Deccan Chargers in 2009

The Deccan Chargers (DC) were a franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, India, that competed in the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket (T20) league in India. They were one of the eight teams that competed in the 2009 Indian Premier League, making their second appearance in all IPL tournaments. The team was captained by Adam Gilchrist and coached by Darren Lehmann with Kanwaljit Singh and Mike Young as assistant coaches.

They began their season by winning their opening fixture of the IPL on 19 April against the Kolkata Knight Riders, and went on to qualify for the semi-finals. They beat the Delhi Daredevils in the semi-final to reach the Final. They defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Final by six runs to win their maiden IPL trophy and qualify for the 2009 Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20). They lost both their matches in the group stage of the CLT20 and failed to advance to the league stage.

## Background

The Deccan Chargers were one of the most expensive teams of the Indian Premier League and they also spent a large amount of money on players during the auction but finished at the bottom of the table winning only two of their 14 matches. After finishing last in the league stage of the 2008 Indian Premier League, the team management sacked the entire administration associated with the tournament in that year. They removed their CEO J. Kalyan Krishnan, the coach Robin Singh and the captain V.V.S. Laxman and replaced them with Tim Wright, the former Australian batsman Darren Lehmann and the Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist respectively. The Jaypee Group, who sponsored the team in 2008, withdrew its funding owing to the team's poor performances in that season. This allowed the Deccan Chargers to undergo a complete makeover, including changing the colours of the team from pale brown to vibrant blue and a new logo displaying a more vivid charging bull with the Deccan Chronicle as the primary sponsor for the team.

In the aftermath of the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team in Pakistan, there has been a growing concern over the security arrangements for the 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL) in India with many international players inquiring the franchises over their safety and asking for an independent security assessment. However, due to the direct clash of the IPL matches with the 2009 Indian general elections, the Government of India refused to provide the paramilitary forces during the games with the Home Minister, P. Chidambaram reiterating, “Elections are unquestionably first priority over the IPL.” On 24 March 2009, Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that the IPL was to be held in South Africa and had decided to compensate the franchises for the extra expenditure they would incur in moving the team from India for this season.

## Player acquisition

The IPL added a performance clause to its player's contract which saw the players lose 20% of their match fee if they did not find a place in starting XI on a match-by-match basis. However, this clause was applicable only on the contracts signed from 2009. The players' purchase cap was also increased from 5 million to 7 million. The maximum number of foreign players in each squad was also increased from eight to ten, though those in playing XI was still retained at four. The IPL also announced that the players' auction was shifted to 6 February 2009 while the month-long trading window would start on 15 December 2008.

The Deccan Chargers conducted the probe and later, terminated the contract of the Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi following the disagreement between Afridi and then captain, V. V. S. Laxman, on the poor first-season performances. The entire issue started when Afridi spoke to Geo News, a Pakistani news channel, about Laxman's inefficiency as the captain and suggesting Gilchrist as the better choice. Laxman later responded later by saying that Afridi had no team ethics and reminding him of being the part of a collective failure and was unfortunate for blaming only the captain for it. The Deccan Chargers traded Sanjay Bangar to the Kolkata Knight Riders for the second season during the trade window. They started acquiring players as their new coach, Darren Lehmann, signed the uncapped Australian all-rounder Ryan Harris and obtained local talent by signing the Hyderabadi batsman Tirumalasetti Suman along with the Himachal Pradesh wicket-keeper Manvinder Bisla. They also added five uncapped players from the domestic circuit to the squad including the local players, Abhinav Kumar and Shoaib Ahmed.

The players auction for the 2009 Indian Premier League was held on 6 February 2009 at Goa that included 111 overseas players. The Deccan Chargers opened their account by buying the West-Indian fast bowler Fidel Edwards at the base price of 150,000 to bolster their pace attack. Later, they improved their batting strength by acquiring the services of another West-Indian, Dwayne Smith, at the base price of 100,000.

Players retained: Halhadar Das, Kalyankrishna Doddapaneni, Ravi Teja Dwaraka, Herschelle Gibbs, Adam Gilchrist, Sarvesh Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Vijaykumar Paidikalva, Rohit Sharma, Chamara Silva, R. P. Singh, Scott Styris, Andrew Symonds, V. V. S. Laxman, Chaminda Vaas, Arjun Yadav, Venugopal Rao Yalaka, Nuwan Zoysa

Players released: Shahid Afridi, Sanjay Bangar

Players added: Shoaib Ahmed, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Azhar Bilakhia, Manvinder Bisla, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Harris, Abhinav Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, Dwayne Smith, Suman Tirumalasetti

## Squad

- Players with international caps are listed in bold.
- Year signed denotes the season the player first signed for the team

## Administration and support staff

## Kit manufacturers and sponsors

## Season overview

### Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League fixtures were announced on 24 March 2009 with all venues shifted to South Africa. The opening games of the IPL were scheduled on 18 April with the top-four teams from the group stage advancing to the knockout stage and the final scheduled to be held in the Johannesburg on 24 May.

Group Stage

On 19 April, the Deccan Chargers started their 2009 Indian Premier League (2009 IPL) campaign with an eight-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders at Cape Town. The Chargers rested Chaminda Vaas and named Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris and Fidel Edwards as their four foreign players for their first match. Though they lost the toss and were sent out to field, their opening bowling attack consisting of Edwards and R. P. Singh troubled the Knight Riders' top-order batsmen with the new ball removing three quick wickets. Pragyan Ojha troubled the middle-order but Brad Hodge scored a couple of boundaries off Styris to keep the scoreboard running before slamming one straight to Gibbs at point. Singh returned into the attack to remove the tail and restrict the Knight Riders to 101. Gilchrist started the chase for the Chargers with a couple of boundaries before they lost two quick wickets. Gibbs, who then teamed up with Rohit Sharma, steadied their innings with some quick singles and watchful boundaries before the pair finished off the game with seven overs to spare.

The Deccan Chargers defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore for their second consecutive win of the season on 22 April. The Chargers retained the same starting XI for the second match after their comfortable win against the Knight Riders. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Gilchrist took the charge of the innings with clean hitting necessitating continuous fielding changes from the opposition. Praveen Kumar managed to remove Gibbs after changing ends and V. V. S. Laxman failed to make an impact again. Gilchrist, however continued his scoring, especially picking on short deliveries as he reached his half century in 31 balls. Rohit, who started off slowly on the other end, paced himself soon after Gilchrist got dismissed attacking Anil Kumble for three sixes over the mid-wicket which helped Chargers finish the innings at 184/6 in 20 overs. The Royal Challengers got a poor start in their chase stumbling to 62/4 in 11 overs before Rahul Dravid teamed up with Virat Kohli to progress the Royal Challengers' chase as the latter scored 50 off 32 balls. However, the target seemed too far the Royal Challengers as the Chargers completed their win by 24 runs.

On 25 April, the Deccan Chargers completed a hat-trick of wins this season as they defeated the Mumbai Indians. The Chargers made one change in this match with Styris being rested and Dwayne Smith taking his place. Gilchrist chose to bat after winning the toss and provided a quick start along with Gibbs for the opening wicket scoring at a rate of 10 per over. After Gilchrist's dismissal, Gibbs kept the momentum going as he teamed up with Smith to attack the Mumbai bowlers. Though the Chargers suffered a middle-order collapse soon after the loss of Smith's wicket, they were able to finish the innings at 168/9 in 20 overs. Singh provided a good start to the Chargers in the Mumbai innings removing Sanath Jayasuriya in his first over. However, Sachin Tendulkar teamed up with J. P. Duminy as they build a partnership of 84 runs in nine overs. Ojha pulled the Chargers back into the match removing three quick wickets. Abhishek Nayar joined Dwayne Bravo to progress the chase for the Mumbai but Edwards dismissing the both ended the match for the Mumbai as the Chargers won the match by 12 runs.

On 27 April, the Deccan Chargers continued their winning ways defeating the 2008 tournament finalist, Chennai Super Kings. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field as the Chargers made two changes replacing Dwaraka Ravi Teja and Harmeet Singh Bansal with Azhar Bilakhia and Shoaib Ahmed. Edwards removed Parthiv Patel on the second ball of the innings but Matthew Hayden paired with Suresh Raina to attack the Chargers' bowlers and remove the pressure off the Super Kings during their 64-run partnership. Ojha removed Hayden and M. S. Dhoni in a single over but quick scoring from Jacob Oram helped the Super Kings finish the innings at 165/6. Gilchrist started the chase positively for the Chargers as he attacked Lakshmipathy Balaji in the first over and Gibbs soon joined the party attacking Manpreet Gony in the next over as they both put 67 runs in 34 balls. Though the Chargers lost two quick wickets, the early momentum by Gilchrist and the steady half century from Gibbs helped the Chargers complete their chase with six wickets remaining.

