Growing up Pharoah
May 27, 2015 23:14:23 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on May 27, 2015 23:14:23 GMT -5
I'm an Am P fan and thought this was a nice story about this year's most outstanding US horse. I didn't knowthe Zayats still have him because the reserve price wasn't met. So all the credit they're taking has a lot to do with luckj.
Growing up Pharoah
By Amanda Duckworth
ESPN
Triple Crown hopeful American Pharoah races as a homebred for Ahmed Zayat, but that doesn't mean he had the typical upbringing of a horse that is raced by the man who also bred him.
Often a homebred horse stays, well, at home until it is time to learn how to be a racehorse, but not American Pharoah, who lived on three different Kentucky farms during his early years.
"The thing that was kind of cool about him is that he had this timeline where he was born in one place, stayed there for a bit, moved to Vinery, they raised him until January of his yearling year, and then we got him," explained Mark Taylor, the vice president of marketing and public sales operations at Taylor Made. "Horses usually don't like change. They don't thrive under moving around a lot, but he did.
"It is really fun when you get these good horses. It is kind of like Kentucky basketball the way you feel. They come here, you have them for a while, and then hopefully they go on to do great things. But you still feel like you have a part of them."
American Pharoah was born at Tom VanMeter's Stockplace Farm near Lexington before being sent to Vinery, also near Lexington, with his dam, Littleprincessemma. It was there he romped at her side and grew up with his friends before being weaned, the process in which a foal is separated from its mother for good.
"Nothing fazed him, whether it was conformation photos, moving to a new paddock or even being weaned," said Brittlan Wall, who helped take care of American Pharoah as a foal at Vinery. "He just had a class about him. He had such a fantastic personality and was a very sweet youngster. I honestly can't remember him ever trying to nip or mess around with me even though he was a colt. He never put a foot wrong."
That summer, Dr. Tom Simon, an international owner and breeder, announced he was selling the American-based portion of Vinery. So instead of spending his time as a foal, a weanling and a yearling in the same place, like many homebreds do, the 2012 colt out of Littleprincessemma was on the move yet again.
"When Vinery shut its doors, Mr. Zayat and [his son] Justin basically shifted their horses over to us," said Jacob West, the buyer account manager at Taylor Made, which is located just outside of Lexington in neighboring Nicholasville. "He was in the second wave of horses that came over. He got here the January of his yearling year. When he got to us, at that time in their lives, they are just being horses."
Yearlings, which are 1-year-old horses, tend to have a pretty easy time of it. In American Pharoah's case, he spent about 22 hours a day outside with his friends. He would be brought up to the barn in the morning -- where his breakfast would be waiting -- and the grooms would tend to his feet and make sure he was in good form, before putting him back in the field to play with his buddies.
When the decision was made to offer American Pharoah at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, his life changed, though. Held in August, it is one of the most select sales in the world, and horses are supposed to look their best.
"Starting about this time of year, sale horses stay up during the day and don't get turned out until night," West said. "The morning is their workout time, so we put them on the walker for 20-30 minutes. Then they get off the walker, get a bath and get put away for the morning. Then after lunch they get groomed. Each groom has five horses that they take care of. American Pharoah stayed up until about 7 at night, and then he would be turned out so his coat didn't get bleached by the sun."
American Pharoah spent much of his time at Taylor Made in the Dayjur barn, which is named after the European champion who also grew up on the farm. The colt made an impression on all of those who took care of him, especially yearling manager John Hall.
"He was head and shoulders above everybody," Hall said. "Wherever we put him, he was the standout. He had a great attitude, a great mind and was very smart. He was one we really thought a lot of and all of his evaluations all through the year were always very high.
"He was always a nice horse to be around. Anything new you introduced him to, it was like he had done it before. When he was in the Dayjur barn, he was the boss, but he was never an aggressive colt. He was never mean. He had presence about him and was very self-confident."
