LOUISVILLE -- Ahmed Zayat stood outside Barn 33 at Churchill Downs, speaking excitedly as he always does and wearing his emotions on his sleeve as he anxiously awaited the opportunity to send three starters, including scintillating 2-year-old champion American Pharoah, into the 141st Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
"I'm a nervous wreck," Zayat admitted. "Can't sleep. Excitement. Anticipation. Day-dreaming. A lot of emotions I'm going through. It's so much fun, but so much pressure."
These are the kinds of emotions owners experience at every level of the game. But for Zayat, driven to compete at the highest level, everything is kicked up several notches in keeping with his personality and his ambition.
He established Zayat Stables in 2005 and it seemingly rose to prominence overnight, producing two Grade 1 winners in the first 12 months. He has already ranked among the top five leading owners in North America seven times. He broke through as the leading owner just three years after he entered the game.
For all he has accomplished in a relatively short time, his sleeplessness stems from knowing how treacherous the Road to the Derby can be -- and how maddeningly elusive the Derby is.
When he arrives at the track in the chill of the early morning to check on the condition of American Pharoah, El Kabeir and Mr. Z, will they be as happy and healthy as they were the day before?
Zayat learned how swiftly racing fortunes can change after Eskendereya positioned himself as a clear Derby favorite in 2010 in dominating the Fountain of Youth Stakes by 8½ lengths and taking the Wood Memorial even more emphatically, by 9¾ widening lengths. John Velazquez, a jockey who needed to be nothing more than a passenger, told the connections afterward that he had never been aboard a horse that won so easily with so much in reserve for the Run for the Roses.
And then there was no run for the roses. A career-ending soft tissue injury led Eskendereya to be withdrawn from consideration the week of the Derby. Zayat views that as his lowest moment in this game of extreme emotions.
"You've got talent, you've got looks, you've got breeding, you've got speed," Zayat said. "You don't know what would happen."
Which is worse, that lingering "What if?" or watching three horses run second in races that could easily have gone their way? Zayat was down that road, too.
He believes a muddy track was more responsible for beating Pioneerof the Nile in 2009 than 50-1 Mine That Bird, who had vanned in from New Mexico, was. "It was raining that day," he noted. "If it was a dry track, I don't think I would ever lose." Tom Durkin, the stunned announcer, called it "an impossible result" after Mine That Bird's late surge.
In 2011, 21-1 Animal Kingdom did not figure to be a threat, having never run on dirt before the mile-and-a-quarter opening leg of the Triple Crown. And yet there he was, flying at the end. Nehro, wearing Zayat's flashy blue and yellow silks, settled for second.
In 2012, Zayat watched prized colt Bodemeister spurt to an early lead under Mike Smith and tear through the first five splits faster than any horse in history. He looked to be a sure winner as he powered into the turn for home. But the stretch run loomed and I'll Have Another began gaining with every stride, overtaking a withering Bodemeister in the final furlong.
"The beats were insane," Zayat said.
If American Pharoah, El Kabeir or Mr. Z wins on Saturday, the party will be more insane.