On 30 April, the Deccan Chargers suffered their first defeat of the season to the Delhi Daredevils. The Chargers made one change resting Laxman and Tirumalasetti Suman was brought into the squad. After losing the toss and sent out to bat, the Chargers lost both their openers inside the power-play to Dirk Nannes while the Daredevils' spinners stalled the brief Chargers' recovery led by Rohit. But, Smith teamed with Suman as both scored runs of 51 off three overs to reclaim the advantage for the Chargers as they finished the innings at 148/9 in 20 overs. Virender Sehwag started the chase on a positive note for the Daredevils but Singh and Shoaib brought the Chargers back into the game with three quick wickets. Dinesh Karthik and Tillakaratne Dilshan played sensibly in the middle overs for the Daredevils offering no chances to the bowlers as they sealed the match for the Daredevils.

On 2 May, the Rajasthan Royals prevailed over the Deccan Chargers in a close contest. The Chargers were unchanged for this match. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bat but the Royals spinners stopped the early momentum of the Chargers removing three wickets and not allowing them to score freely in the first ten overs. Rohit and Suman tried to build the Chargers innings with a 59-run stand and helped the Chargers finish the innings at 141/5 in 20 overs. The Chargers' bowlers provided the early break-through as they removed three wickets inside two overs. Then Ravindra Jadeja and Lee Carseldine added 51 runs in seven overs before Venugopal Rao removed the both in the same over. Shane Warne and Abhishek Raut batted patiently rotating the strike as they took the Royals towards their target. Yusuf Pathan, after Warne's dismissal, made a final assault on the Chargers bowlers and finished the game for the Royals as they defeated the Chargers by three wickets.

On 4 May, the Deccan Chargers suffered a hat-trick of defeats as they lost to the Chennai Super Kings by 78 runs. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat for the Super Kings as the Chargers made two changes with Laxman coming back into the team and Ryan Harris replacing Edwards who left the squad for the West Indies tour of England. Hayden and Murali Vijay provided a good start for the Super Kings and Dhoni, who promoted himself to No.3, continued the momentum by stopping the bowlers to settle in the innings. Though the Chargers hit back with Vijay's dismissal off Suman, Raina attacked him for three consecutive boundaries as the Super Kings finished the innings at 178/3 in 20 overs. The Chargers suffered the early setback as they lost three wickets for one run in two overs. Smith and Rohit progressed the Chargers towards the target as they put up a 50-run stand in 21 balls. Dhoni introduced Shadab Jakati who removed both the set batsmen and the dismissal of Suman by Muttiah Muralitharan triggered the lower-order collapse as the Chargers were bowled for 100 runs inside 15 overs.

On 6 May, the Deccan Chargers completed their double with a win over the Mumbai Indians. The Chargers made two changes with Ravi Teja replacing Laxman and Harmeet replacing Ojha. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bat for the Chargers but lost Gibbs to an away-swinger from Dhawal Kulkarni. Gilchrist tried to build the partnership with Suman but both lost their wickets while trying to improve the run-rate. But, Rohit and Smith in the middle and Venugopal in the end helped the Chargers finish the innings at 145/6 in 20 overs. Singh attacked the Mumbai batsmen early in their innings removing their openers in his first over for the Chargers. Duminy built a partnership with Pinal Shah for the Mumbai and improved his pace after Shah's dismissal attacking Harmeet and Harris to bring the Mumbai near to their target. But the poor shot selection by the Mumbai batsmen in the end and the hat-trick from Rohit helped the Chargers seal the match by 19 runs.

On 9 May, the Deccan Chargers lost to Kings XI Punjab in a closely fought contest. The Chargers made two changes with Andrew Symonds, who returned to the squad following the Australian tour of the UAE, replacing Smith and Ojha coming back into the team to replace Harmeet. After losing the toss and put to bat, the Chargers got a quick start from Gilchrist. Though they lost Gilchrist, Suman came in to attack Irfan Pathan right from the start for a six. The Chargers suffered a mini-collapse in their mid-innings but Symonds played a big innings as he reached his half century off 29 balls and helped the Chargers finish the innings at 168/5 in 20 overs. The Kings' openers gave a good start of 44 in four overs but lost both their wickets in the span of three balls to Rohit. Yuvraj Singh and Kumar Sangakkara continued the momentum for the Kings but Ojha and Suman brought the game back into the Chargers' favour. Mahela Jayawardene kept the Kings in the game with three successive sixes before Brett Lee finished off the match for the Kings.

On 11 May, the Deccan Chargers dropped Gibbs and Harris as their replacements, Smith and Vaas helped the Chargers win over the Rajasthan Royals by 53 runs. Gilchrist won the toss for the Chargers and elected to bat but the Royals spinners controlled the innings early as they did not allow the Chargers batsmen to score freely. Symonds tried to build the innings for Chargers but fell to Warne. Smith got off to a quiet start but later attacked the Royals until his departure in the final over for 47 as he helped the Chargers score 69 runs in last six overs and finish the innings at 166/7 in 20 overs. The Royals' collapse began in the second over as they lost two quick wickets to Vaas. Naman Ojha tried to build the innings with two fours but got run-out as he misjudged the single at the point. Swapnil Asnodkar on the other end failed to get the support from his teammates as he eventually fell for 44 off 39 balls. Rohit took three wickets in the end as the Chargers bowled out the Royals for 113 runs.

The Deccan Chargers lost to the Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs on 13 May. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field for the Chargers as he named an unchanged team for this match. Vaas removed David Warner early in the innings but the catches dropped by the fielders proved to be costly as both Dilshan and AB de Villiers capitalised on their chances and attacked their bowlers. Dinesh Karthik further added to their score with his 23-ball 44 as this helped the Daredevils finish the innings at 173/7 in 20 overs. The Chargers lost Suman and Rohit cheaply but Gilchrist kept the Chargers in the hunt with his 33-ball 64. Symonds batted smartly mixing sixes with the singles as he took the Chargers further close to their target. But, Rajat Bhatia helped the Daredevils win the match as the Chargers lost six wickets for 12 runs in their last three overs. The Daredevils became the first team to secure their place in the semi-finals with this win.

On 16 May, Rohit helped the team score 26 runs in the last over of the match as the Deccan Chargers completed the double over the Kolkata Knight Riders. The 26 runs scored in that over is the most runs scored off the last over to win an IPL match. It was also the first time in IPL history that a six had been hit off the final ball of a match to win and Rohit's first six of the over, measured at 115m is 9th longest in IPL history. Three changes were made by the Chargers as Gibbs, Harmeet and Harris came back into the team replacing Smith, Shoaib and Vaas. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field. Brendon McCullum provided a quick start for the Knight Riders but his dismissal slowed the innings as Saurav Ganguly and Hodge could not keep the momentum going as they struggled to score quickly. In the end, it was David Hussey who started attacking the bowlers for the Knight Riders in the penultimate over which was started by Singh but ended by Harmeet after the former was removed for bowling two above waist-high full-tosses. This helped the Knight Riders finish the innings at 160/5 in 20 overs. Gilchrist provided a quick start for the Chargers but the introduction of the spin slowed the scoring as the Chargers lost Gilchrist. Suman and Symonds helped the Chargers move towards their target but both got run-out in the end. It all came down to 21 runs in the last over when Rohit took on Mashrafe Mortaza to finish the match for the Chargers with a six on the last ball.

On 17 May, Yuvraj's second hat-trick of this IPL helped the Kings XI Punjab win over the Deccan Chargers by one run. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field as Jaskaran Singh replaced Harmeet in the team. The Kings' batsmen lost their wickets quickly with some tight bowling from the Chargers as they were struggling at 55/4 in ten overs. Sangakkara built the Kings' innings with Yuvraj as he played patiently in the beginning and started to attack in the end as he helped the Kings finish the innings at 134/7 in 20 overs. Gilchrist provided the quick start for the Chargers but Ramesh Powar turned things around as he dismissed Gilchrist and Suman off successive deliveries. The Kings' spinners did not allow the Chargers to come back into the game as Yuvraj's hat trick collapsed the Chargers' innings in the middle. Though Rohit tried to bring down the target with two sixes and a four, his dismissal to Pathan in the last over ended the game for the Chargers.

On 21 May, the Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated the Deccan Chargers to book their place in the semi-finals. Gilchrist lost the toss and the Chargers were sent out to field. Bilakhia came back into the team as Ravi Teja was left out owing to his hamstring injury. Singh removed Jacques Kallis early in the innings but the drop of Manish Pandey proved costly as he went on to become the first Indian to score an IPL century. Roelof van der Merwe provided the support at the other end as Pandey attacked the bowlers as he reached his century in the 17th over. He finally helped the Royal Challengers finish the innings at 170/4 in 20 overs. Gilchrist struggled during the Chargers' innings but Gibbs attacked the bowlers as they built 68 runs in 6.5 overs. After Gibbs' dismissal, the Royal Challengers' spinners controlled the innings with Kumble taking 2 wickets and van der Merwe taking a wicket. The Chargers' batsmen could not increase their scoring rate as they eventually lost to the Royal Challengers by 12 runs.

