American Pharoah's Win Part of a Record-Setting Weekend for Monmouth Park

Courtesy of Alex Napoliello / NJ.com

This past Sunday as has been widely reported, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah cruised to victory at the $1.75 million Haskell Invitational in Oceanport, New Jersey. With a Triple Crown winner running in the Jersey Shore's biggest annual race for the first time ever, a number of major records were set over the course of the weekend, including the following:

 * Largest number of attendees for the race: 60,983 (previous high was 53,638 in 2010)

* Largest purse in race history: $1,750,000 (previous high was $1.25m in 2009)

* Highest amount ever wagered on Haskell Invitational: $6,544,247 (previous high was $4,463,736 during the 2010 running)

* Highest amount ever wagered on all races at Monmouth Park on Haskell Day: $20,024,509 (previous high was $17,642,955 in 2008)

Other stats and interesting footnotes from the race include the following:

* This was Trainer Bob Baffert's 8th win at the Haskell Invitational, with his 1st coming in 2001 with Point Given

* This was Jockey Victor Espinoza's 2nd at the Haskell Invitational, with his 1st coming in 2002 with War Emblem (another Baffet-trained horse)

* American Pharoah’s time of 1:47 4/5 was one second slower than the track record of 1:46 4/5 set by Spend a Buck in 1985 and equaled by Jolie’s Halo in 1992. With American Pharoah in cruise control over the final 1/8 of a mile, it's conceivable that had the thoroughbred run full speed for the entire race, there may have been yet another course record set.

Created initially as a tourist attraction, Monmouth Park has been a Jersey Shore tradition since 1870. Thanks to yet another amazing performance by the one-of-a-king thoroughbred American Pharoah, the 2015 edition of the Haskell Invitational was the biggest race in the venue's rich, 145-year history.