Should American Pharoah Be Retired After 2015 Triple Crown Win?

Now that American Pharoah has become just the 12th Triple Crown winner and the first in nearly four decades, the colt’s biggest paydays are ahead of him.

Since American Pharoah is a winner of seven of his eight career starts for earnings of $4,530,300, the question being asked is whether he should be retired and sent off to stud duty. The colt could demand as much as $100,000 for each mare he covers.

He would only have to get together with eight mares to match the $800,000 check he received for winning the third jewel of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes (G1).

It was first reported by ESPN's Darren Rovell that Zayat Stables sold his breeding rights after his Preakness victory to an undisclosed breeder on May 19. A figure of $20 million was floating around, and Ahmed Zayat told ESPN that the “offer was too good to pass up.”

It has now been reported by Forbes and The Daily Racing Form that the Triple Crown winner will stand at Coolmore Ashford Stud.

However, the pressure for Zayat Stables to keep the colt in training is intense, and he will continue to race in 2015, with stud duty likely to start next year.

There really is no incentive to race, as the colt has wrapped up the Eclipse Award for top three-year-old and Horse of the Year, and even if he swept his next three races, including the Classic, he would only add about $4 million to his bankroll, which isn't sizable compared to his value. 

However, Ahmed Zayat is both a horseplayer and a fan of the game, and the colt will remain in training this year as long as he stays healthy. His next targets likely are the Haskell Invitational (G1) at Monmouth Park and the Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga this summer.

Then he likely would face older foes for the first time in either the Awesome Again (G1) at Santa Anita or the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park, and then head to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup.

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Even if he were to be defeated later in the year when he takes on his elders, his stud fee likely would not be affected, meaning there is not much risk to keeping him in training.

The real question would be what happens if his winning streak continues through 2015 and fans clamor to see more of the colt in 2016.

"I can't say definitely (when he will be retired), but horses become extremely valuable and expensive to keep with insurance and other costs and from a farm economics (viewpoint) it becomes economically silly not to retire him,” Zayat said via Ron Mitchell of Blood-Horse after the May announcement. “Even (Triple Crown winner) Secretariat retired after his 3-year-old season."

What will happen is the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic will be his final race. What should happen is the colt returns for his four-year-old campaign, giving the sport a star it so desperately needs.

Follow Michael Dempsey on Twitter @turfnsport