Semi-final

On 22 May, Gilchrist's fastest fifty helped the Deccan Chargers defeat the table toppers, Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals to reach the Final of the 2009 IPL. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field as Harmeet replaced Jaskaran in the team. Harris provided the first break-through for the Chargers as he removed both the openers in the first over of the innings. Sehwag built the partnership with Dilshan for the Daredevils as they scored 83 runs in nine overs until Symonds broke the partnership. The Chargers bowlers put the pressure on the Daredevils as the tight bowling helped restrict the Daredevils to 153/8 in 20 overs. Gilchrist started the chase for the Chargers with five boundaries in the first over off Nannes. Though Ashish Nehra removed Gibbs on the other end, he continued to attack the bowlers as he completed his half century in 17 balls, the fastest in the IPL. He launched on Sehwag for three sixes scoring 25 runs in his only over. He finally fell for Mishra but his knock of 85 in 35 balls completely shifted the match towards the Chargers as Suman and Rohit completed the match in the 18th over. This also helped the Chargers to qualify for the 2009 Champions League Twenty20 (2009 CLT20).

Final

On 24 May, the Deccan Chargers lifted the IPL trophy for the first time as they defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 runs in the final. Kumble won the toss and sent out the Chargers to bat who fielded the unchanged playing XI for the final. The Chargers had a poor start as Kumble removed Gilchrist in the first over and the Chargers lost Suman in third over. Gibbs built crucial partnerships with Symonds and Rohit but Kumble came back to bowl on both occasions to break the partnership. Gibbs could not pace the scoring for the Chargers as they finished the innings at 143/6 in 20 overs. The Chargers started their bowling aggressively as Singh removed Kallis but van der Merwe attacked their opening bowlers. Gilchrist introduced Ojha after the power-play who rewarded him with two wickets including van der Merwe. The Chargers bowlers continued to put pressure on the Royal Challengers as they took the regular wickets. Though Ross Taylor and Robin Uthappa tried to bring the target down, Singh and Harris retained their composure in the final overs of the match to help the Chargers restrict the Royal Challengers to 137/9 in 20 overs.

### Champions League Twenty20

The Champions League Twenty20 fixtures were announced on 30 July 2009 with the Deccan Chargers placed in the Group A along with the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), the 2008 Stanford 20/20 winners and the Somerset Sabres, the 2009 Twenty20 Cup runners-up. The group matches were scheduled to be played in Hyderabad from 10 October with the top-two teams advancing to the league stage. The Deccan Chargers announced the 15-man squad for the 2009 CLT20 without Gibbs and Smith as they opted not to play for the Chargers. Harris later withdrew from the tournament as Abhinav Kumar replaced him in the squad.

Group Stage

On 10 October, the Deccan Chargers lost to the Somerset by one wicket in their opening group match of the CLT20. Without Gibbs, Smith and Harris in the squad, they named Gilchrist, Symonds, Styris and Edwards as the team's four foreign players. Gilchrist lost the toss and the Chargers were put to bat. The Chargers lost their captain early in the innings as Gilchrist lost his wicket trying to score fast early in the innings. Laxman starred for the Chargers with his uncharacteristic knock though they lost their top-order on the other end as the batsmen struggled to keep their score running. Venugopal Rao rescued the Chargers in the end as his 22-run knock in 12 balls helped the Chargers finish at 153/9 in 20 overs. The Chargers bowlers kept pressure on the Somerset taking wickets at regular intervals. James Hildreth and Alfonso Thomas scored boundaries to keep the Somerset in the chase until Styris bowled Hildreth in the last over. But, Alfonso retained his composure and completed the chase for the Somerset.

On 14 October, the Deccan Chargers lost their second group match against T&T to crash out of the CLT20. Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field as Abhinav Kumar replaced Harmeet in the team. The Chargers bowlers conceded many extras aiding T&T batting though Edwards got Lendl Simmons in the third over. Singh too erred in his line and length as he bowled a hat-trick of front-foot no-balls in his second over as T&T raced to 49/1 in 5 overs. Gilchrist introduced Suman who removed Darren Bravo and Symonds' direct-hit to remove Darren Ganga helped the Chargers come back into the match. Kieron Pollard tried to pace the innings but the Chargers were able to restrict T&T to 149/7 in 20 overs. Though Gilchrist provided a quick start to the Chargers, they lost 3 wickets on the other end inside five overs. Gilchrist tried to build the partnership with Rohit for the fourth wicket but losing both batsmen in three deliveries put T&T back on the top. Venugopal Rao tried to bring the victory for the chargers with two fours and two sixes but his dismissal in the 18th over off Ravi Rampaul helped T&T win the match by 3 runs.

## Competitions

### Indian Premier League

#### Summary

##### Group stage

Standings

Results by match

##### Knockout stage

Brackets

#### Fixtures

All times are in Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30). Subtract 3.5 hours for local time in South Africa

##### Group stage

##### Knockout stage

Semi-final

Final

### Champions League Twenty20

#### Summary

##### Group stage

Standings – Group A

- The two top ranked teams qualify for the League stage

#### Fixtures

All times are in Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30)

##### Group stage

## Statistics

## Awards and achievements

### Awards

Man of the Match

Season Awards

- Champions of the 2009 Indian Premier League
- Winner of the Player of the Series : Adam Gilchrist
- Winner of the Purple Cap : R. P. Singh
- Winner of the Best U–23 Player of the Tournament : Rohit Sharma
- Winner of the Maximum Sixes Award : Adam Gilchrist

### Achievements

- Longest all-time winning streak for the Deccan Chargers : 4
- Rohit Sharma took the first-ever hat-trick for the Deccan Chargers in the group-stage match against the Mumbai Indians in the 2009 IPL
- Adam Gilchrist scored the fastest half century of the IPL in the semi-final match against the Delhi Daredevils.
- Most dot balls bowled in the 2009 IPL : R. P. Singh (169)
- Most wicket-keeping dismissals in the 2009 IPL : Adam Gilchrist
- Qualified for the 2009 Champions League Twenty20

## Reaction

Gilchrist praised Rohit Sharma on taking the vice-captaincy role seriously at the end of the second group match of the IPL. He said, “He is a class act. Rohit has taken his vice-captain’s role very seriously and wants to be a leader someday and that is exciting.”

The Deccan Chargers captain, Adam Gilchrist praised his Australian teammate, Andrew Symonds on his performances during their title win. He said, “He's a great personality and a wonderful talent on the cricket field who can turn matches.” He also praised the former captain, V. V. S. Laxman for being the team-man despite being dropped. He said, “He continued to contribute around the group with his experience and his vast knowledge. He wants to learn to be a better Twenty20 player. That's a wonderful example to young players to see a player at his age wanting to evolve into a better player.” On the coach Darren Lehmann, Gilchrist said, “The main one was the coach who has a wonderful cricket brain.”

The maiden IPL title win by the Deccan Chargers helped to increase their brand value by 18% to 73 million in 2009.

Cricket team based in Hyderabad, India


Hamdi Qandil

Hamdi Qandil (Arabic: حمدي قنديل Ḥamdī Qandīl, also Romanized Qandeel or Kandil; 1936 – 31 October 2018) was a prominent Egyptian journalist, news anchor, talk show host and activist. Qandil started his journalism career in the 1950s when he wrote for the Akher Sa'a ("Last Hour") magazine at the invitation of veteran journalist Mustafa Amin. In 1961 he began broadcasting a news show called Aqwal al-Suhuf ("In the Press") until 1969 when he was appointed director of the Arab Broadcasting Studios Union. In 1971 he left his post in protest at a government inspection of his technical staff. He later worked with UNESCO from 1974 to 1986, specializing in the field of international media. In 1987 he co-founded a satellite broadcasting company that later became known as MBC, where he worked for three months before leaving because of political differences with its management. Qandil briefly presented the show Ma'a Hamdi Qandil ("With Hamdi Qandil") for ART, but left amid disagreements between him and his managers regarding Qandil's planned interviews with Muammar Gaddafi and Tariq Aziz.

He returned to Egyptian television in 1998, hosting the current affairs and press review talk show Ra'is el-Tahrir ("Editor-in-Chief"). The program became one of the most popular and respected in Egypt. After apparent trouble with the state censors, Qandil moved the show to Dubai TV in 2004 under the name Qalam Rosas ("Pencil"). The new program was highly watched throughout the Arab world. He was forced to quit Dubai TV after criticizing Arab governments and subsequently hosted the show on the Libyan channel Al-Libiya for two months before the Libyan government cancelled it. He returned to Egypt and wrote for the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper and then Al-Shorouk, but his association with the latter ended as a result of a libel suit brought on by then-Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in response to a column critical of Egyptian foreign policy written by Qandil in May 2010. The case was later dropped following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Qandil was well known for his pan-Arabist discourse and fierce criticism of the Egyptian and other Arab governments. According to Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies political analyst Diaa Rashwan, Qandil "is a great Egyptian journalist and highly credible, he is bold and gives constructive criticism ... people listen to him and take what he says seriously, which is why he poses a threat" to the government. Prior to the Egyptian revolution, Qandil co-founded the National Association for Change, a reformist group headed by Mohamed ElBaradei. From September 2012, Qandil had lent his support to the Egyptian Popular Current opposition movement.

