failed to complete the sweep (13 times since 1978), the public began to view the entire exercise with cynicism. Within the sport there were calls to revamp the Triple Crown because it had become too difficult for today’s pampered thoroughbreds, who are bred for speed and short careers. As a racing journalist I refused to embrace the possibility of history being made until, indeed, history was made. (And there were plenty of great stories to tell—just not the one story everybody wanted to read.)

American Pharoah a runaway choice in readers’ Sportsman of the Year poll

Everything changed in the early evening of June 6 at Belmont Park. I watched from the box seats in a second-floor overhang near Baffert and owner Ahmed Zayat as American Pharoah controlled every stepto reach deep into his aerobic reserves time and again—simply because we ask him. He excels without complication.

American Pharoah’s career ended on a blustery Halloween afternoon at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., just a few miles from where he now stands at stud. On that day he made a $5 million race look routine, galloping older horses off their feet and winning easily.

Victor Espinoza: American Pharoah deserves Sportsman of the Year

It was the perfect ending. I stood on the racetrack when it was over and watched as stone-faced groom Eduardo Luna and giddy exercise rider Jorge Alvarez walked Pharoah the length of the Keeneland grandstand. There was a blanket over his back. A cold wind rolled across the Bluegrass, whipping up little dirt devils on the track.