American Pharoah’s Simply Sovereign Bolts Home On Debut

American Pharoah’s Simply Sovereign (2f American Pharoah x Simplify, by Pulpit) put on a show at Remington Park Thursday night when bolting home to win her debut by seven lengths.

Trained by Steve Asmussen for breeder-owner Winchell Thoroughbreds, the juvenile filly broke strongly and spent the early part of the six furlong dirt race in second. Running with the leader well clear of the rest of the field, in the turn Simply Sovereign took the advantage. Simply Sovereign started to build her lead in the stretch to win by seven lengths with Stewart Elliott aboard.

Simply Sovereign is a half-sister to Listed winning Simple Surprise and three other winners from five to race out of Listed stakes winner and Grade III-placed Simplify. Simplify is also a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Classify and Grade II-placed Seeker in addition to the dam of Grade II winner Air Strike.

There are stakes winners under each of the filly’s first five dams with her fourth dam Grade I winner Lilac Hill.

American Pharoah’s second crop of 2-year-olds has yielded 10 winners in five different countries with Van Gogh leading the blacktype charge with a pair of group stakes placings in Ireland this year.

Van Gogh is one of 21 different stakes placers for American Pharoah with last year’s Champion Freshman Sire also having 10 stakes winners and seven graded stakes winners from his first two crops.

This year, the Triple Crown winner leads all North American Second-Crop sires by graded stakes winners, stakes winners, graded stakes horses, and stakes horses.