American Pharoah continues dominance in 3-year-old poll

By: SPORTS NETWORK

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - American Pharoah, winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown, remains the unanimous selection in the NTRA 3-Year- Old Poll and gained ground in the National Poll.

Owned by Zayat Stables and trained by Bob Baffert, American Pharoah received all 43 first-place votes for 430 points in the 3-year-old rankings and moved to within 6 points of Shared Belief in the NTRA National Poll.

American Pharoah picked up 22 top votes and 333 points to Shared Belief's 13 first-place votes and 339 points in the overall rankings.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, American Pharoah crushed the opposition by seven lengths over a sloppy Pimlico track to win the Preakness Stakes to go along with his Kentucky Derby victory two weeks earlier.

"He's just an amazing horse," Baffert said after the Preakness. "Everybody talks about the greatness and he's starting to show it. To me, they have to prove it. Today, the way he did it. He's just so fast, the way he ran. It was like poetry in motion."

American Pharoah moves on to the 147th Belmont Stakes on June 6 to attempt to become the 12th Triple Crown champion and the first since Affirmed in 1978.

Dortmund, fifth behind his Baffert stablemate, is second in the poll with 363 points followed by Frosted (303), Firing Line (271), Materiality (248), Carpe Diem (176), Lovely Maria (93), Competitive Edge (90), International Star (87) and Divining Rod (64).

Reigning Horse of the Year California Chrome is third in the National Poll with five first-place votes and 317 points followed by Main Sequence (225), Constitution (1, 180), Tonalist (161), Lea (127), Finnegans Wake (110), Moreno (105) and Untapable (73).