american pharoah | Horse Racing Free Tips

Is Triple Tap the Next Heir to the Throne?

Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman) may not have done much on the racetrack, but she has proven to be quite a blue hen in her broodmare career. All five of her foals to race are winners and four of them are graded stakes performers, topped by her second foal, Triple Crown winner and three-time champion American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile).

The mare affectionately known as “Emma” followed American Pharoah with his GISP full-sister American Cleopatra; a GSP full-brother named St. Patrick's Day; his Grade I-winning half-sister Chasing Yesterday (Tapit); and an unraced full-brother named Theprinceofthebes. Next in line is Emma's 3-year-old colt Triple Tap (Tapit), who looks to kick his career off on the right hoof in the second race at Santa Anita Saturday for owner/breeder Jane Lyon of Summer Wind Farm and Hall of Fame conditioner Bob Baffert, who trained all of his aforementioned siblings.

“I'm a nervous wreck,” said Lyon. “I did not know Bob [Baffert] was going to run him this quickly. He had said not that long ago that he was taking his time and it would be another month or more. Then he sent me a text the other day that said he was going to crack down on him a bit, which was just before his last work [5f :59 flat (1/68) at Santa Anita Mar. 7] (XBTV video). From what I could see with his work, it looked like [jockey] Flavien [Prat] never touched him.”

Saturday's race is a seven-furlong event for 3-year-olds and up. Triple Tap drew the outside post in this five-horse affair with Prat in the irons.

“I would have preferred to run him six furlongs, but that is the only race that was available, so I think he will be up for it,” Baffert said. “He drew well and it is a short field. He should be ready to run. He still needs racing luck and needs to break well. We should find out a lot about him, but he should be up for the task.”

Triple Tap–who received that name because he shares his Feb. 27 birthday with both his dam and sire–is making what many would consider a belated debut being it is March of his 3-year-old season. Lyon is known for being exceptionally patient and cautious with her horses, tending to them as a loving mother in no hurry to have her children leave the nest. She took her time before sending him to both Eddie Woods and Baffert and gave him extra time when he incurred a minor setback.

“He is late [making it to the races] because he got a minor injury–some bone bruising and a pulled ligament–when he was with Eddie Woods,” Lyon said. “We brought him home and gave him all the time he needed. We very slowly got him back going and sent him down to Bob's team at Los Al [in November].”

It has been all systems go since Triple Tap arrived in Baffert's barn. The strapping chestnut has posted a steady string of works, breezing alongside the likes of GSW Medina Spirit (Protonico) and GSP Freedom Fighter (Violence), among others.

“I have been breezing him with some nice horses and he has been right there,” Baffert said. “He was working heads up with Medina Spirit before Medina ran [second in the GII San Felipe S.] the other day and was holding his own.”

Baffert conditioned Triple Tap's aforementioned siblings for all or part of their careers, including, most recently, his full-sister Chasing Yesterday, who became the first Grade I winner to carry the Summer Wind colors in the GI Starlet S.

When asked how Triple Tap compared to his illustrious siblings, Baffert said, “They are all different. I had Chasing Yesterday, who was nice, but he has more body. I have seen him since he was a baby and he has always been a beautiful horse.”

It was more than his handsome physique that convinced Lyon to keep Triple Tap. As a breeder, the Arkansas native typically keeps well-bred fillies to add to her broodmare band as opposed to colts. But she has been making an exception to that practice recently, starting with Triple Tap, who, in addition to being out of a Lyon's most prized mare, proved to be exceptional right from the start.

“He was very special from day one,” Lyon said. “I thought I would just take a chance with him. He has been a very, very special horse to me. I entertained selling half of him, so I could hang on to him. I had a lot of interest and several offers, but in the end I decided to just keep him myself. If he can run, I can entertain people wanting in on him then.”

