"I'd come to dislike this trophy; it has caused me so much misery," said the Californian trainer who had three times previously been unsuccessful in the third leg of the Triple Crown after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
"At this level there is only elation and heartbreak - nothing between."
It was appropriate Baffert was composed pre-race, a huge percentage of American Pharoah's ability to achieve what 12 horses have failed to do since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978 can be attributed to the colt's bomb-proof temperament.
Which is a large part of why he was able to not only hold his condition, but put on weight in winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, something few, if any, have achieved.
American Pharoah is a superb physical individual, but his classic attribute is a silk-smooth stride that allows him to glide over the ground at a staggering cruising speed.
Approaching the home turn yesterday he was galloping as if he had just joined in. The other seven equine hearts were already broken.
He's the best we've seen in a long time.
Prize Lad is a horse Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott can achieve good things with.
We are well into the mud runners as mid-winter approaches, but Prize Lad looks more than a cut above that level. He was last for the first half of his resuming run at Te Rapa on Saturday and while most were scouting wide in the home straight after a couple of races, stable apprentice Brendan Hutton cut the corner underneath the field and angled to four horse widths from the rail, which proved a winning tactic.
Although most thought the 1400m might prove a touch short for Prize Lad, bred from dual 3200m Auckland Cup winner Prize Lady, O'Sullivan felt the horse would belie his $19 tote price.
"He'd been working well and I felt he'd run a cheeky race, although the win surprised me. I think he's a horse that will need a cut in the track to produce his best, but I don't think he's a real winter horse. He should be a nice horse for the spring."
Hutton rode a similar cool race on Alley Oop to get the under-rated mare home in the open sprint, waiting patiently back on the rail for a run to produce itself through the field and quickly putting the opposition away at the 300m.
Alley Oop's form has become solid, to the point where part-owner and trainer James Bridge will ease the mare and aim her for bigger-monied races in early spring.
Don't blame Brisbane jockey Jim Byrne for New Zealand's Werther being beaten into second behind Magicool in Saturday's A$600,000 Queensland Derby. He did everything he could.
Byrne has been bad-mouthed in some quarters for his ride, but he was a victim of circumstances.
The No 1 barrier, as it sometimes can be in staying races, worked against Werther. Byrne jumped him out and put him in the trail behind the leader, which looked picture perfect, until two rivals crossed the leader in the back straight, pushing Werther to four places back along the rail.
Had Werther remained in the trail, Byrne would have had the luxury of leaving his finishing sprint until well into the short Doomben home straight, but from four back the rails he was forced to sprint from before the home bend.
That made the difference. Werther tried hard and was not beaten by much. He will be a star stayer next preparation.
