BALTIMORE — The two weeks between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes are always hectic for the connections of the Derby winner. Still, for the Zayat family, which owns this year’s Derby champion, American Pharoah, it was a particularly taxing stretch.
Ahmed Zayat; his wife, Joanne; and their children Ashley, Benjamin and Emma traveled from their home in Teaneck, N.J., to Egypt on Tuesday for business and a family wedding. They landed in Washington on Friday afternoon and drove to Baltimore — in rush hour.
“Life happens,” Zayat, 52, said. “I’m still on cloud nine from the Derby, but it has been emotionally draining.