## Early life

### Childhood

Qandil was born in Cairo in 1936 to a father from Menoufia. He was the eldest of five children. Qandil spent much of his childhood and had his primary schooling in the Nile Delta city of Tanta. His father had moved the middle-income family to that city, where he owned a few feddans of land mostly planted with pears and grapes. Qandil's father primarily distributed them to neighbors and others close to him.

During Qandil's boyhood, he borrowed and read books from a medical practice and a culture and sporting association in Tanta on a near weekly basis. He also learned field hockey there. Qandil was at the top of his class throughout his later school years and initially sought to enter the medical profession, a typical career aspiration for students with high marks. His mother particularly encouraged him to become a doctor. Qandil simultaneously took an interest in writing, Arabic calligraphy and foreign languages.

### Journalism career and education

Qandil was introduced to journalism when he began writing a secondary school research paper. During that time, he also wrote an article for the low-budget Tanta newspaper Al Ikhlas, criticizing King Farouk for spending one million pounds from the treasury to purchase a yacht called the "Mahrousa". He was fired soon after, but had since grown fond of journalism. Due to this new interest and his father's increasingly poor health, Qandil did not complete the first stage of his medical studies, causing his 1952 application to medical school to be rejected. He instead enrolled in the department of geology at Alexandria University. In July of that year, King Farouk was overthrown by a group of dissenting officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, leading to the subsequent establishment of a republican system under the presidency of leading officer Muhammad Naguib.

Qandil spent two months studying geology and decided to retake his high school examinations in order to enter into medical school. He performed well and was admitted to Cairo University's Qasr El-Ainy Faculty of Medicine in 1953. He continued in his studies until 1956, by which time Nasser had become president. During this period he also joined the National Guard. Together with some of his fellow students he founded his college's official magazine, which they printed through the Akhbar el-Yom publishing house. The magazine's first edition was confiscated due to an article Qandil wrote that was critical of university professors and regulations. Shortly after completing his final exams in 1956, Qandil was offered a writing position with Akher Sa'a ("Last Hour") magazine by its owners, the prominent journalists and brothers Mustafa Amin and Ali Amin. Mustafa employed Qandil with a salary of 15 Egyptian pounds and initially tasked him with writing the horoscope and a column that responded to letters from readers. Qandil was asked by Amin to serve as an editor for Akher Sa'a in 1961.

That year Qandil also attended the International Union of Students in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he met Yasser Arafat, then the head of the General Union of Palestinian Students. Later in 1956 Qandil was accepted into the department of journalism, obtaining a license (bachelor's degree) in journalism in 1960. Four years later he received a diploma in journalism from the Berlin Institute. Throughout this period he wrote for the magazine Al-Tahrir, earning a salary of 25 Egyptian pounds, and also worked with Al-Jamahir magazine in Damascus.

## Career in television and the UN

In 1961 Qandil began to work in broadcast television as the presenter of the program Aqwal al-Suhf ("In the Press"). In 1966 he became a media adviser to a television studio in Jordan, a role which ended after six weeks; the single broadcast of Aqwal al-Suhuf in Jordan was met with consternation from the Jordanian royal government and after Qandil was notified of this disapproval, he immediately returned to Egypt where he continued presenting the program. His position in Aqwal al-Suhuf ended in 1969 with his appointment as director of the Arab Broadcasting Stations Union (ABSU).

In early May 1971 Qandil left the ABSU after refusing to launch a disciplinary investigation of the technical team that recorded the Labor Day speech given by Anwar Sadat, who became president following Nasser's death in 1970. He left at a time when numerous broadcasters and media personalities were removed from their positions during Sadat's Corrective Revolution. However, he briefly returned to television in 1973 to announce Egypt's claimed victory in the Yom Kippur War with Israel in October of that year.

Qandil was appointed manager of the Department of the Free Flow of Information and Communication Policies for UNESCO in 1974. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Qandil stated that while at UNESCO he "specialised in satellite communications and published several books and studies" dealing with global media and broadcasting. During this time he strongly pushed to include Palestine as a member and attempted to remove the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore from the organization. According to his own account, he was also able to master the English and French languages, and gain experience in diplomacy. He left UNESCO in 1986.

Together with partners from Egypt and the Arab world, Qandil co-founded the Eastern Satellite Communications Company in 1987. Its main purpose was to serve broadcasting station that would target Arabic-speaking communities in the Western world and to counter what Qandil perceived as Western bias in global media. However, in 1992, as a result of financial difficulties the company was sold and subsequently became the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC). Qandil worked at MBC for roughly three months until he quit, citing political differences with the station's managers, who considered him a Nasserist. That same year, he was offered to host his own show at Arab Radio and Television (ART), but initially opted to work on a project setting up a private Egyptian station for Al-Ahram. The station was not launched and Qandil took up a position at ART in 1996 where he hosted his own show called With Hamdi Qandil. Qandil's arrangements to interview Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on the anniversary of the 1969 coup that brought him to power, and also Tariq Aziz, the vice president of Iraq at the time, aroused controversy among ART's managers. He quit thereafter.

### Ra'is el-Tahrir and Qalam Rosas

In 1998 Qandil responded favorably to the invitation of Safwat El-Sherif, the Information Minister in Hosni Mubarak's government, to return to Egyptian television. In March his program Ra'is el-Tahrir ("Editor-in-Chief") began airing. Qandil stated he returned to Egyptian television because he felt he owed "a debt of gratitude to the institution that built my fame when I was in my twenties. Also, working in Egypt is more immediately rewarding than anywhere else." With the relaxation of media restrictions during this period, Ra'is el-Tahrir became one of the most popular and respected television programs in Egypt. Describing the relative freedom afforded to the media, Qandil stated in 2001 that the situation was an improvement from when he first began the program, but "as long as there remains a censor, we will continue to ask for more [freedom of expression]."

Ra'is el-Tahrir was intended to serve as a weekly review of the pan-Arab press, but in practice the program became a medium through which Qandil expressed his opinions on various issues confronting Egypt and the Arab world, views which he claimed were representative of the popular Egyptian sentiment. Al-Ahram Weekly′s Amina Elbandary wrote that during the show, Qandil spoke "in histrionic style, his commentary replete with daring questions and remarks. Viewers are fascinated by his apparent lack of inhibition."

In the wake of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation that began in 2000, the show became dominated by the conflict, which Qandil generally regarded as a campaign of Israeli aggression. He frequently broadcast the Israeli military's actions during the Intifada and called for viewers to support the uprising and boycott Israeli products. Qandil responded to a query regarding his extensive coverage of the Intifada by saying, "How are news shows expected to react to events such as the Intifada? Are we supposed to keep silent?"

Ra'is el-Tahrir later moved to Dream TV, an Egypt-based television station. Qandil continued to express his frustrations regarding the Israel and the Intifada, the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, and what he perceived as the United States' maligned intentions for the Middle East. According to author and researcher Andrew Hammond, "The show's combination of current affairs, press reviews and talk-shows became the most talked-about television in Egypt since Al-Jazeera's al-Ittijah al-Mu'akis." His show on Dream TV was cancelled abruptly in early 2003 amid rumors that he had been crossing political red lines during his broadcasts, including stinging criticism of the government of Hosni Mubarak. This reasoning was dismissed by Dream TV manager Sanaa Mansour, who stated that Qandil had not been let go, was free to express himself and left the show without offering an explanation to management.

In 2004 Qandil moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) began hosting a program on Dubai TV called Qalam Rosas ("Pencil"). The program was virtually a continuation of Ra'is al-Tahrir, a highly watched show dealing with the Arab world's major political, economic and social affairs of the day. Qalam Rosas would normally open with Qandil interviewing an Arab intellectual and discussing a current event. The show would then continue to a round table discussion with other journalists analyzing various social and political events and movements concerning the citizens of the Arab world. At its closing, Qandil would summarize the show with a well-known maxim or saying. The London-based Arab Media Watch organization awarded Qandil the 2006 Media Accomplishment Award to commend him for his "creativity and participation in the media world" over the course of his five decade career. In 2008 Qandil was forced to leave Dubai TV for criticizing Arab leaders, while commending Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah.

After his departure from Dubai TV he entered into a contract with Al-Libia, although he only remained with the Libyan channel for two months. Qandil's show was cancelled when the state-owned Al Jamahiriya Radio's General Authority took control of the channel. There was no official reason for the cancellation, but Qandil stated it was because of "instructions from high-ranking Libyan officials due to pressures from Egypt". He was reportedly offered to present Qalam Rosas on the Hezbollah-linked Al-Manar TV in early 2009, but opted not to join citing an unclear situation regarding his contract with Al-Libia.

