SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — They take their Midsummer Derby seriously here in this old horse town. So shortly after noon on Sunday, when the track announcer Larry Collmus ebulliently said, “Yes, he’s coming — he’ll be here at the Spa,” racegoers knew exactly what he was talking about.
The Triple Crown champion American Pharoah would be coming for the 146th running of the Travers Stakes, set for Saturday.
There was sustained applause and high-fives exchanged along the apron of Saratoga Race Course and throughout its bucolic backyard. The announcement ended a rumor-filled week of anticipation, in which alleged sure signs that Pharoah’s owner, Ahmed Zayat, intended to run him here (he booked a block of hotel rooms) and that Pharoah’s Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, agreed (he had a seat on a private jet) did battle with the natural pessimism of horseplayers.