Even with a pair of Grade 1 races on Santa Anita Park's final Saturday of its spring meeting, the star June 27 was indisputable.
American Pharoah was on display on the unusually-muggy Southern California afternoon, parading in front of 21,528 fans at the Arcadia track (last year's attendance on Gold Cup Day was 12,396).
The Triple Crown champion started with a few victory laps around the paddock-area walking ring, where the crowd stacked five rows deep, most with cell phones raised above their heads to snap a glimpse of the Pioneerof the Nile colt.
Escorted by jockey Victor Espinoza, assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes, exercise rider Jorge Alvarez, and groom Eduardo Luna, American Pharoah calmly made several trips around the walking ring, while trainer Bob Baffert conducted television interviews. On his way out to the track ahead of his trainee, the conditioner looked more like a politician when he picked up a toddler wearing the Zayat Stables silks and posed for a picture with the colt's "biggest fan," a man sporting a shiny Egyptian-style headdress and an American flag toga.
The Belmont Stakes replay brought cheers as American Pharoah made his way out to the track, which was followed by a recording of "New York, New York."
"I got goose bumps when they played 'New York, New York,'" Baffert said. "That song just hit me. It's been in my mind ever since they played it before the [Belmont]. It's been overwhelming a little bit, but it's good to see the fans out to see this horse. It's amazing how these fans just want to get a look at him."
At the tunnel opening, a handful of ponies, normally tasked with the duty of escorting horses to the starting gate, stood guard like sentinels, but their riders couldn't help but be caught up in the moment. Every single one had a cell phone out to document the experience.
The only hiccup was a few nervous spins by American Pharoah in the winner's circle, where he paused quickly to take a photo before returning to his stall in Barn 5.
"He's handled it pretty well [but] he was a bit nervous in the winner's circle," Baffert said. "I guess he didn't run, so he's ready to get back to work."
That was the prevailing thought after the parade -- American Pharoah is about to get back to work and his public appearances will almost surely be cut down. He'll soon ship down to Del Mar, which will likely be the location of his first timed workout since the Belmont.
"We're going to back off on showing him too much," Baffert said. "He needs to relax now and take it easy. We love showing him off to everybody and I couldn't do that with a normal horse. He's probably eaten 500 pounds of carrots since he won that race."
The colt might be ready to get back to work, but his next race remains a mystery.
"He could run [in the Haskell Invitational] Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park or in the Jim Dandy (at Saratoga Race Course) Aug. 1, or wait," Baffert said. "He was always on my schedule. Now we're on his schedule. When he shows me that he's ready to bounce back and put in a strong performance, that's when he'll run."