## Political activism and Aboul Gheit lawsuit

After his brief stint on Al-Libia, Qandil returned to Egypt to write for the newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm in 2008 and later began writing for Al-Shorouk. He co-founded and served as the media spokesman for National Association for Change (NAC) headed by Mohamed ElBaradei in early 2010. The NAC's stated purpose is push for democratic and other reforms in Egypt. In May Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit brought a lawsuit for libel against Qandil in response to a critical column about Aboul Gheit and Egyptian foreign policy that Qandil wrote for Al-Shorouk, called "The Homeland’s Disgrace and that of the Citizen." In the column Qandil lambasted the contradictory statements made by Aboul Gheit and Egypt's ambassador to Israel, in which the latter said Israel was a friendly state, while Aboul Gheit had just previously stated that Israel was an enemy. Qandil wrote that the ambassador sought to cover up Aboul Gheit's statement, and that Aboul Gheit's words "usually ... fall from his mouth like droppings of a torn rubbish bag". The matter was transferred to the criminal court. His relationship with Al-Shorouk consequently ended as a result of the controversy.

In June 2010 Qandil quit his position as the NAC's media spokesman. He did not give an official reason for resigning, but was reportedly upset that ElBaradei was frequently outside of Egypt. In mid-December Qandil appeared in court and his defense team, which included his brother Assem and Gamal Eid requested that the "biased" court quit and that the case be transferred to a civil jurisdiction. On 24 January 2011 the court refused the referral and also refused to summon Aboul Gheit at the request of Qandil's defense team. On 25 January mass demonstrations demanding President Hosni Mubarak's downfall erupted across Egypt, eventually overthrowing the government, including Aboul Gheit, on 11 February. In April Aboul Gheit dropped the lawsuit. According to Hafez Abu Seada of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the revolution was the clear reason Aboul Gheit withdrew the suit, and had it not occurred, "the court could have handed [Qandil] a prison sentence."

## Political views

Qandil described himself as a supporter of Nasserism, which he defined not as a political affiliation, but rather an ideal of "social justice" and "national liberation" that "goes beyond generation and class". He did not join any of Egypt's Nasserist political parties or organizations, but viewed the era of late president Nasser as a period in which his "generation was taught self-respect, national pride and the courage to stand up against the great powers". Qandil was described by Hammond as a "secular-nationalist ... embodying the 'conscience of the Arab nation'".

In a 1999 interview Qandil stated his view that the pan-Arab media was not able to counter what he perceived as the influence of Zionism in American media and that the state of Arab media reflected the state of stagnation in the Arab world in general. Qandil was vociferously opposed to United States foreign policy in the Middle East. He referred to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 as the "biggest modern disaster for the Arabs since 1948," the year in which the newly established state of Israel defeated a coalition of Arab armies, causing a mass exodus of Palestinians from their homes.

Qandil supported the 2011 Egyptian revolution and called for Mubarak to step down from the start of the protests. In a lecture to students from the American University of Cairo in early March 2011, Qandil hailed the young protesters who started the revolution as "brave" and expressed hope that it would open an era of democracy and press freedom in Egypt. During the 2012 Egyptian presidential election, Qandil endorsed Nasserist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi after the Revolutionary Youth Coalition (RYC) announced their support for him. In late September 2012, during the post-revolution period in Egypt during Mohamed Morsi's presidency, Qandil announced his support for the Egyptian Popular Current movement founded by Sabahi. At the inaugural conference, Qandil stated that "a major political battle" would soon be launched for the next parliamentary elections and that Egypt's diverse make-up could never be changed.

## Personal life and Death

Qandil met and married Egyptian actress Naglaa Fathi in 1992. He was married twice before. Fathi said of Qandil "He is the first man who has fascinated me. It is not easy to bewitch me, but he did. I feel like a student when I'm with him: I discover new qualities in him every day," while Qandil said he felt an "immediate chemical bond" with Naglaa.

Qandil died on 31 October 2018 after a long illness, aged 82.

Egyptian journalist

People of the Egyptian revolution of 2011


American Pharoah

American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first horse to win the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing. He won the 2015 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and 2015 Champion three-year-old. In 2021 he was inducted into the American Racing Hall of Fame. He was bred and owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Stables, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor Espinoza. He now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

After finishing fifth in his track debut as a two-year-old, American Pharoah won his next two races, the Grade I Del Mar Futurity and FrontRunner Stakes, each by several lengths. An injury kept him out of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but the strength of his two wins nonetheless resulted in his being voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse at the 2014 Eclipse Awards. Before the 2015 season began, Zayat had sold breeding rights to the colt to the Ashford Stud, a division of Ireland's Coolmore Stud. He retained control over the colt and his racing career, as well as an undisclosed dividend on stud fees.

American Pharoah began his 2015 campaign with wins in the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby and went on to win the 2015 Kentucky Derby and 2015 Preakness Stakes. He won the Triple Crown in a wire-to-wire victory at the 2015 Belmont Stakes, becoming the first American Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 and the 12th in history. His winning time was the second-fastest for a Triple Crown winner. He next shipped to Monmouth Park and easily won the Haskell Invitational on August 2. Three weeks later, he finished a close second in a hard-fought Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on August 29, 2015, snapping a winning streak of eight races. After a layoff of two months, he shipped to Keeneland for the 2015 Breeders' Cup and ran in the Breeders' Cup Classic, where he challenged older horses for the first time and won by 61⁄2 lengths, breaking the track record.

At the conclusion of his 2015 racing year, American Pharoah was retired to stud, per the agreement between Zayat and Ashford.

## Background

American Pharoah is a bay colt with a faint star on his forehead and no other white markings. He is from the second crop of foals sired by Pioneerof the Nile, who finished second in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. The stallion's first crop included Holy Bull Stakes winner Cairo Prince, and Social Inclusion, who finished third in the 2014 Preakness Stakes. American Pharoah's dam, Littleprincessemma, was purchased by Zayat in 2007 for \$250,000. She raced but did not win either of her two starts in 2008. American Pharoah was her second foal, following allowance race winner Xixixi. Since his birth, she had produced two more full siblings to American Pharoah: a filly born in 2014, and a colt, foaled in 2015 after she sold—in foal to Pioneerof the Nile—in November 2014 for \$2.1 million.

American Pharoah was bred in Kentucky by his owner, Ahmed Zayat, CEO of Zayat Stables, LLC, and was born at 11 p.m. on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2012, at Tom VanMeter's Stockplace Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. When he was a few days old, he and Littleprincessemma went to nearby Pretty Run Farm, also owned by VanMeter, where they remained for a few months. Later, the mare and foal were moved to Vinery, another Lexington farm where Pioneerof the Nile was stabled. There, American Pharoah was weaned at five months of age, and stood out from the other weanlings due to his conformation and good temperament.

In January 2013 as a yearling, he went to Taylor Made Farm near Nicholasville, Kentucky, and began to be prepared for possible sale. In August 2013, American Pharoah was consigned by the Taylor Made Sales Agency to the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale. A few weeks before the auction, American Pharoah bumped his leg and had a small lump that was visible to potential buyers at the sale, which may have discouraged bidders. He was officially purchased for the posted minimum of \$300,000 by Ingordo Bloodstock, acting as an agent for Zayat, who in effect bought back his own horse. Zayat had pledged that he would not sell the promising but untested colt for less than \$1 million. Zayat similarly bought back Pioneerof the Nile, American Pharoah's sire, for \$290,000 in a 2007 yearling auction.

"We felt that he had brilliance in him", said Zayat of American Pharoah, "his demeanor, his aura, his conformation, the way he moved." Following the auction, the horse first went to Florida and was started under saddle at the McKathan Brothers Training Center near Citra, where trainer J.B. McKathan said, "He just did everything right." Once he was ready to begin race conditioning, he went into training with Hall of Fame inductee Bob Baffert in the spring of 2014.

He was described in 2014 as a ridgling, rather than a colt, meaning that he had an undescended testicle. The 2013 catalogue for his yearling Fasig-Tipton sale listed him as a "colt", and he was described that way again in 2015. Zayat maintained the "ridgling" designation was an error: "he was always a colt."

In 2015, Baffert noted American Pharoah's smooth and distinctively long stride: "I've never had a horse that moves or travels over the ground like he does." The horse also had a short tail during his two- and three-year-old seasons—it was apparently chewed off by another horse. It is theorized that Mr. Z, a fellow competitor and Zayat-bred colt, may have been the culprit; the pair were kept together in Florida as younger horses. Trainer Baffert had a more colorful theory: "I think he was in the pasture one day and there was a mountain lion chasing him—that was the closest he could get ..."

American Pharoah's gentle demeanor is also distinctive, in that he appears fond of people and, particularly for a young racehorse, surprisingly calm around them. As Baffert explained, "Horses of his caliber are not that nice and sweet. They're just sort of tough. If I brought Bayern out here, you can't get near him, he's too aggressive. [American Pharoah]'s just so different than any horse I've ever had." He was not always so calm, described initially as "a little bit of a headcase", but Baffert explained that after his anxiety-ridden first race, people worked with him, schooling him in the track paddock for about two weeks, when "all the sudden he got really sweet and really mellow." That said, United States Vice President Mike Pence alleged that American Pharoah had bit him in 2018, after becoming a breeding stallion. However, a manager for American Pharoah's breeding company denied the allegation.

