OCEANPORT, N.J. — Outside the paddock before Sunday’s William Hill Haskell Invitational, the crowd trying to get an up-close look at American Pharoah was, in some places, more than 20 people deep. They held their camera phones high. Some stood on their tiptoes, even if the reward was to catch just a glimpse of the colt’s shiny bay coat.
One group of fans had a better perch: About a dozen women lined up to see American Pharoah from the giant windows of the grandstand’s top-floor women’s restroom. And while waiting there, those women talked and talked about the horse who, in June, had become the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.