NEW YORK -- When the owner of American Pharoah, Ahmed Zayat, says he's lost seven pounds in the last week, the immediate thought centers on the immense pressure involved in a Triple Crown bid.

But that's not it.

American Pharoah, who will become the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years if he can win the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, is what puts a bubbly smile on the 52-year-old Zayat's face these days and fills his voice with laughter.

"The morning line odds said it all for me. Three-to-five? In a Triple Crown race?" he said after the Zayat Stables 3-year-old drew Post 5 in a field of eight Wednesday for the mile-and-a-half final jewel in the Triple Crown. "That says it all."

What has injected so much aggravation and stress into his life is a far different matter that will ultimately be decided in a court of law rather than the main track of one of America's oldest and most famous racetracks.

After the first Saturday in May, Zayat was the deliriously happy owner of a Kentucky Derby winner. Then, before American Pharoah's seven-length romp in the Preakness, reports surfaced that the Egyptian-born, New Jersey businessman is facing a March 2014 lawsuit for allegedly not repaying money fronted to him for offshore wagers.

Howard Rubinsky, a Florida resident, claims in his suit that Zayat owes him $1.6 million. Zayat, in turn, filed a petition with a federal judge, seeking a dismissal of the suit.

Then on Monday, attorney Joseph Bainton slapped Zayat with a libel suit over published comments Zayat made about the Rubinsky case, including one in the Associated Press that claimed, "It's a fraud. It's a scam from A to Z. It's total fiction. It's a total lie. It is a case of blackmail by a criminal."

Two days later, even with his $20 million-plus horse on the verge of becoming one of racing's immortals, Zayat said his mind cannot focus completely on Saturday's historic race. "Does my face tell you?" he said with a cold look when questions steered from American Pharoah's chances in the Belmont to the distraction posed by the lawsuit. "I've lost seven pounds this week. It's eating at me. I'm very saddened and it's despicable.

"Is this the price of success? That people tear you down? All I can tell you, everything, everything is a lie from A to Z. It's insanity. It's saddened me that people can stoop that low."

Zayat repeated his belief that the lawsuit is baseless and that he will ultimately be cleared of any wrongdoing.

"I'm extremely confident that truth will prevail," he said. "Thank God, we are in a country where the due process and the legal system is honorable and I am certain that the judge will throw this rubbish out. It's as simple as that."

Yet for Zayat brushing aside any thought of the suit, even in the midst of a Triple Crown quest, is easier said than done.

"I can't block it out," he said. "You're looking at a guy with a heavy heart but I'm a guy on a mission and I have to focus. This is about the horse and I take pride in myself for being strong, but I'm pent up about this."

Zayat's son Justin, who recently graduated from New York University and serves as the racing manager for the family's racing stable, found irony in how the great joy generated by American Pharoah may have also sparked renewed interest in the suit.

"Obviously it's put a damper on the whole situation," he said. "I don't want to see my dad go through stuff like this. He doesn't deserve this. If he didn't own American Pharoah, none of it would be going on. I guess when you're on top of the world, there are always people who try to take you down.

"We're doing our best to enjoy the moment," he added. "It's really about the horse, not the Zayat family. It's about American Pharoah and the game."

The game will indeed be the focal point on Saturday afternoon when American Pharoah attempts to become racing's long-awaited 12th Triple Crown winner, and if there's anything that can bring the smile back to Ahmed Zayat's face it's the impeccable way his horse is heading into its date with destiny.

"I am very much at peace. That confidence is because I'm reading the horse. I believe I have a connection with him. I think he's ready and if he's ready, beware," he said. "The scary thing is we have not gotten to the bottom of him yet. He's getting better with age. This guy had everything thrown at him and he came out smelling like a rose, pardon the pun."

Carnations are the flower of choice in the Belmont Stakes and if Zayat and his family can smell them after Saturday's 147th edition of the race, it should produce a level of euphoria that a court docket will be hard-pressed to quell.

"It's such an incredibly tall order," Ahmed Zayat said about sweeping the Triple Crown. "There's a reason why it hasn't been done for 37 years. I'm dreaming about it, but I'm trying to limit my own expectations because you don't want to think you got so close and it slipped away from you. Who knows? He's a once-in-a-lifetime horse and I don't know if I'll ever come close to do this again."

If he does, you can rest assured Ahmed Zayat would insist he spent the five weeks between the Derby and Belmont free of any thoughts of judges and lawyers. He had wanted the attention solely on his horse.

For better or worse.

For victory or defeat -- rather than guilty or not guilty.