NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
History was made at the 2015 Belmont Stakes when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown, the first since Affirmed in 1978. As magnificent as the champion is, the team behind him has been all too human while on the road to immortality.
Written by an award-winning New York Times sportswriter, American Pharoah is the definitive account not only of how the ethereal colt won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, but how he changed lives. Through extensive interviews, Drape explores the making of an exceptional racehorse, chronicling key events en route to history. Covering everything from the flamboyant owner's successful track record, the jockey's earlier heartbreaking losses, and the Hall of Fame trainer's intensity, Drape paints a stirring portrait of a horse for the ages and the people around him.
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“Joe Drape’s writing captures the excitement of a Triple Crown run, and Aaron Abano narrates it with the breathless excitement of a racetrack announcer…Abano captures the building tension of something amazing about to happen. Listeners might actually feel Pharoah’s nervousness in the din of the Kentucky Derby…Abano’s reading reaches listeners at a gut level that keeps going to the finish line.”
— AudioFile
“The fleet-footed American Pharoah…rides into the winner’s circle via effortless prose, well-reported insider details, a compelling human cast of characters—and an irresistible horse: smart, focused, and fast…Drape briefly visits the darker side of racing, but this is a feel-good tale of triumph, emotion, adoration.”
— USA TodayThe fleet-footed American Pharoah: The Untold Story of the Triple Crown Winner's Legendary Rise rides into the winner's circle via effortless prose, well-reported insider details, a compelling human cast of characters - and an irresistible horse: smart, focused and fast.
— USA Today, 3 1/2 starsThe tale [Drape] spins ends up being one that transcends athletics, a story of adolescence and smalltown life. . . . From the opening practice to the Redmen's final game, Drape flawlessly paints a picture of how Smith Center achieves perfection year after year. . . . Drape gives the reader a team worth rooting for.
— Publishers WeeklyAmerican Pharoah is lucky to have Joe Drape. Actually, they're lucky to have each other. No horse has given the preeminent chronicler of 21st century thoroughbreds better material and no other writer could do justice to such a terrific athlete and story. They deserve each other-and anyone who cares about horse racing deserves this book.
— Jeremy Schaap, author of Cinderella Man and TriumphThere is much to admire in this comprehensive and often candid book.
— Washington PostThere is much to savor in the 292 pages...Drape delivers lively accounts of the sport's biggest events and the assorted newsmakers, on and off the track.
— Bergen RecordDrape takes the reader behind the gate for the inside story of American Pharoah's climb, and to the track for every dust-flying, crowd-roaring minute.
— Garden and GunNobody writes about horses like Joe Drape. He takes you around the track, makes you hear the roar, feel the thrill, see the rich, shadowy, behind-the-scenes world so few us really understand. His writing is as effortless as it is necessary. American Pharoah is an epic American classic, a modern-day Seasbiscuit. If you read just one book about horse racing, read this one.
— Drew Jubera, author of Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and Its TeamA page-turner .... With his deep knowledge of horse racing, and sharp eye for detail, Drape weaves a compelling narrative from an unlikely cast of characters around an even more unlikely four-legged hero.
— National Book ReviewBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Joe Drape is an award-winning sportswriter for the New York Times. A native of Kansas City and graduate of Southern Methodist University, Joe came to the New York Times in 1998 after reporting for numerous local papers.
Aaron Abano has narrated such audiobooks as the AudioFile Earphones Award winner The Starling Project by Jeffrey Deaver, as well as Russell Wiley Is Out to Lunch by Richard Hine, among others.