An Egyptian and His Horse Make Triple Crown History

It may have taken 37 years, but an American Pharaoh and his Egyptian owner have entered the history books winning the very elusive Triple Crown in horse racing. Owned by 52-year-old Ahmed Zayat, former owner of Al Ahram Beverages, the drought-breaking horse was the twelfth to ever win The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and The Belmont Stakes. If that isn’t impressive enough comes the fact that American Pharaoh has won 7 out of 7 races he has taken part in.

Remarkably,  Zayat was very close to making the biggest mistake of his race horse owning life, when he tried to sell American Pharaoh last year. However, the Egyptian-born businessmen decided to buy him back when the auction failed to generate a high enough bid. This proved to be perhaps the greatest decision in race track history, as American Pharaoh has earned him millions since then and has secured Zayat’s name in the history books, as the first Egyptian to do so.  

Born in Egypt and raised as an orthodox Jew, Ahmed Zayat developed a passion for horse racing from a young age. Acting as the CEO of Zayat Stables, the successful horse race owner has built a respectable stable owning over a 144 horses in a relatively short period. Although his horses in the past years have found themselves placing at notable race tracks and events, it was until this year that he found himself in multiple winning circles.