The horsewoman continued, “There was a picture that came up on my Facebook just a couple of days ago after his work, it was a memory of Triple Tap as just a little foal. He was standing all by himself in a paddock and you can't see Emma anywhere. He was just standing there looking at the camera and it reminded me of why I kept him. He always had this aura about him and this confidence, like he knew he was somebody. So, I guess we are going to find out if he is.”

Lyon purchased Littleprincessemma for $2.1-million at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. She was carrying a full-brother to American Pharoah, who had just been forced to miss the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a foot issue, but had already done enough to clinch the Eclipse award for top 2-year-old male.

The resulting foal was St. Patrick's Day, who is the only one of Emma's foals that Lyon has parted with since purchasing her, selling the colt privately to Coolmore. Next came Lyon's beloved Chasing Yesterday, who recently produced her first foal, a Curlin filly. She was followed by Theprinceofthebes, another full-brother to American Pharoah, who is now 4-years-old.

“I ended up keeping the full-brother to American Pharoah, kind of by default, because he crushed a growth plate in a front ankle,” Lyon said. “We hoped that he could make it [to the races] and he showed us a lot of promise [in his training], but he got another injury and we just brought him home, so he will be here. I keep hoping maybe somebody will want to breed to him.”

Following Triple Tap, Emma produced a pair of Tapit fillies, the 2-year-old Lasting Tribute and the yearling Sunrise Service. Both will remain with Lyon and Lasting Tribute is currently in Ocala, beginning her training with Woods. Emma is expecting a full-brother to Triple Tap in April.

“I have only bred Emma to Tapit since she produced Triple Tap because the foals have just been so beautiful, athletic and basically problem free,” Lyon said. “If in fact, Triple Tap can live up to even what his sister [Chasing Yesterday] did, I think that it would be very hard for me to go anywhere else with the mare. It seems to be a cross that–at least physically–is working with Emma.”

Lyon will be in attendance at Santa Anita Saturday to see for herself if Triple Tap can follow in his beloved sister's–or maybe even half-brother's–hoofprints. With those bloodlines and Baffert at the helm, anything is possible. Let's not forget, Justify did not make his debut until Feb. 18 of his sophomore season and Arrogate made his first racetrack appearance Apr. 17 of his 3-year-old year. As Lyon said, “There is always hope.”

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Pletcher, American Pharoah Head ’21 Hall of Fame Finalists

Six racehorses, three trainers and one jockey account for the 10 finalists that will compose the National Museum of Racing's 2021 Hall of Fame ballot, as chosen by the museum's Hall of Fame nominating committee. The finalists are racehorses American Pharoah (first year of eligibility), Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold and Rags to Riches; trainers Christophe Clement, Doug O'Neill and Todd Pletcher (first year of eligibility); and jockey Corey Nakatani.

Ballots will be mailed the first week in March and results of the voting will be announced May 5. That announcement will also include this year's selections by the Museum's Steeplechase Review Committee, which meets once every four years.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony–which will honor both the 2020 and 2021 inductees—is tentatively scheduled for Friday, Aug. 6, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. ET. Because of the ongoing COVID pandemic, many details relating to the induction ceremony are still to be determined.

Bred in Kentucky by owner Zayat Stables, American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile–Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman), became racing's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years when he swept the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S. in 2015 en route to Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, the bay previously won the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old male in 2014. At three, he also won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Overall, the bay posted a record of nine wins from 11 starts and earnings $8,650,300.

Bred in Kentucky by Fairlawn Farm, Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision–Lucky One, by Best of Luck) won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2010. A multiple Grade I winner at ages two through four, Blind Luck was trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by Hollendorfer in partnership with Mark DeDomenico LLC, John Carver, and Peter Abruzzo. Blind Luck, who retired with 12 wins and earnings of $3,279,520, won 10 graded stakes, including six Grade Is–Kentucky Oaks, Oak Leaf S., Hollywood Starlet S., Las Virgenes S., Alabama S. and Vanity H.

