Less than a week had passed since that magical first Saturday in May when American Pharoah gave owner Ahmed Zayat the Kentucky Derby victory that had been so frustratingly elusive. Yet the magnitude of the accomplishment was only beginning to set in for the grateful 52-year-old New Jersey businessman.
"It has been absolutely surreal. I'm not on cloud nine, I'm on cloud 29," he said Thursday evening. "It's so historical; it's such a big achievement that it didn't sink in right away. We're beyond tickled pink. Think about it, it doesn't get better."
In a sense, though, it just might.
Two weeks after his triumph at Churchill Downs, Zayat Stables' American Pharoah will head to the starting gate at Pimlico as a strong favorite in the Preakness, the second jewel in racing's famed Triple Crown.
A victory there and, well, there will be glorious thoughts that Zayat prefers to put on hold for now.
His focus is the $1.5 million Preakness, and he's approaching it with the same confidence he and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert have placed in American Pharoah since those early days at the farm when Zayat's homebred colt stood out from every other youngster around him.
"American Pharoah was a freak on the farm," said Zayat, who was born in Egypt and moved to the United States in 1980. "There was no one close to him."
The finish at Churchill Downs was different. It was closer than any of American Pharoah's previous four wins. A 5-2 favorite, he won by a length over Firing Line, with 4-1 second choice Dortmund, who is also trained by Baffert, another two lengths behind in third.
"Dortmund is a very nice horse, but we beat him in the Derby and we'll beat him again. It's as simple as that," Zayat said. "In my opinion, he [Pharoah] has the talent to beat the horses he's already beaten, and the fresh horses [running in the Preakness] who did not run in the Derby are not as tough as the Derby horses.
"Honestly, I believe American Pharoah is the best horse of his generation. I normally don't like to speak like that. I want to be humble and let the horse speak for himself." Part of Zayat's confidence is fueled by a belief that he has as good a trainer as he could ask for in Baffert.
"I believe Bob Baffert is the best trainer. Period. I've been fortunate to have and still have other Hall of Fame trainers working for me, but Baffert is an incredible trainer," said Zayat, who has been involved in beverage and glass-making businesses. "It's not just breezing horses. Bob micromanages everything. He's an absolute perfectionist, an incredible manager and developer of horses. It was natural when I had my first Pioneerof the Nile colt, who was showing brilliance on the farm, that we gave him to Bob. No one can make a slow horse fast, but if there's potential there, Bob can bring it out."
Zayat also believes quite firmly that the best is yet to come from American Pharoah.
In some ways, the 141st Derby had the potential to be much like the Run for the Roses in 2009, 2011 and 2012, when Zayat suffered through a trio of runner-up finishes. American Pharoah, the reigning 2-year-old champion, arrived in Louisville with just two 2015 races -- lopsided wins in the Arkansas Derby and Rebel at Oaklawn Park. They were his lone starts since Sept. 27 because a hoof injury ended his 2-year-old campaign after a win in the Grade 1 FrontRunner, forcing him to miss the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
Those romps left American Pharoah virtually untested in the four straight wins he compiled after a surprising loss in his career debut, and no one was quite sure how he would handle a stiff challenge.
He was also agitated by the large crowd at Churchill Downs on Derby Day and had a wide trip.
Still, in spite of all that, a Derby field as good as the sport has seen in decades could not defeat him, and perhaps his fellow 3-year-olds' best chance to beat him has come and gone.
"I think the Derby will move American Pharoah up," Zayat said. "I think he breathes different air than everyone else. In spite of some things going against him, he won the Derby, and I think he'll be better in the Preakness."
A time of 2:03.02 for the mile and a quarter, with a slow final quarter-mile in 26.57 seconds, and a relatively small margin of victory disappointed those who expected yet another a brilliant and decisive victory from such a heralded colt. Yet Zayat says it's better to focus on the end result as opposed to the manner of victory.