### Name

American Pharoah's name is inspired by that of his sire, Pioneerof the Nile, and his dam's sire, Yankee Gentleman. The horse's name also acknowledges Zayat's own Egyptian-American background. The misspelling of "Pharaoh" is permanent, but inadvertent. Zayat originally claimed that the spelling was the result of an error by the Jockey Club, but the organization's president stated, "The name request for the 2012 colt American Pharoah was submitted electronically on January 25, 2014, through the Jockey Club's interactive registration site. Since the name met all of the criteria for naming and was available, it was granted exactly as it was spelled on the digital name application." Zayat later retracted his statement.

Zayat's wife, Joanne, offered another explanation for the name's origins to a local news reporter just before the Preakness. Zayat's son, Justin, ran a contest on social media in which fans could submit names for the horse. The winning entry had "Pharaoh" misspelled, she said. "Justin cut and pasted the name from [the winner's] email, and sent it to the Jockey Club." Marsha Baumgartner of Barnett, Missouri, who submitted the winning entry, told The New York Times, "I don't want to assign blame", but "I looked up the spelling before I entered." Nonetheless, Baumgartner minimized the controversy, stating, "Horses can't spell, anyway." Ultimately, Justin Zayat accepted responsibility for the error, stating, "I didn't happen to realize at the time that it was misspelled wrong [sic] ... Most English teachers in the world now are unhappy with me, but I'll live with that."

Due to the winning record of American Pharoah, the Jockey Club has now reserved both spellings so another horse cannot be similarly named. The Triple Crown blanket awarded to American Pharoah after his Belmont win inadvertently used the correct spelling of "pharaoh", and hence misspelled his name.

## Racing career

### 2014: two-year-old season

American Pharoah made his track debut in a maiden race over six and a half furlongs on the Polytrack surface at Del Mar Racetrack on August 9. Ridden by Martin Garcia, he started as the 7–5 favorite against eight opponents. He became unsettled before the race and, after running in second place until the stretch, faded to finish fifth behind Om, Iron Fist, One Lucky Dane, and Calculator, more than nine lengths behind the winner. He ran in a blinker hood, which appeared to unnerve him, as did the commotion in the saddling paddock. Baffert addressed his anxiety issues by removing the hood and stuffing cotton in the horse's ears for subsequent races.

Despite his defeat, American Pharoah was moved up to Grade I class for the Del Mar Futurity over seven furlongs on September 3. He was ridden by Victor Espinoza for the first time and started as the 3.2–1 second favorite behind Best Pal Stakes winner Skyway, with Calculator and Iron Fist also in the field. American Pharoah took the lead from the start and went clear in the straight to win by four and three quarter lengths from Calculator, with a gap of more than eight lengths back to Iron Fist in third. Commenting on the colt's improvement, Baffert said, "We took the blinkers off, put cotton in his ears and schooled him a lot. He trained well, we decided he was ready and we put him in there. Today, he behaved himself and showed what he could do. He did what we thought he'd do the first time."

On September 27, American Pharoah was made the 1–2 favorite for the Grade I FrontRunner Stakes over eight and a half furlongs at Santa Anita Park. As in his previous race, he was immediately sent to the front by Espinoza and stayed there, pulling away from his rivals in the straight to win by three and a quarter lengths over Calculator, with Texas Red a length and a half away in third. After the race, Espinoza explained how the colt moved: "All the way he was on a high cruising speed. He has such a long stride. He moves really nice and is light on his feet." Baffert said, "I can't believe his demeanor, how he has changed since his first out. He's so professional. He's really mentally there."

American Pharoah was scheduled to run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on November 1 but was scratched from the race after sustaining a "deep bruise" to his left front foot in a workout on October 27. After this injury, he was fitted with a special horseshoe. His farrier, Wes Champagne, placed a thin sheet of aluminum alloy over a regular racing horseshoe and cut it to match the dimensions of the shoe, leaving the front two-thirds of the hoof sole exposed, but creating a solid plate across the back that covered part of American Pharoah's heels and part of his frog. Champagne varied the design slightly depending on the tracks and races American Pharoah would run, but used the same basic concept throughout the Triple Crown series.

Even though he did not run in the Breeders' Cup, for the 2014 Eclipse Awards, American Pharoah was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse, beating Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red by 126 votes to 111.

### 2015: three-year-old season

Five and a half months after his last start, American Pharoah began his second season in the Grade II Rebel Stakes on a sloppy track at Oaklawn Park on March 14. He carried top weight of 119 pounds and started as the 2–5 favorite against six opponents, headed by the Todd Pletcher-trained Madefromlucky. The colt led from the start and drew away in the closing stages to win by six and a quarter lengths. Espinoza called the winner "an amazing horse", while Baffert was satisfied with the run, especially as the colt returned with a twisted shoe which would have hampered his progress. Four weeks later at the same track, American Pharoah started as the odds-on favorite against seven opponents in the Grade I Arkansas Derby. After racing in second place behind outsider Bridget's Big Luvy, he took the lead a quarter of a mile from the finish and steadily increased his advantage to win by eight lengths from Southwest Stakes winner Far Right. Baffert noted, "He's matured substantially. He's a good horse and he keeps moving forward. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but Dortmund is another one who we don't yet know how good he is. We've got a one-two punch and that's a good position to be in." After the race, Ron Moquett, the trainer of runner-up Far Right, described American Pharoah as "a superhorse".

#### Kentucky Derby

On May 2, American Pharoah started as the 2.9–1 favorite in an eighteen-runner field for the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. His opponents included Dortmund, winner of the Santa Anita Derby; Carpe Diem, who won the Breeders' Futurity Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes; Firing Line, winner of the Sunland Derby; Wood Memorial winner Frosted; Florida Derby winner Materiality; international entry Mubtaahij, who earned his way to Kentucky with a win in the UAE Derby; and Upstart, winner of the Holy Bull Stakes. The crowd surrounding the horse during the walk-over from the barns to the paddock upset American Pharoah, and several grooms were required to keep him under control. He continued to misbehave until he was loaded into the starting gate; his connections and supporters worried that he was using up energy he needed for the race.

Espinoza positioned the colt in third place early in the race as Dortmund took the lead, followed closely by Firing Line. The three remained ahead of the pack throughout the race, and broke clear of their rivals entering the straightaway with American Pharoah making a forward move on the outside. The favorite took the lead entering the final furlong and won by a length from Firing Line and Dortmund in 2:03.02, with Frosted finishing strongly in fourth. Espinoza, who won the race for the third time, said, "I feel like the luckiest Mexican on earth. He has been a special horse since the first time I rode him. He has a lot of talent and is an unbelievable horse. Turning for home I started riding a little bit harder. At the eighth pole I just couldn't put that other horse away, but he got it done." Espinoza's performance attracted some scrutiny as he appeared to have struck the winner 32 times with his whip during the race. In post-race analysis, one of the stewards at Churchill Downs said, "we watched [the race replay] many, many times prior to making it official, and that wasn't anything that got our attention." Baffert said, "He was hitting him on the saddle towel. He doesn't hit that hard." Gary Stevens, rider of second-place Firing Line, commented that he had used his whip heavily as well, stating that the race was "as tough a race as I've been in in 20 years the last eighth of a mile." The Blood-Horse writer Steve Haskin, while condemning whip overuse in general, offered analysis that Espinoza "did a lot of waving with the whip" and may not have actually hit the horse as many times as it seemed. Reflecting on the race, Baffert said that the colt did not bring his "super A-game" to the Derby and that it was the first time American Pharoah had really been tested by other aggressive horses.

#### Preakness Stakes

Two weeks after winning the Kentucky Derby, American Pharoah entered the second leg of the Triple Crown, the 2015 Preakness Stakes, run over nine and a half furlongs at Pimlico Race Course. Despite an unfavorable inside draw of the number one post position, he was installed as the morning line favorite ahead of Firing Line and Dortmund. No horse had won the Preakness starting from the rail since 1994. Immediately before post time, the weather changed to a heavy downpour with thunder. The last time the Preakness had been run on a sloppy track was in 1983, and American Pharoah was the only horse in the field to have previously faced similar conditions, having won the Rebel Stakes running in rain and mud.

American Pharoah had the lead within the first quarter-mile and was challenged by Mr. Z early on, but held the lead on the inside throughout the race. He was challenged by Dortmund and then Divining Rod, but American Pharoah broke from the pack in the homestretch and won by seven lengths, as Tale of Verve made a strong rally to overtake Divining Rod to place. Firing Line slipped badly at the start and was eased in the stretch. The winning time was 1:58.45. Espinoza did not use his whip at all in the Preakness, and stated, "I couldn't see how far I was in front because there was so much water in my eyes." The margin of victory was tied for the sixth-largest in Preakness history. The win by American Pharoah set up an attempt for the Triple Crown for the second straight year. It was also the second straight year that Espinoza had won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and the jockey's third time winning both races. For Baffert, it was the fourth time in 19 years that he won the first two Triple Crown races. Of the colt, Baffert said, "He brought his A-game today."

#### Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown

In the week following the Preakness, the Leverage Agency was named as the exclusive marketing, sponsorship, and licensing agents for the horse. The firm performed similar duties for California Chrome, the winner of the 2014 Derby and Preakness. The agency secured a deal with Monster Energy for an undisclosed sum, rumored to be the largest single-horse advertising sponsorship to date. The deal allowed the "Monster Girls" to be around the horse, and the product's logo to be used on the horse's horse sheets, on Espinoza's shirt collar, and on caps and other gear worn by people around the horse.

In the runup to the Belmont, Baffert chose to work the horse at Churchill Downs, and transport him late to Belmont Park without a timed workout at the New York track. While several prominent trainers questioned his decision, Baffert said it was more important to keep American Pharoah "happy" on a track he liked, having used a similar strategy with his 2001 Belmont Stakes winner, Point Given. Rival trainers Kiaran McLaughlin and D. Wayne Lukas backed Baffert's strategy; the former said, "I don't think it matters for American Pharoah. He could probably run down a street over broken glass." Appearing unperturbed but curious about a small crowd of well-wishers, American Pharoah arrived at Long Island MacArthur Airport on June 2, having traveled from Louisville, Kentucky, on a customized Boeing 727 dubbed "Air Horse One".

Three days before the race, American Pharoah's connections drew the number five post position. Pundits noted it was the same slot from which Seattle Slew had won the 1977 Belmont and the Triple Crown, and that 14 other Belmont winners had started from the position. American Pharoah was the 3–5 morning line favorite in an eight-horse field that included Tale of Verve, as well as five rivals from the Kentucky Derby who had skipped the Preakness, and one horse, Madefromlucky, who had not run either of the previous Triple Crown races, but, like Tonalist the previous year, had instead won the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. American Pharoah had previously defeated every horse entered, but he was also the only horse to contest all three legs of the Triple Crown and had run four races in the preceding eight weeks.

American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes on June 6, becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner and the first since 1978, ending a "drought" of 37 years. The horse was leaning back in the starting gate when it opened and was a touch late at the start, but he soon pulled out to an early lead, which he maintained for a gate-to-wire win. He steadily increased his lead throughout the race. He was challenged by Materiality until the top of the stretch when Materiality faded, ultimately finishing last, and Frosted held second although starting to fade at the sixteenth pole. Keen Ice ran in the middle of the pack until a late rally brought him into third over Mubtaahij, who was fourth. American Pharoah crossed the finish line leading by 5+1⁄2 lengths, with a winning time of 2:26.65 for the 1+1⁄2-mile (2,400 m) race. His margin of victory was the fourth-largest ever for a Triple Crown winner at the Belmont.

Of the victory, Baffert said, "This little horse deserves it. There's something about this horse that he just brought it every time. He's a joy to be around." In a post-race interview, Zayat said that the colt's racing schedule for the remainder of the year would be decided by Baffert, and that the needs of the horse would come first. He also acknowledged the need for horse racing to have "stars" and for them to race as long as they could. Though American Pharoah's stud rights had been sold with plans to retire the horse at the end of 2015, Zayat expressed hope that the horse would continue racing as long as he was healthy and "has it in him". His winning time of 2:26.65 was the sixth-fastest in Belmont history, the second-fastest for a Triple Crown winner, and his closing quarter-mile was run in 24.32 seconds, which was over a half-second faster than Secretariat's final quarter-mile time of 25.00 when the 1973 winner set a world record and won by 31 lengths.

The following morning, the colt came out of the race tired but in good shape. When Baffert brought American Pharoah out of the Belmont Park barn, he invited the assembled media to come over and pet the horse. "I wanted to share him with everybody and show everybody how kind and sweet he is", said Baffert, while the group of about 30 people touched and even kissed the horse. The horse then posed quietly with Baffert and Espinoza to tape a segment for The Today Show, standing between the two men who were seated in folding director's chairs.

An estimated 22 million U.S. television viewers watched the live Belmont race broadcast. Of 94,237 winning \$2 tickets sold at Belmont Park, each with a yield of \$3.50 for American Pharoah's first-place finish, some 90,128 remained unredeemed several days after the race, most likely kept as race-day souvenirs or to be offered for sale at a premium by their purchasers.

#### Haskell Stakes

After the Belmont Stakes, American Pharoah returned to Churchill Downs to rest, beginning to jog on the track the following Friday. On June 13, the day of the Stephen Foster Handicap, American Pharoah was paraded on the track between races. A crowd of 30,000 people showed up to see him as he was hand-walked for about 45 minutes in front of the grandstand and in the paddock. Zayat, Baffert, and Espinoza were also given their permanent keepsake Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown trophies in a ceremony that evening. American Pharoah's popularity was so high that his win made the cover of Sports Illustrated, he was photographed for Vogue, and during the NBA Playoffs, the coach of the Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr, suggested that American Pharoah was the only athlete better than LeBron James.

American Pharoah's next race was the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, New Jersey on August 2. Zayat wanted the horse's first race back be an easy race against other 3-year-olds, he wanted to race the horse in Zayat's home state of New Jersey, and he wanted to race on a Sunday to avoid a clash with the Jewish Sabbath. Zayat explained, "He can run anywhere ... as long as he's happy and healthy ... I told [Monmouth] ... 'I want to do it for the sport and not worry about the money and stuff." Nonetheless, Monmouth Park raised the purse money for the race from \$1 million to \$1.75 million. Zayat had previously won the Haskell with Paynter in 2012, and Baffert already held the record for the most Haskell wins, having seven previous victories. Over 60,000 people showed up at Monmouth Park, which featured the Bruce Springsteen song "Born to Run" in the post parade. Viewed as being in even better physical condition than in the Belmont, American Pharoah took the lead in the far turn and easily opened up a five-length lead over the six other horses in the race before Espinoza eased him back as second-place finisher Keen Ice made a strong finishing push. He won the race by 2+1⁄4 lengths with a time of 1:47.95 for the 9-furlong distance. Espinoza quipped, "He was having fun, and so was I." Baffert said, "He just keeps bringing it; he's a great horse."

#### Travers Stakes defeat

American Pharoah's next start was the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on August 29. While Zayat wanted to enter the race, Baffert was reluctant. The race marked the second time in under a month that American Pharoah, training with Baffert in California, had flown across the country, raising concerns that the extensive air travel was taking a toll on the horse. The only previous Triple Crown winner to win the Travers was Whirlaway in 1941, and two others, Gallant Fox and Affirmed, had been defeated there, helping give the track its nickname 'The Graveyard of Champions.' In five previous attempts, Baffert had one Travers win with Point Given in 2001. With American Pharoah training well, Baffert stated, "I've been looking for an excuse not to come (to the Travers), and I can't find one."

American Pharoah faced a field of 10 horses, most of whom, including Keen Ice, he had previously defeated. Espinoza had concerns at the starting gate when he noticed that his mount was already sweating, even though the weather was not particularly hot. While the horse led for much of the race, he was hard-pressed throughout by Frosted, a change from Frosted's previous stalking style, attributed to a rider change less than an hour before the race, when Jose Lezcano replaced an injured Joel Rosario, altering the complexion of the race. The unexpected tactics of Lezcano may have been decisive. Espinoza stated that he "knew he was in trouble" by the half-mile pole because American Pharoah did not pull away from his rival and lacked his usual energy. Frosted challenged American Pharoah for the lead at the far turn, and the horses bumped several times, but American Pharoah dug in and fought back when Frosted took a very brief lead. While American Pharoah fended off the challenge from Frosted, Keen Ice was coming up on the outside, also under a new jockey, Javier Castellano. They overtook American Pharoah at the sixteenth pole, going on to defeat him by three-quarters of a length. Once again the Saratoga track lived up to its reputation.

After the race, Espinoza said, "He's OK ... Maybe it was just a little too much for him those three weeks, flying back and forth. He was running pretty comfortable there, but not like he used to." Baffert was proud of the horse's fighting effort, stating "It was just guts." Though Zayat talked of retiring the horse, Baffert said, "We knew we were doing the impossible, shipping him back and forth." The following day, Baffert said that American Pharoah was healthy and came out of the race in good shape. He said he had no regrets, stating, "I'm glad I brought him. Racing needed something like this. He almost pulled it off." Regarding Zayat's talk of retiring the horse, Baffert said, "Mr. Zayat is a very emotional man. We were all pretty disappointed ... I know (Zayat) will be going back and forth ... He's a sportsman for bringing him up here." Five days later, Zayat announced that the horse would be kept in training with the goal to run in the Breeders' Cup Classic, stating, "I believe there were a combination of factors that prevented American Pharoah from running his absolute best ... I have every confidence that he can run to his best again, and he deserves the chance to do so."