Game On Dude (Awesome Again–Worldly Pleasure, by Devil His Due), bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs, won 14 graded stakes, including eight Grade Is. Owned by Joe Torre's Diamond Pride LLC, Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable LLC, and Bernie Schiappa, the gelding was trained by Baffert. He is the only horse to win the GI Santa Anita H. three times (2011, 2013, 2014). In 2013, Game On Dude swept the three signature Grade I races for older horses in California–Santa Anita H., Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic–becoming only the second horse to win those three events in a single year. He compiled a record of 16 wins from 34 starts and earnings of $6,498,893.

Havre de Grace (Saint Liam–Easter Brunette, by Carson City) won the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and champion older mare in 2011. Bred in Kentucky by Nancy S. Dillman, the bay was trained by Anthony Dutrow at ages 2 and 3 and later by Larry Jones. Campaigned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms throughout her career, she beat Blind Luck in the 2011 GIII Azeri S. before wins in the GI Apple Blossom S., GI Woodward S. and GI BeldameS. Havre de Grace retired with nine wins and earnings of $2,586,175.

Bred in Kentucky by Carlos Perez, Kona Gold (Java Gold– Double Sunrise, by Slew o' Gold) won the Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter in 2000, when he set a six-furlong track record at Churchill Downs in his GI Breeders' Cup Sprint victory. Campaigned by Bruce Headley (who also served as his trainer), Irwin and Andrew Molasky, Michael Singh et al, the gelding raced from 1998 through 2003 with a record of 14-7-2 from 30 starts and earnings of $2,293,384. He won a total of 10 graded stakes, including the GI San Carlos H., all while ridden by Hall of Famer Alex Solis.

Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy–Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister) won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly in 2007, a campaign highlighted by a victory in the GI Belmont S. Trained by Pletcher for owners Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, the chestnut filly recorded four Grade I wins–Las Virgenes S. and GI Santa Anita Oaks, GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Belmont S., defeating two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin. Rags to Riches remains one of only three fillies to win the Belmont. Bred in Kentucky by Skara Glen Stables, she retired with a record of five wins from seven starts and earnings of $1,342,528.

Pletcher, 53, has won 5,072 races (eighth all-time) with record North American purse earnings of $400,647,175 in a career that began in 1996. A winner of a record seven Eclipse Awards for outstanding trainer, Pletcher has won the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) and the Belmont S. with Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013) and Tapwrit (2017). Pletcher ranks fourth all-time at the Breeders' Cup in earnings ($21,508,030) and fifth in wins (11) and has won 699 graded stakes. Pletcher, who has led all North American trainers in earnings 10 times, has trained 11 Eclipse Award-winners, including Hall of Famer Ashado, English Channel, Fleet Indian, Lawyer Ron, Left Bank, Rags to Riches, Shanghai Bobby, Speightstown, Wait a While, Uncle Mo and Vino Rosso. Pletcher has won 16 leading trainer titles at Belmont, 14 at Saratoga and six at Aqueduct. He has also won 16 titles at Gulfstream, five at Keeneland and two at Monmouth.

Clement, 55, has won 2,094 races to date with purse earnings of more than $139 million (12th all time) in a career that began in 1991. Clement trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, winner of four straight Grade Is on the turf in 2009, as well as 2014 Belmont winner Tonalist, who also won consecutive renewals of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2014 and 2015. Clement has won 248 graded stakes, including multiple editions of the Beverly D., Del Mar Oaks, Diana, Manhattan, Man o' War, Shadwell Turf Mile and Sword Dancer, among others.

O'Neill, 52, has won 2,552 races to date with purse earnings of more than $138 million (13th all-time) in a career that began in 1988. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2012 with I'll Have Another and a second Derby in 2016 with Nyquist. O'Neill has trained five Eclipse Award winners–I'll Have Another, Maryfield, Nyquist, Stevie Wonderboy and Thor's Echo–and has won five Breeders' Cup races. Trainer of Hall of Fame member Lava Man, he won five training titles at Del Mar and four titles at Santa Anita, including a record 56-win meet in the winter of 2006-2007, and ranks eighth all time there with 619 wins. Overall, O'Neill has won 132 graded stakes.

