American Pharoah returns to Del Mar on Monday after Haskell triumph

OCEANPORT - A day after American Pharoah's appearance in the $1.75-million William Hill Haskell Invitational resulted in a convincing victory and a record crowd for Monmouth Park, the Triple Crown winner stepped onto a van at about 8:30 a.m. Monday morning for his trip back to Southern California.

He returned to trainer Bob Baffert's barn at Del Mar via a flight out of Atlantic City International Airport, accompanied by exercise rider Jorge Alvarez.

In his first race after becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years with his victory in the Belmont Stakes, American Pharoah scored a 2 1/4 length victory over Keen Ice, although the final margin could have been much larger had jockey Victor Espinoza not eased him over the final 1/16th of a mile.

"He came out of the race perfect. He looks like he could go out there and do it again today," Alvarez said. "He wasn't even tired this morning. He cleaned the tub and ate all of his food."

With his seventh Grade I victory, American Pharoah's earnings now stand at $5.3-million``We'll stick to his normal routine,'' Alvarez said. ''For three days, he'll just walk and then go back to jogging. Bob will decide from there."

"He is a very smart horse. That's the key to what makes him so good. He never wastes his time or energy on the wrong things. He puts all of his energy and effort into the right things and that makes all of the difference."

Baffert said on Sunday that American Pharoah's next race will be determined by how he looks when they get him back on the track at Del Mar.