The assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes watched the race that changed everything from behind the winner’s circle. He was calm and introspective, thinking about his father, Laverne, who had died 15 years earlier, almost to the day. He watched his family, including his wife, Dana, who works alongside him in Bob Baffert’s barn, cheer and cry and cheer some more.
Then the horse he had waited a lifetime for, the 12th Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, returned from his victory lap. Barnes could not help himself: He ran onto the track and greeted the champion and the jockey Victor Espinoza, and burst into tears.