Nakatani, 50, won 3,909 races with purse earnings of $234,554,534 million in a career that spanned from 1988 to 2018. He ranks 13th all-time in career earnings and won 341 graded stakes. Nakatani won 10 Breeders' Cup races (one of only 10 riders to do so), including four editions of the Sprint. He won three riding titles at Del Mar, two at Santa Anita and one at Hollywood Park, as well as four Oak Tree meetings. The regular pilot of Lava Man, he ranks eighth all time in stakes wins at Santa Anita (behind seven Hall of Famers) with 134 and ninth in overall wins at Santa Anita with 1,075. He also stands second all time at Del Mar with 108 stakes wins (behind only Hall of Famer Chris McCarron and sixth in overall wins with 705.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many or as few candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50% plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All of the finalists were required to receive support from two-thirds of the 15-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.

Chaired by Edward L. Bowen, the Hall of Fame nominating committee is composed of Bowen, Steven Crist, Tom Durkin, Bob Ehalt, Tracy Gantz, Teresa Genaro, Jane Goldstein, Steve Haskin, Jay Hovdey, Tom Law, Neil Milbert, Jay Privman, John Sparkman, Michael Veitch and Charlotte Weber.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active in the past 25 years. The 20- and 25-year requirements for jockeys and trainers, respectively, may be waived at the discretion of the museum's executive committee. Candidates not active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.

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A Life-Changing Mare for Breeders of Travel Column

Sometimes you talk to a breeder and know instantly that each and every horse he or she raises is their pride and joy.

There might be no better example than Chris Welker.

As the co-breeder of 'TDN Rising Star' Travel Column (Frosted), Welker can share dozens of stories of the youngster's time at Spring Ridge Farm. She can tell you about the many frustrating sessions they went through when Travel Column was a hard-headed yearling, but if you bring up the filly's win in last year's GII Golden Rod S., you can practically hear her beaming through the phone. Ask her to show you a photo or two of Travel Column's younger days, and she'll pull out 20.

For Chris and her husband Bayne Welker, Fasig-Tipton's Executive Vice President, Travel Column is their most accomplished horse after nearly 20 years in the business as breeders. To make her even more special to the couple, they nearly missed out on purchasing her dam.

In 2016, Welker was on the hunt for a mare for a client at the Keeneland November Sale. While stopping by the Denali Stud consignment, she asked if they had anything that might fit her farm's budget. They said they did, but that the mare was by Victory Gallop.

“I told them I didn't know if I wanted a Victory Gallop mare, but I saw her and I really liked her,” Welker said. “She was very pretty, not really big. I loved the fact that a couple of her foals had sold for a lot of money.”

The mare, named Swingit and in foal to Bodemeister, had produced three winners but she also had two dead foals on her record and had not produced a foal the year prior.

“She had a little bit of a spotty produce record but you could say she'd probably be worth a shot for $50,000,” Welker said, recalling her thought process. “I thought if she ends up having a good Bodemeister, she'll pay for herself.”

So with a strict budget in mind, Welker watched Swingit enter the sales ring and crossed her fingers as she raised her hand for a budget-maxing $50,000.

“Lo and behold, we got her for exactly that,” she recalled. “I don't think I'd have paid any more. That's a lot of money for us.”

The next day, Swingit's third foal Neolithic (Harlan's Holday) ran second in the GIII Discovery S. in his stakes debut. He would go on to place in three Graded or Group I races and earn over $2 million.

Welker's hopes for the Bodemeister foal came true when the colt sold for $310,000, the highest-priced yearling for his sire in 2018.

Welker had a stallion in mind for Swingit after she foaled, but Denali's Craig Bandoroff called with a different idea.

“Craig was kicking himself for not buying the mare,” she said. “He called and said he would like to do a foal share with Frosted. He said we needed to breed her to something new and exciting.”

