepido was perfectly placed by Hector Berrios, but it wasn’t an entirely smooth passage from the son of Maximus Mischief and his efforts in the home straight were extraordinary.
Having rounded the turn 2 lengths behind the pace, Intrepido was forced to fight for racing room and looked to have lost his chance at the 2 furlong pole as he had to barge his way out to get a clear run. As much as 3 lengths down on the leaders with just over a furlong to run, he could have been forgiven for finishing an unlucky 3rd, but he showed a fantastic attitude to get to the front and pull off an unlikely victory. At a peak average of 25.76 ft, Intrepido had the longest stride in the field (next best 25.28 ft) and he was able to use that stride to run down Desert Gate and Plutarch in the final furlong, despite the fact that they both enjoyed a trouble free passage into the home stretch. A final furlong split of 13.04s was considerably faster than anything else in the field and it is clearly significant that his average stride length of 23.49 ft in the final furlong was the longest in the field. However, to have made up 0.59s on Desert Gate in the final furlong, at the end of a well run Grade 1 race showed a remarkable level of ability. He has earned himself the right to run at the Breeders’ Cup now. There’s no hiding the fact that he is a big horse and as such he will need some luck in running at Del Mar, particularly in the latter stages so that he can use his long stride to best effect. However, he has already won a maiden at the track and it’s not impossible to think that he could be capable of hitting the frame in a race where he will almost certainly be finishing strongly.