Posted on 06/06/2015 8:56:12 PM PDT by EinNYC
ELMONT, New York - American Pharoah entered the pantheon of US thoroughbred racing's all-time greats by winning the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to become the first horse to capture the coveted Triple Crown in nearly four decades.
In winning his seventh straight race, American Pharoah becomes the 12th horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes and the first since Affirmed in 1978.
According to JTA, a win was a triumphant stand for Ahmed Zayat, an Orthodox Jew from Egypt who has become one of the biggest forces in horse racing but has mostly tasted bitter defeat in recent years.
Before American Pharoah’s victories last month, Zayat had watched horses he owned finish second in the Kentucky Derby three out of the last four years. In 2012, horses owned by Zayat finished second in each of the three Triple Crown races – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
In his history-making attempt, American Pharoah may have some Jewish luck in his favor. Jockey Victor Espinoza, who is not Jewish, visited the Lubavitcher rebbe’s grave on Thursday in Cambria Heights, New York, in the borough of Queens, where he prayed and presumably asked for good luck.
Ahmed Zayat grew up in a wealthy suburb of Cairo, where his father was Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s doctor.
As a young teenager, Zayat won the under-12 and under-14 national show jumping championships in Egypt (a once-thriving Jewish community, though fewer than 40 Jews remain in the country today).
After graduating from Yeshiva University, Zayat worked for the haredi Orthodox real estate developer Zev Wolfson, a wealthy real estate entrepreneur and major Jewish philanthropist.
Zayat returned to Egypt in 1995 and formed an investment group that bought the newly privatized Al Ahram Beverages company. Zayat helped turn the company around by introducing Fayrouz – a non-alcoholic blend of malt, fruit and sparkling water – into its line of products. In 2002, Zayat sold the company to Heineken for $280 million.
Never mind the name, he is a great horse.
I knew it. The evil juice were behind it...It was a plot by the Zionist entity the whole time...
I find it weird that most of the stories posted are about the ethnic origins of the owner rather than a horse has finally won the Triple Crown!!!
Congrats to A.P., his owner, his jockey and trainer - what a great race today.
Just for one brief moment, it slipped your mind as to with whom you were dealing.
Yea, exactly. The juice’s are taking over everything now.
No, it was sarcasm. And I say that since I pinged a Jewish freeper as we joke about the stupidity of the ‘Evil Jew” meme regularly.
They are lucky the track wasn’t parted. No irony involved.
I tell ya it’s a plot! Can you imagine? A plot!
So was mine, chill.
Sorry. I misread.
“Publicly, Mr. Zayat alternately identifies as Muslim and Jewish.”
—
Yes, and an american now.
What would you expect from the NY Slimes? He is a member of his NJ synagogue and a philanthropist.
Certain slanted shades of Ben-Hur seem to come to mind.
It’s exactly what I would expect from the NYSlimes.
Clearly, it was a hit piece on him. I don’t know enough about him to care either way.
That he’s a Jew surprises me.
It’s hard to believe that a muslim would allow a Jew to be his doctor.
But, I’ve always wondered why muslims own horse races when Islam is dead set against gambling.
With all that said, it is a great horse. He wasn’t even breathing hard at the end of the race. There was no doubt one of the other horses would ever catch him.
Fantastic horse. Great moment. Love the name for a Triple Crown winner. So glad I got to see him do it. He looked relaxed and barely winded after the race. What a horse! Great long cruising stride. Maybe the ownership is God’s whimsy. I like the whole story.
I guess I wanted to know. His family seemed very nice. The son was very young well mannered. The owner gave kudos to the trainer
My mistake (from earlier, uh, and a different topic), American Pharoah has seven wins, one loss (5th in his first race), and the same jockey for all seven wins.
And his ancestors include Man o’ War, Secretariat, *and* Northern Dancer, as well as Bold Ruler (oldschool), and is a cousin to Affirmed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pharoah#Pedigree
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