When it came time for Swingit to foal, Welker was left on her own as Bayne was off inspecting yearlings.

“The mare had a bit of a funny produce record and I was a bit nervous because I didn't know her well,” she admitted. “Most of the mares I've had for a while and I know them.”

Thankfully, everything went smoothly and Travel Column made her way into the world Apr. 10, 2018.

“The mare was perfect and it was a beautiful foal so I took pictures and sent them to everybody,” Welker said. “I'm proud of the fact that I got to foal her by myself. If I had known what she was going to be worth, it wouldn't have been so easy, I can tell you that.”

It didn't take long for Welker to learn this Frosted filly danced to the beat of her own drum.

“I thought she'd be either really good or not worth a damn because she was really tough,” Welker quipped. “She took tough to a whole new level. If she was in one of those moods, you might as well walk away and try the next day. It was her rules, not yours. I don't care if you were six feet tall and 250 pounds, it wasn't going to happen if it wasn't on her terms. I hated that about her, but I also loved it about her.”

As the filly developed and the weeks closed in on the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, Welker knew a flight from Kentucky to New York could prove problematic for the spirited filly.

“I thought, God if we get to the airport and she gives us any trouble on the airplane, it's not going to be good,” she said. “So I just started trailering her around. If I was going somewhere I would just load her up and take her with me a few times a week. I took her to the grocery store with me.”

When the day came for Travel Column to ship out, she boarded the plane without a hitch or an ounce of sedative.

Welker's goal going into the sale was for the filly to reach $400,000, but she said her conservative husband was thinking perhaps half that amount. A few days into showing, Welker's price point had gotten a bit higher.

“By the second-to-last day of showing, you're starting to think crazy because you could see how popular she was and how she had absolutely taken control of that show. When they would bring her out, everybody wanted to know who she was.”

Travel Column's $850,000 hammer price was the most expensive sale for her first-crop sire in 2019.

But Swingit's next foal would prove to be Welker's favorite yet.

After foaling Travel Column, Swingit was supposed to go to an up-and-coming proven stallion with some rumored fertility issues, but Welker had bigger plans.

“Bayne really wanted to breed her to the less expensive stallion and I said 'Bayne, I really do not have a good feeling about this. Just let me do what I need to do,'” she said. “From the time Neolithic came along, my dream was to take her to American Pharoah because I thought, when else would a person like me have a chance to breed to him?”

The horsewoman said she still remembers hauling the mare into Ashford Stud and clipping American Pharoah's tag onto Swingit's halter.

“I've got pictures of it on my phone,” she said. “I just remember standing there thinking that this foal is going to be worth a million dollars, he's going to be a solid bay and it's going to be a colt.”

Aside from one small star on an otherwise bay colt, Welker's premonitions turned out to be completely correct.

Last year, Swingit's American Pharoah colt, now named Corton Charlemagne, sold for $1.25 million to Speedway Stables.

“I had envisioned for so long what he would be like and he was exactly that,” Welker said with emotion. “He's got the same temperament as American Pharoah. He knows what you're thinking. He's smart, very laid-back and self-confident. His picture is my Facebook profile. Every time I look at a picture of him or start thinking about him, I just start crying. I just want everything to be the best for him.”

This year, Swingit's City of Light yearling colt will see the sales ring.

“We're as excited about him as we've been about any of them,” Welker said. “I see a lot of the filly in him. He's a little more precocious like she was, but he's got that laid-back way like the American Pharoah colt.”

While Swingit was barren this year, she was bred to Uncle Mo a few days ago.

As Welker monitors the development of Swingit's youngest foal, she keeps a close eye on Travel Column from afar.

“I think she has a really exciting future,” she said. “[In the GII Golden Rod S.] we were just hoping she would hit the board. We didn't really expect her to win, but then the way she won was pretty exciting.”