#### Breeders' Cup Classic

By winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland on October 31, American Pharoah became the first horse in history to complete the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing: The Triple Crown plus the Breeders' Cup Classic. He also set a track record with a time of 2:00.07;

`and breaking the track record by more than five seconds. Challenging older horses such as Tonalist and Honor Code for the first time in his career, as well as previous rivals Keen Ice and Frosted, American Pharoah led from gate-to-wire, challenged only by Effinex, racing at 33–1 odds, who placed 6+1⁄2 lengths behind the winner.  Although American Pharoah's decisive victory secured a $2.75 million check for his win, Zayat had long insisted his horse continued to race only for the benefit of the sport and the pleasure of fans; "this horse owes us nothing", his son Justin Zayat said on the eve of the race. Joe Drape of The New York Times described American Pharoah's Keeneland win as "sealing his legacy as a horse for the ages".`

American Pharoah finished 2015 having set a single season record for race earnings, winning \$8,288,800. He broke the previous single season record of \$7,563,535 set by Smarty Jones in 2004, and that record had included a \$5 million bonus that is no longer awarded. His lifetime career earnings were \$8,650,300. His Racing Post Rating (RPR) of 138 was the highest of any American horse since the Racing Post began the system in 1988, topping that of previous U.S. record-holders Ghostzapper and Cigar. Only two horses worldwide had ever achieved higher ratings, Frankel at 143, and Dubai Millennium, with 139, both doing so as more mature four-year-olds. He was rated the number one horse in the world in 2015 by the World's Best Racehorse Rankings.

#### Awards

At the conclusion of the season, American Pharoah's accomplishments were named the top sports story of the year by the Associated Press. He and his connections also swept most of the horse-racing world's year-end awards. At the 2015 Eclipse Awards, he was the unanimous choice for American Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse. His win marked only the second time that an American Horse of the Year had been unanimously selected, the first being John Henry in 1981. He was named the winner of the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, and his Belmont win was declared the NTRA Moment of the Year. His connections were given the Big Sport of Turfdom Award, an honor for people who "enhance coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with media and racing publicists." In addition, Baffert won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer and Zayat Stables took home the Eclipse awards for Outstanding Owner and Outstanding Breeder. Acknowledging owner Ahmed Zayat's record of philanthropy to Jewish causes, the Jewish Daily Forward in November 2015 named American Pharoah its "plus one" on its annual list of 50 most influential American Jews. The major award that the horse did not win was the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. In spite of being the public's overwhelming favorite, earning 47% of the vote out of eleven candidates in online voting, topping the Kansas City Royals, Usain Bolt, and Novak Djokovic, the editors of the magazine gave the award to Serena Williams.

## Statistics

## Retirement

On May 20, 2015, The New York Times reported that Zayat had sold American Pharoah's breeding rights to Ashford Stud, a division of Ireland's Coolmore Stud, though he retained control over the colt and his racing career. Before the announcement, offers for American Pharoah's breeding rights had reportedly exceeded \$20 million. After the Belmont, Forbes magazine reported that Zayat had actually sold the breeding rights to Ashford in late 2014, long before he began his Triple Crown run, and that Zayat retained 100% of the racing rights. Forbes went on to estimate that if American Pharoah stood for a \$100,000 stud fee, he could be worth \$50 million. More conservative estimates placed his potential stud fee at \$75,000 and his potential value at about \$25 to \$36 million. The New York Times said that breeding rights had been sold for \$13.8 million: \$9.8 million with an additional \$4 million incentive if American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes. Zayat retained an undisclosed percentage in the colt's breeding career, and explained that American Pharoah would retire from racing at the end of 2015.

American Pharoah shipped to Ashford Stud on November 2, 2015, where he was housed in the stall once occupied by Grand Slam. He was pastured each morning next to the 23-year-old Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Thunder Gulch, who was chosen for his calming influence on the young energetic stallion. Ashford Stud set his initial stud fee for 2016 at \$200,000, the second-highest stud fee in the United States, behind that of the \$300,000 fee for Tapit. Sire Pioneerof the Nile's stud fee of \$60,000 in 2015 was raised to \$125,000 for 2016.

## Stud career

American Pharoah officially began breeding mares in February 2016, and was first bred to Untouched Talent, an 11-year-old mare owned by Coolmore, dam of Zayat's Bodemeister. Within the first two months of his breeding career, American Pharoah had about 80 mares in foal after about 100 breeding sessions. Notably, he has retained his kind disposition even as a breeding stallion.

On January 3, 2017, American Pharoah's first foal was born at Brookdale Farms. It was a bay colt out of the Tizway mare, Kakadu. The foal was described as having his sire's calm but bold personality. On January 15 at Coolmore Stud, the mare Untouched Talent produced his first filly. In March, Coolmore announced that the stallion would shuttle to stand at Coolmore Australia for the breeding season in the southern hemisphere, which begins in July, then return to America at the end of the year.

American Pharoah's first crop of foals sold well at the November 2017 Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland Sales, including a weanling filly who brought \$1 million. Purchasers commented that his offspring at the sale inherited his efficiency of movement.

On April 13, 2019, Monarch of Egypt became American Pharoah's first winner, taking a maiden race at Naas Racecourse in Ireland. On April 19, Maven was American Pharoah's first North American winner. Maven then shipped to Europe, where he became the first stakes winner for his sire by taking the Prix du Bois at Chantilly Racecourse. American Pharoah sired three entries in the 2019 Breeders' Cup, with Four Wheel Drive winning the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Harvey's Lil Goil became his first Grade I winner when she won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland in October 2020, and later that month Van Gogh won the Critérium International to give the stallion his first Group 1 winner in Europe. American Pharoah had a Grade 1 winner in Japan on February 21, 2021, when Cafe Pharoah won the February Stakes.

In 2022 Coolmore announced that American Pharoah would not shuttle to Australia.

### Notable progeny

c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding

## Legacy and honors

In 2016, Oaklawn president Charles Cella commissioned Philadelphia sculptor James Peniston to create a life-sized bronze sculpture of American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza. In preparation for sculpting, Peniston visited and photographed the horse with the permission of trainer Bob Baffert. The sculpture was cast in 2017 at Laran Bronze outside Philadelphia and installed on January 11, 2018, at the Oaklawn racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas. One newspaper wrote, "James Peniston's full-scale, full-stride statue of American Pharoah [is] a perfect duplicate — down to its bulging muscles and veins — of the 3-year-old colt as he carried himself and jockey Victor Espinoza in the winter and spring of 2015 toward Triple Crown glory."

In 2021, American Pharoah was inducted into the US Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

## Pedigree

American Pharoah's pedigree includes horses adept at classic race distances on his sire's side and endowed with speed on his dam's side. Sire Pioneerof the Nile won the Santa Anita Derby and ran second in the 2009 Kentucky Derby, with all of his wins at distances of 1+1⁄16 miles or more. Prior to American Pharoah, Pioneerof the Nile had sired five other winners of stakes races of a mile or more in his relatively new career as a stallion. Trainer Bob Baffert observed that Pioneerof the Nile also raced with "a big, long stride" and had "that same springing motion as American Pharoah, whose acceleration is pretty remarkable." He also praised Pioneerof the Nile's dam, Star of Goshen: "She was a freaky filly, really, really fast." To Baffert, American Pharoah's bloodline is a source of fascination: "Every time I work him, I go back and look at the pedigree, and I go, What is going on here?"

Pioneerof the Nile's sire is Empire Maker, who won the 2003 Belmont Stakes. This makes American Pharoah a great-grandson of Unbridled, who won the 1990 Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic. He carries lines to Grade I champions Toussaud and Fappiano, and to the top-rated European two- and three-year-old colt of 1983 and 1984, El Gran Senor. He is also descended from Northern Dancer, Buckpasser, and Mr. Prospector—whose descendants have won 43 Triple Crown races, all via Empire Maker. Ultimately, via Unbridled and his ancestors, American Pharoah's sire line traces to the Darley Arabian.

Although Littleprincessemma, American Pharoah's dam, is the half-sister to graded stakes winner Storm Wolf, and to Misty Rosette, winner of the Old Hat Stakes in 2006, her own undistinguished racing career, combined with the modest record of her sire, Yankee Gentleman, dampened initial public expectations for her second-born foal. Yet American Pharoah's maternal bloodline includes Storm Cat, a Grade I winner retired early due to injury, Northern Dancer, a Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, and Terlingua, a celebrated broodmare, through whom he is a fifth-generation descendant of Secretariat. He is also descended through his dam from Flying Paster, a Grade I champion who was 1978 California Horse of the Year, and Exclusive Native (sire of Affirmed and Genuine Risk). Through both sire and dam, American Pharoah is a fifth- and sixth-generation descendant of Bold Ruler, as well as a sixth- and seventh-generation descendant of Tom Fool, one of the top thoroughbreds of the last century. His tail-female line traces back to The Oldfield Mare, foaled circa 1695.

Figuring prominently and repeatedly in American Pharoah's deep lineage is an earlier generation of champions, including Nasrullah, Native Dancer, Nearco, Princequillo, War Admiral and Man o' War.

## See also

- List of historical horses

American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winners

United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees