2025 American Pharoah Stakes Preview

Key takeaways:

• The American Pharoah is California’s key Juvenile prep, offering Derby points and a Win and You’re In to Del Mar.
• Past winners include legends like American Pharoah and Nyquist, both later crowned Kentucky Derby champions.
• Desert Gate is the most proven of the Baffert brigade, handles Santa Anita, and has the pedigree to relish two turns.
• Kristofferson draws perfectly outside, brings grit from a game debut, and owns strong stamina on both sides.
• Civil Liberty has chased classy company, keeps improving, and should enjoy the stretch to 1 1/16 miles.

The best two-year-old horses on the West Coast line up Saturday, October 4, at Santa Anita Park for the Grade 1, $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. With the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile happening on October 31 at Del Mar, the American Pharoah is the closest thing to a final local prep for the race. At stake is a bid to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for the winner of the race, as well as 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points to the 2026 Kentucky Derby for the top five finishers.

The 2025 American Pharoah, as many juvenile stakes in California are nowadays, is dominated by entries from Bob Baffert. The race drew a field of six, and four hail from that barn: Best Pal (G3) winner Desert Gate, maiden winners Kristofferson and Balboa, and well-bred maiden Plutarch. Two other trainers send one horse each: Jeff Mullins has last-out maiden winner Intrepido, and Doug O’Neill has Grade 1-placed maiden Civil Liberty.

The history of the American Pharoah Stakes dates back to 1970 when it was inaugurated as the Norfolk Stakes. It held that name through 2011, was called the FrontRunner Stakes from 2012 through 2017, after Santa Anita’s restaurant. The race has been named for Triple Crown winner American Pharoah since 2018. Its namesake is one of two Kentucky Derby winners who also won this race—American Pharoah won the FrontRunner Stakes in 2014, and Nyquist won the next year.

2025 American Pharoah Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025
• Track: Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California
• Post Time: 2:03 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 1/16 miles on the dirt
• Age/Sex: Two-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: TVG.com and FanDuel Racing

American Pharoah Stakes: Santa Anita Draw and Odds

This is the field for the 2025 edition of the American Pharoah Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds.

American Pharoah Stakes Prep Race Results

Three of the six runners in the field come out of the Del Mar Futurity (G1), the seven-furlong closing-weekend feature for juveniles at Del Mar. Though winner Brant does not press on to the American Pharoah, Desert Gate leads the trio who does, after finishing a troubled second, one length back. Civil Liberty had a little trouble in the lane, though he was already starting to lose ground; he finished third, 3 ¼ lengths behind Desert Gate. Balboa tracked the early pace, but was bumped past the five-sixteenths and proved empty in the lane.

One other horse comes out of a graded-stakes race, though it was on the lawn. Plutarch debuted on dirt, but was last seen rallying from the clouds for second behind Hey Nay Nay in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf (G3) on September 7.

Two others come out of maiden special weight company. Kristofferson graduated on debut in a six-furlong sprint on August 31 at Del Mar, disputing the pace and continuing resolutely to win by three-quarters of a length. Intrepido, the only horse with a two-turn win, disputed the early pace and graduated by 3 ¼ lengths over the aforementioned Plutarch in a dirt mile at Del Mar on August 23.

American Pharoah Stakes Contenders

These are the runners in the 2025 American Pharoah Stakes, organized by post position.

1. Desert Gate: He is one of only two horses with three starts and the only one with two wins. He has run well every time he has hit the track—in both his debut and his Best Pal win, he pushed the pace from the outside before taking over. He came away poorly despite drawing toward the outside last out in the Del Mar Futurity, but he did prove that he could keep his mind on business despite running into trouble and not making the lead, and he proved he could pass some horses. The rail is a bit of a concern since there’s some chance he may have to handle a rough start again, and he is drawn inside of some other foes who can show speed. But, he keeps running fast races, and he should love the stretch out to 1 1/16 miles.
2. Intrepido: This Jeff Mullins trainee has some tables to turn from his debut: after starting slowly, he was a well-beaten fourth behind next-out Grade 1 winner Brant as well as American Pharoah foes Civil Liberty and Balboa. But, he stretched out to a mile next out, came away better, and ran on to win by 3 ¼ lengths. To be fair, he was allowed to set a fairly slow pace for the course and distance, something he probably won’t be able to do this time around with so many stretch-out sprinters. But, as the only two-turn winner in the field, he has some potential for a piece.
3. Plutarch: One of two maidens in the field, he has run well in both races, but just not gotten all the way there. He has the most two-turn experience out of anyone: he chased a sluggish pace in a short field and ran second behind Intrepido in a maiden dirt mile, and then rallied from last to finish second in the one-mile Del Mar Juvenile Turf two weeks later. That shows some pace versatility—and the extra sixteenth mile and even more should be great, as he is by Into Mischief out of the top-class dirt route mare Stellar Wind.
4. Civil Liberty: The other maiden in the field, this Doug O’Neill charge battled the pace before flattening to second on debut, though he was well-clear of third-place Balboa, and the winner, Brant, went on to win at the top level next out. That was a race Civil Liberty pressed on to as well, the Del Mar Futurity, where he finished third behind Brant and Desert Gate after some midstretch chaos. His tactical speed is a positive, as is the fact that he took a step forward from his debut to second out. He’ll need another step forward to be a threat to win this, but 1 1/16 miles should be within his abilities, and he has shown that he can at least stay interested if he does not make the top.
5. Balboa: The only horse other than Desert Gate to have three starts already, he has yet to show quite the same level of performance as his stablemate. He did graduate at second asking at Del Mar, battling on an honest early pace before opening up, but couldn’t show the same early zip in the Del Mar Futurity and weakened to a well-beaten fifth. There is some upside: he is bred for this further step up in trip, jockey Umberto Rispoli has started Santa Anita’s fall meet hot, and trainer Baffert does well when going blinkers-off. But, his class is a huge question, as is the fact that he has yet to prove he can stay as interested as necessary when he doesn’t make the early lead.
6. Kristofferson: With juvenile stakes races usually replete with horses coming out of debut wins, it’s almost quaint that there’s only one such horse in this year’s American Pharoah: Kristofferson, who battled all the way to win his six-furlong debut on August 31 at Del Mar. With other speed in the field, the fact that he can set a pressured pace and battle to the finish is a plus. This is a longer race, but he is bred top and bottom for the step up in distance. Perhaps the biggest question is where jockey Juan Hernandez lands—after riding him to his maiden win, he still sticks with stablemate Desert Gate—but he gets a more-than-able replacement in Mike Smith and may prove the speed of the speed from a clean outside gate.

American Pharoah Stakes: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2025 American Pharoah Stakes:

1. Desert Gate (3-2)

Desert Gate is going to be the favorite, but there is good reason he can run to the money. First of all, some horses who love Del Mar aren’t particularly enamored with Santa Anita, but Desert Gate won in Arcadia first time out, proving he can handle the surface. He has also shown he can battle near a contested pace and even pass horses when necessary, giving him options if any of these horses in the field decide to get into a bona fide pace battle.

The biggest question still surrounding this horse, the top-stringer from the Baffert quad, is how he will handle two turns. However, he is by Omaha Beach, a Grade 1 winner at distances between six furlongs and 1 ⅛ miles. He is out of Theogony, a Curlin mare who won stakes going as long as 1 ½ miles. His pedigree makes it surprising that he is a precocious juvenile, as top and bottom, he is well set up for more distance and more time to develop. This suggests he has a lot of room to move forward, and some of that improvement could come in this two-turn debut.

2. Kristofferson (9-5)

In a short field, speed is often king, and the best of the speed horses looks like Kristofferson. He is well drawn to the outside, giving him the best chance possible for a clean break, as well as the option to press the pace if someone inside of him—most likely Balboa, if this happens—really tries to step on the gas.

He still has to answer whether he is one-way speed, as he has raced only once, and he led at every call. But, he has shown more grit than the average debut winner to Grade 1 sort of horse nowadays—often credible horses of that type get it their own way, but Kristofferson was in battles with two different foes and managed to win the race. That shows he’s got a baseline level of grit. He also has a strong pedigree potential to stretch out to 1 1/16 miles: he is by Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, himself a winner of this race ten years ago, out of a Quality Road mare who won at two turns on both dirt and grass.

3. Civil Liberty (5-1)

In these West Coast Baffert-fests, part of the challenge is finding who can invade the podium at a price from some other barn. The best of the non-Baffert horses in the American Pharoah Stakes is Civil Liberty. Though he has yet to win a race, he has acquitted himself well in both his starts: on debut he battled the pace and was only run down by Brant, and though he was no match for that same foe next out in the Del Mar Futurity, he didn’t make the lead, ran into some trouble, and still showed he could chase on despite things not going his way.

He does have the question of two turns to answer in this spot. However, he is bred for the step up in trip: he is a son of Independence Hall, a two-turn graded-stakes winner by Constitution, and though his dam is from a sprinter-miler family, Tiznow as the damsire plus the sireline lead to positive expectations when stretching out to this middle distance. Winning this is still asking a lot against this kind of company, but there is more than enough reason to include Civil Liberty in exotic wagers.

American Pharoah Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the American Pharoah Stakes?

A: The American Pharoah Stakes happens Saturday, October 4 at 2:03 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The race is carded as the third of 10 on the card.

Q: Where is the American Pharoah Stakes?

A: The race happens over the main dirt track at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the American Pharoah Stakes?

A: Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has won the American Pharoah stakes 13 times, with his first win coming in 1997 with Souvenir Copy and his most recent in 2024 with Citizen Bull. American Pharoah won it for Baffert in 2014 when it was still called the FrontRunner Stakes; the race was renamed for the Triple Crown winner as of the 2018 running. Baffert has four chances to extend his record to 14: Balboa, Desert Gate, Kristofferson, and Plutarch.

Q: Who is the favorite for the American Pharoah Stakes?

A: Favoritism will likely be disputed between Desert Gate (3-2) and Kristofferson (9-5), two of the Bafferts. Desert Gate is the more proven one—he has three starts, including a romping win in the Best Pal, and faced troubled defeat in a Grade 1 last out. On that, he was named the narrow morning-line choice. However, watch for action on Kristofferson, who has only raced once but did so in fast and game fashion.

Q: Who is the best American Pharoah Stakes jockey?

A: Jockey Alex Solis is the all-time leading rider in the American Pharoah Stakes, with seven wins between 1985 and 2008. He is no longer actively riding races. Among the jockeys in the 2025 edition, Juan Hernandez and Mike Smith are tied with two wins apiece. Mike Smith, who most recently won in 2021 with Corniche, rides Kristofferson. Juan Hernandez, who last won this race in 2023 with Muth, takes the call on Desert Gate.

Q: Who won the American Pharoah Stakes in 2024?

A: Citizen Bull, who went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and champion two-year-old honors, won the 2024 American Pharoah Stakes for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Martin Garcia. Garcia does not have a call this year, though Baffert trains four of the six horses in the field.

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