American Pharoah settling in at Coolmore America

As was the case with his racetrack career, American Pharoah has taken everything in his stride as he transitions into his new life as a stallion at Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud. On Monday morning he was accompanied by police escort as he made the short journey from Keeneland Racetrack to his new home in Versailles, Kentucky. American Pharoah was greeted by a gathering of press and Ashford Stud staff members as he became acquainted with his new surroundings and took in the fanfare he has become accustomed to (view here).

It is a quiet time in the stallion division at the moment so American Pharoah will be given time to slowly settle in to the routine of the other stallions at Ashford. Over the next few days he will be taken for an early morning walk and grazed in hand. Before long he will be turned out to relax in his own paddock each morning. Our resident equine “father figure” Thunder Gulch will play an important part in this process. Now 23 years old and pensioned from active stallion duty, the 1995 Kentucky Derby winner will act as a baby sitter of sorts for American Pharaoh and will keep him company in an adjacent paddock.

Our stallion manager Richard Barry explains how Thunder Gulch will provide a good example for American Pharaoh, "Young horses, when they get out, tend to run around a lot, and if they have company it just encourages them to run around. But if you put a 23-year-old boy beside them, he'll kind of look at him and go, 'Son, you can run on your own.' American Pharoah will probably spend an hour looking at Thunder Gulch eating grass, and try to get him to run, and he won't run anywhere, and then he'll figure out that he should eat some grass himself.”

So far American Pharoah has shown a very sensible temperament and a keen interest in everything happening around him so we expect him to settle into his new routine very quickly. He will be turned out in his paddock first thing in the morning and brought back into his stable before lunch to be groomed. Afternoons will be spent relaxing in his stall and also parading for any breeders who come by the farm to inspect him. Once the day is done he will be given his evening feed and bedded down for the night.

The breeding season starts in early February so American Pharoah will have several months of rest and relaxation before he starts breeding mares. As he is no longer in active training and will be living the good life at Ashford we expect him to put on upwards of 100 pounds as his body changes from that of an athlete to a mature stallion.

We are happy to welcome horse racing fans and enthusiasts to see American Pharoah at Coolmore America, but please remember that it is a working thoroughbred horse farm so we schedule tours around the routines of our horses and employees.

The farm is currently closed to the public for the duration of the breeding sales and through Thanksgiving but tours will recommence on Monday November 30th. Tours are run from Monday to Friday at 3pm and can be booked at www.visithorsecountry.com or via 859-963-1004. Please use these contact details rather than contacting the farm directly.

We do our best to let fans see American Pharoah and our other champions, however, no guarantees can be made for any particular tour - showings are pending the health and welfare of the animals.

Tours conclude in our visitors’ center which features interactive videos of our stallions.