Travel Column made her sophomore debut in last weekend's GII Rachel Alexandra S., running second by a neck to Stonestreet homebred Clairiere (Curlin).

“I would not want to be around her right now after she got beat,” Welker said. “I guarantee you that she's a little tougher than normal if I know her at all.”

For nearly 20 years, the horsewoman has been running the Welker's 70-acre Spring Ridge Farm with the full-time help of two employees and weekend help from husband Bayne. They currently have five of their own mares, plus three client mares, seven yearlings and two geldings.

She said she tries not to think about what a win in the GI Kentucky Oaks would mean for their farm, but instead focuses on everything that has already been achieved since she purchased Swingit.

“This mare has already changed our lives,” she said. “The American Pharoah colt is the love of my life. [An Oaks win] would be amazing but I don't even want to think about [it]. I'm just so grateful for what Travel Column has done for us already. She's the most accomplished horse for us by a landslide.”

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Cafe Pharoah Takes ‘Win And You’re In’ February Stakes In Japan

In 2015, American Pharoah took the racing world by storm when he captured the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). On Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan, Koichi Nishikawa's Cafe Pharoah, a Kentucky-bred son of American Pharoah, earned the first automatic berth into this year's $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series with a three-quarter length victory over Air Spinel (JPN) in the one-mile $1.84 million February Stakes (G1) on dirt.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held on Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, California.

As a part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, the Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for Cafe Pharoah to start in the 1 ¼-mile Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Breeders' Cup also will provide a $40,000 travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships.

Trained by Noriyuki Hori and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, the 4-year-old Cafe Pharoah, the 3-1 favorite, completed the mile in 1:34.40. In defeating 15 rivals for his first career Group 1 victory, Cafe Pharoah improved his overall mark to five wins in seven starts. Out of the More Than Ready mare, Mary's Follies, Cafe Pharoah was bred by the late Paul Pompa Jr.

Absent of fans and cheers, the 38th running of the February Stakes, the first Group 1 event of the Japanese racing season, was on its way on the backstretch with Air Almas (JPN), Helios (JPN) and Wide Pharaoh (JPN) fighting for the lead. As Helios slipped back in the early stages, Cafe Pharoah, breaking from stall three, stalked the two frontrunners while saving ground before smoothly angling out right beside them to enter the lane in third. From there on, Cafe Pharoah unleashed a powerful stretch drive, securing the lead by the furlong marker and held off the fast-closing 35-1 Air Spinel.

“His condition was super, and I had confidence already at the paddock,” said Lemaire, who also won last year's February Stakes on Mozu Ascot (JPN). “We decided to use cheek pieces [headgear strips similar to blinkers] hoping for a more aggressive performance. His start was good, we were positioned well and he responded beautifully. The colt has such high potential. I had no doubt that he could land a G1 win if he gave his best. I'm happy that it all worked out today.”

Air Spinel was settled on the rail in mid-division and struggled to find room in early stretch. Once he angled out, finding a clear path 300 meters out, he finished fast, overtaking the tiring pacesetter in the final sixteenth and threatening the winner. Wonder Lider (JPN), sent off at 19-1, took an economic route behind the winner up to the last turn and displayed a powerful stretch drive furiously chasing the runner-up to the line while holding off a strong challenge by 6-1 third choice Red le Zele (JPN) for third. Air Almas finished fifth, followed by Inti (JPN), the 2019 February Stakes winner, in sixth.

In 2020, Cafe Pharoah won twice at the race distance over the Tokyo track, taking the two Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying races, the listed Hyacinth Stakes and the Unicorn Stakes (G3). He suffered his first defeat as the favorite in the Japan Dirt Derby on July 8 at Ohi, finishing seventh. He rebounded on Oct. 3 to win the 1 3/16-mile Sirius Stakes (G3) at Chukyo. In his final start last year, Cafe Pharoah stepped into Group 1 company for the first time, in the 1 1/8-mile Champions Cup at Chukyo on Dec. 6, finishing sixth.

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