SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- American Pharoah's Thursday gallop marks his first time hitting the Saratoga track in preparation for Saturday's Travers. American Pharoah already made history, becoming just the 12th horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. If he's able to add a win in the "Midsummer Derby" to his accomplishments, he'll breathe even more rarified air.
"We galloped a little over a mile, probably about a mile, mile and a 16th," said Jimmy Barnes, the assistant trainer.
American Pharoah hit Saratoga's track for the first time early Thursday.
"Very high energy, just what you want to see," Barnes said.
Of the 11 Triple Crown winners who came first, eight raced at Saratoga either before or after capturing the historic feat, but only three tried their luck in the Travers.
"Only one of them has come up here to Saratoga and won the Travers. It's a pretty big deal," said Mike Kane, a racing analyst.
That lone standout was Calumet Farm's Whirlaway back in 1941.
"Not many people wanted to run their horses against Whirlaway. It was a three-horse field in the slop," said Kane.
Eleven years before Whirlaway's romp in the rain, racing's second Triple Crown winner, Gallant Fox, also took on two challengers in the 1930 Midsummer Derby.
"This boiled down to Whicone, the great two-year-old champion, versus Gallant Fox, who came of age as a three-year-old," said Kane.
But neither of the two heavyweights would find the winner's circle as 100-1 longshot Jim Dandy etched his name into Saratoga lore.
"When these two, let's say, better horses, more accomplished horses had dueled each other into the ground he came prancing along and won the race," said Kane.
The 1978 Travers would finally produce the great match race fans hoped to see.
"The 1978 Travers drew a few more contestants but let's face it, it was all about Affirmed and Alydar," said Kane.
As they had done in all three Triple Crown races, Affirmed crossed the wire in front, with Alydar close behind in second, but Saratoga's stewards made a call that reversed their fortune.
"It was kind of poetic justice, I guess, that Affirmed and Alydar had an altercation of sorts on the backside," said Kane.
"The stewards took down Affirmed, the horse who got their first and made Alydar the winner of the 1978 Travers," said Kane.
With nine others vying to stand in his way, American Pharoah stands on the brink of history. The chance to accomplish the rare feat isn't lost on his connections.
"That would mean just so much to us and to the fans and everybody. They really want to see something like this happen," said Barnes.