THE KING AMERICAN PHAROAH

AMERICAN PHAROAH MEETS PRESS UPON DEL MAR ARRIVAL

Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, displaying star cool, was on display for San Diego area media Tuesday morning, about six hours after arrival at the Bob Baffert barn.

American Pharoah vanned down from Santa Anita in the dead of night with several other Baffert horses, arriving at 4 a.m. Assistant trainer Jim Barnes, who presented the horse in the absence of Baffert – away along with jockey Victor Espinoza to attend the ESPY Awards -- said it was a very smooth freeway trip at that hour.

At around 7:30 a.m. American Pharoah, who notched his first career victory in the Del Mar Futurity on Polytrack last September, got his first experience on the new dirt surface, jogging one mile around the main track oval.

“He loves it down here,” Barnes said. “It was just a normal jogging day after a ship.”

A couple of dozen media members, including representatives from six television stations, assembled for what was scheduled to be a 10-minute gathering but ran slightly over that. One reason was that American Pharaoh seemed to be enjoying it so much he resisted the first tug to be led back to his stall. Before it was over, there was no gap between the media and the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years and good feelings appeared mutual.

“He loves selfies,” Barnes said.

American Pharoah will train here for an expected start in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on August 2.  The 3-year-old son of Pioneerof The Nile, will go to the track between 7:30 and 7:45 during the week and will have workouts on the weekends.

“You don’t get to meet a Triple Crown winner very often, so we’re delighted to have him here,” said Joe Harper, Del Mar President and CEO. “He’s looking very good and we’re glad to have him back where (his career) started.”

  
PERSONAL DIARY MIGHT GO FOR ANOTHER GRADE I IN READ

Personal Diary, the winner of the Grade I Del Mar Oaks in 2014, might be sent out after another highest-level victory in Saturday’s $400,000 Eddie Read.

The 4-year-old daughter of City Zip is one of four horses scheduled to ship to Del Mar on Wednesday from Kentucky for husband and wife trainers Phil and Victoria Oliver. Personal Diary has been nominated to the $80,000 Osunitas Stakes on the same day as the Read and her connections will make the decision close to race day.

The Osunitas is 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares, the Eddie Read 1 1/8 miles. Both will be contested over the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

“We know we’ll be able to get in the Osunitas and the Eddie Read is kind of a backup plan,” Phil Oliver said recently by phone from Kentucky. “We’ll wait and see. The Eddie Read might not be as strong as it has been in the past, she’s been training well and we know she likes Del Mar.”

Personal Diary made a last-to-first charge to take last year’s Del Mar Oaks by 2 ¾ lengths under Corey Nakatani to provide Victoria Oliver with her  first career Grade I victory and Nakatani the 101st Del Mar stakes triumph of his career.

The Oaks victory highlighted a 2014 campaign in which Personal Diary earned $282,829 for owners G. Watts Humphrey Jr., Victoria Oliver’s father, and Ian Banwell. Personal Diary has raced three times in 2015, all in graded stakes, with a fourth-place finish the best result.

“Her last couple races were in big fields where she didn’t get the best of trips,” Phil Oliver said.