Worldwide, perhaps the most notable piece of news in the horse betting rule is the exit of the most dominant and notorious horse in the past years. The big story of the year was undoubtedly that American Pharoah won the Triple Crown, the first time such a thing happens in 37 long years, so it was a monumental feat that will not be overlooked, and most likely eclipsed many of the different stories that came from the racing world.
As American Pharoah raced its final races, it was a joy to behold such a fantastic specimen hit the tracks. Now there are many questions looking forward as 2016 begins and it leaves so many possibilities. For now we can look back at 2015 and examine the most important news of the last year the world saw American Pharoah run, as it now moves to be used as stud at exorbitant fees.
2015’s first big event of horse racing was the Dubai World Cup (G1), this event was redesigned in order to attract more American horses to the competition, as well as fans that bet of horses. Despite having the participation of top American representatives like California Chrome and Lea, this race was won by locally trained Prince Bishop.
The attention of the entire world then shifted to the Triple Crown, where once again everybody in the horse betting world were anticipating the possibility that a horse could pull the sweep for the first time since 1978 by Affirmed. At the time many had hoped for American Pharoah to be that horse, but some were cautious. After winning the Kentucky Derby, and due to several failed attempts in the past, this year American Pharoah did not have all the attention on the media focused on him, as other top candidates like Big Brown, California Chrome and Smarty Jones also were touted as potential winners. However, American Pharoah was able to go against all odds and finally after a very long wait be the horse to break the 37-year dry spell.
Once the Triple Crown was done, the attention of the average fan to bet on horses, moved upside of the border into Canadian territories, where the Canadian Triple Crown was taking place. There Shaman Ghost with jockey Rafael Hernandez pulled an upset against the favorite Danish Dynaformer. Many speculated that this could be the year where another horse won the Canadian Triple Crown, but another upset, this time by Breaking Lucky, prevented this from happening. Danish Dynaformer had its moment of redemption, as it was able to win the Breeder’s Stakes to close out the Canadian Triple Crown.
Back in the States, the Breeder’s Cup was now the main focus of the horse-betting world. There many anticipated to see if American Pharoah was going to be the first ever “Grand Slam” winner. This stat will go down in history as American Pharoah, as the most famous horse in the World, convincingly won by a large margin over Effinex and Honor Code (second and third place respectively).
After the Classic American Pharoah retired to take Stallion duties, leaving a big spot to take this year. It is a question in all horse betting experts: When will we see a horse that will reproduce what American Pharoah accomplished? That is yet to be seen. 2016 will probably not have the same mainstream media attention 2015 had, but it will provide for a fair share of excitement.