American Pharoah went off to New York to be sold, but Zayat set the reserve on his prized colt high. He was not going to take less than $1 million for him, and when bidding stopped at $300,000, American Pharoah remained a Zayat horse.
Growing up Pharoah
By Amanda Duckworth
ESPN
Triple Crown hopeful American Pharoah races as a homebred for Ahmed Zayat, but that doesn't mean he had the typical upbringing of a horse that is raced by the man who also bred him.
Often a homebred horse stays, well, at home until it is time to learn how to be a racehorse, but not American Pharoah, who lived on three different Kentucky farms during his early years.
"The thing that was kind of cool about him is that he had this timeline where he was born in one place, stayed there for a bit, moved to Vinery, they raised him until January of his yearling year, and then we got him," explained Mark Taylor, the vice president of marketing and public sales operations at Taylor Made. "Horses usually don't like change. They don't thrive under moving around a lot, but he did.
"It is really fun when you get these good horses. It is kind of like Kentucky basketball the way you feel. They come here, you have them for a while, and then hopefully they go on to do great things. But you still feel like you have a part of them."
American Pharoah was born at Tom VanMeter's Stockplace Farm near Lexington before being sent to Vinery, also near Lexington, with his dam, Littleprincessemma. It was there he romped at her side and grew up with his friends before being weaned, the process in which a foal is separated from its mother for good.
"Nothing fazed him, whether it was conformation photos, moving to a new paddock or even being weaned," said Brittlan Wall, who helped take care of American Pharoah as a foal at Vinery. "He just had a class about him. He had such a fantastic personality and was a very sweet youngster. I honestly can't remember him ever trying to nip or mess around with me even though he was a colt. He never put a foot wrong."
That summer, Dr. Tom Simon, an international owner and breeder, announced he was selling the American-based portion of Vinery. So instead of spending his time as a foal, a weanling and a yearling in the same place, like many homebreds do, the 2012 colt out of Littleprincessemma was on the move yet again.
"When Vinery shut its doors, Mr. Zayat and [his son] Justin basically shifted their horses over to us," said Jacob West, the buyer account manager at Taylor Made, which is located just outside of Lexington in neighboring Nicholasville. "He was in the second wave of horses that came over. He got here the January of his yearling year. When he got to us, at that time in their lives, they are just being horses."
Yearlings, which are 1-year-old horses, tend to have a pretty easy time of it. In American Pharoah's case, he spent about 22 hours a day outside with his friends. He would be brought up to the barn in the morning -- where his breakfast would be waiting -- and the grooms would tend to his feet and make sure he was in good form, before putting him back in the field to play with his buddies.
When the decision was made to offer American Pharoah at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, his life changed, though. Held in August, it is one of the most select sales in the world, and horses are supposed to look their best.
"Starting about this time of year, sale horses stay up during the day and don't get turned out until night," West said. "The morning is their workout time, so we put them on the walker for 20-30 minutes. Then they get off the walker, get a bath and get put away for the morning. Then after lunch they get groomed. Each groom has five horses that they take care of. American Pharoah stayed up until about 7 at night, and then he would be turned out so his coat didn't get bleached by the sun."
American Pharoah spent much of his time at Taylor Made in the Dayjur barn, which is named after the European champion who also grew up on the farm. The colt made an impression on all of those who took care of him, especially yearling manager John Hall.
"He was head and shoulders above everybody," Hall said. "Wherever we put him, he was the standout. He had a great attitude, a great mind and was very smart. He was one we really thought a lot of and all of his evaluations all through the year were always very high.
"He was always a nice horse to be around. Anything new you introduced him to, it was like he had done it before. When he was in the Dayjur barn, he was the boss, but he was never an aggressive colt. He was never mean. He had presence about him and was very self-confident."
American Pharoah went off to New York to be sold, but Zayat set the reserve on his prized colt high. He was not going to take less than $1 million for him, and when bidding stopped at $300,000, American Pharoah remained a Zayat horse.
