Baffert: American Pharoah's 'a baby and a beast'

"When he turned for home, the best feeling was probably

watching Victor (Espinoza) sitting on him with so much. He's got a

mile and a quarter and he's just breezing. I'm thinking 'Wow, look at this

horse,' and then I see Frosted (Tapit) coming at him and then Victor just still hasn't

asked him.

"It was like Frank Mirahmadi's call at Oaklawn where he said, 'Victor

hasn't asked him, but we all know the answer.' He just turned them loose and I

sat back and took in the crowd noise.

"He's a baby and a beast at the same time. You have a horse that is this sweet

and kind, but then when he gets to the track he wants to dominate. For the

horse, I was so happy for him and when they hit the wire he was still just so

full of horse. I told Victor before the race, 'I think he's really, really

good.' Once Victor got on his back he looked at me like he could feel it."

Baffert went on to discuss the future of American Pharoah and named some

potential spots where the Triple Crown winner could make his next start.

"My goal is to bring him back to Kentucky and I'm sure you all

want to see him run in the Breeders' Cup (Classic [G1] at Keeneland October

31)," Baffert said. "I just want to

keep him on that level. There are some obvious spots.

"You got the Haskell (G1), the

Jim Dandy (G2), Saratoga, Del Mar. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I've

talked to (racing manager) Justin Zayat; they have their ideas and I have my

ideas so we're basically just going to sit down and I have to see how this horse

responds. Sometimes it takes as much as two weeks to see what kind of affect a

race has on him. If you see him show up, then he's really going to perform in a

big way.

"To me, I feel more pressure training him now. I feel like wrapping him in

bubble wrap.

"What I want to do is just want to share him with everyone. When we

go back to California they'll probably have something for him there and then

when we go to Del Mar, they'll have something for him there.

"I wish I was

around Secretariat. As a kid, I would have loved to pet him and touch him and

get close to him. I got to go up to him and touch him and I'll always remember

greatness like that.

"I'm his trainer but at the same time I'm like a little kid. I

knew he was great but he really had to show it."

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