ELMONT, N.Y. -- It was a moment some 37 years in the making, and the exhilaration shook every muscle in Ahmed Zayat's 52-year-old body.
The Triple Crown sweep that was widely believed to be impossible for a modern-day Thoroughbred had just become reality. Zayat's brilliant champion, American Pharoah, had won the Belmont Stakes by a whopping 5½ lengths over Frosted to become the long-awaited 12th Triple Crown champion and the first since Affirmed in 1978.
In front of 90,000 mesmerized fans at Belmont Park and millions more watching on television across the nation, Zayat was handed the silver Triple Crown trophy that had eluded the grasp of 13 other owners in the past 37 years.
He lifted it up in a scene destined to be as famous as the one from 1973 at Belmont Park when owner Penny Chenery wildly waved her arms over her head after the legendary Secretariat completed his sweep with a jaw-dropping 31-length win in "The Test of the Champion" that ended a 25-year drought.
Yet as Zayat saw it, that rather historic moment did not belong to him. It was not the proper time for him to revel in joining Chenery and the Slew Crew and the Wolfsons in becoming part of the first families of horse racing.
It was a time for him to say thank you.
"This is for the fans. This is for everyone who loves horses," Zayat proclaimed. "This is for you ... This is for the sport. After 37 years it needs a star. This is an honor, privilege, [I'm] humbled, excited."
Then, with his voice rising to a decibel level that could have matched any of the legion of fans at Belmont Park who rooted so passionately for his horse to cross the finish line first, Zayat pointed the trophy toward the crowd and shouted one final time, "This is all for you!"
It was more than that, though. It was a scene for the ages, because regardless of what happened on Saturday, sweeping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes is a withering task that will not become an annual event. Those folks with gray hair who were at Belmont Park on Saturday and were just college kids the last time the sweep was accomplished will surely attest to that.
Zayat, who was born in Egypt and now lives in New Jersey, would prefer, however, if the moment does not center on him.
"We all wanted it," he said. "We wanted it for the sport. So I'm happy for the horse, for the fans, and for [trainer Bob Baffert] ... This is about American Pharoah and what does this mean to our beautiful sport."
If Zayat is to become one of the new faces of racing, the sport finds itself in pretty good hands. A messy legal situation involving Zayat was dismissed -- as he said it would be -- earlier this week, and more than most owners, he's willing to spend hour upon hour on social media interacting with the sport's fans.
He's a new type of owner for a new brand of Triple Crown champion.
"Ahmed and his family have put up with a lot because he's such an emotional guy, but he's been so good about everything," Baffert said. "They deserve this."
What bodes so well going forward is that the love for racing extends beyond the patriarch of the family. Ahmed's son Justin, who graduated from New York University just weeks ago, is the racing manager for the family's stable, and his emotions after each leg of the Triple Crown reflected how much their horses and their sport mean to him and his family.
After the Kentucky Derby, a race in which Zayat horses had finished second on three occasions before American Pharoah's breakthrough, Justin was so overcome by emotion he threw up.
After the Belmont, he simply wept.
"I cried," he said. "I didn't throw up this time. It was a little more emotional but I'm just so thankful to have a horse like American Pharoah, who is the 12th Triple Crown champion. It's a dream come true for all of racing. I'm thankful for Bob Baffert. He gave us our first Derby [winner] and I'm happy we could give him a Triple Crown."
Yes, in his fourth try, Baffert finally joined the Triple Crown Club. For jockey Victor Espinoza, the third time was the charm as he failed in Triple Crown bids in 2002 and last year with California Chrome.
For the sport, it was an ungodly 37-year wait that finally came to an end on Saturday. Affirmed has company, as do his owners.
On an unforgettable June afternoon, racing did indeed gain a new immortal to celebrate as one of its greatest champions, and the smiling faces of Baffert, Espinoza and, of course, Zayat became its newest poster boys.
For all that, you can bet there's no shortage of people in the industry who are saying thank you; thank you very much.