"I don't think the track at Churchill Downs was conducive for him," he said. "The track was loose and deep. Some horses can struggle on a track like that, but the good ones find a way, and that's what he did. He didn't win by six or seven lengths like some expected. OK, fine. It was his first time at a mile and a quarter. It was the deepest field in at least 20 years. He was wide the whole way and he still won. I know the time was slow, but the track was very screwed up. It was funky. It's as simple as that. So I'm not making a big deal about time. On Ragozin and Thoro-Graph speed figures [he ran his best race] in spite of that final time. All I can say is he beat 17 horses."
One of the 17 horses he beat was another of Zayat's horses, Mr. Z, who finished a troubled 13th. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas listed Mr. Z as a possibility for the Preakness, but Zayat said Thursday that he was "unlikely" to run. Which seems quite apropos.
Zayat's focus in the Preakness deserves to be centered on the horse that helped him to finally put aside several well-documented chapters of Derby heartbreak in what has been an otherwise amazingly successful run during his 10 years of involvement as an owner. In 2009, Pioneerof the Nile finished second to 50-1 shot Mine That Bird. In 2011, Nehro was second to a horse who had never raced on dirt before. In 2012, 4-1 favorite Bodemeister, named for Baffert's youngest son, set a blazing pace and enjoyed a three-length lead at the eighth pole, but was collared by I'll Have Another, a 15-1 shot. Bodemeister settled for second.
It was a string of tough luck, depressing enough to test anyone's mettle. That Zayat never allowed it to overwhelm him has resonated with Baffert.
"To endure that, it's just incredible," the now four-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer said. "And he's still in there and he's got such a passion. ... These losses, it really brings out the true character in a man, and he's taken these horrible losses. He knows, he understands. He's always telling me, 'You know what? You did a great job.'"
Zayat said he has never viewed the Derby as a glass half-full experience, even after coming so close so often.
"How much can you expect? The race did not owe me anything. This is the hardest race for anyone to win in America, and perhaps the world. There are so many variables, like traffic and jostling and bad post positions. I had no illusions that I could win it," Zayat said. "We only started in racing in 2005. Our record was already insane. When I look at what we've done in the Derby, we've had seven horses: three were second, one won, and we had a favorite who was scratched. The record is humbling. All in all, this has only made it so much more fun and the near misses special."
So special that emotion caught up with Zayat and his family during their celebration after the race.
"It was an incredible high to see everyone's reaction. My wife [Joanne] was crying; my son Justin [an NYU student and racing manager for Zayat Stables] threw up. He was so nervous and excited that his stomach was turned upside down," Zayat said. "It was such a euphoric feeling. You can't script it. It was an incredible rush of emotions and the most beautiful thing to experience."
Yet there could be even bigger thrills ahead. Aside from being only the second 2-year-old champion to win the Derby since 1979, the past four Triple Crown winners possessed the same element as American Pharoah: They were all 2-year-old champions. They were very good at 2 and even better at 3, traits that equate to greatness. American Pharoah seems to be heading in that direction, and Zayat said he could not have picked a better horse to take him and his family on the ride of their lives.
"If I ever wanted to see one of my horses win the Kentucky Derby, it was him," he said. "He's a homebred. He's by a stallion of mine, Pioneerof the Nile, who I bred and was my first Grade 1 winner. He was second in the Kentucky Derby and now, in his first crop, here's his son winning the Kentucky Derby for me. American Pharoah is also out of a dam that raced for me and is named after my youngest daughter, Emma [Littleprincessemma]. I'm enjoying the ride. I'm basking in the high he gave me, and hopefully it will continue.
"I've never seen Bob Baffert this excited about a horse from day one. He told me early on, 'This is the horse I have been waiting for all my life.' That says something because he's not one to speak like that."
Come May 16, more indeed will said about American Pharoah, and if that tone sounds anything like it did at Churchill Downs, not just Ahmed Zayat but racing as well will have a rather amazing adventure ahead at Belmont Park in June.