American Pharoah’s year comes at a perfect time for Pioneerof the Nile, who already had success with his first batch of 3-year-olds. That includes Social Inclusion, who finished third in the Preakness in 2014. Owners of top-level mares tend to prefer first-season stallions rather than go to one that had a less-than-successful crop of offspring.

“Typically the fee reduces and the quality goes down,” Fox said in a telephone interview. “Getting this in the second crop shows he’s a sire of note.”

Horse racing has seen plenty of thoroughbreds who had success on the track go the other way. For example, 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, the first horse to win over $1 million in prize money, was “one of the biggest stud failures of all time,” according to Faversham.

Empire Maker

Pioneerof the Nile is the son of Empire Maker, who spoiled Funny Cide’s Triple Crown bid at the 2003 Belmont. During the season he breeds twice a day and three times every other day, according to the New York Times. Stallions typically father around 125-150 healthy foals a year, Fox said.

Zayat announced in May that he sold American Pharoah’s breeding rights to the U.S. arm of Ireland’s Coolmore Stud. While terms of the sale weren’t disclosed, Zayat said there was an escalator in the contract should the colt win the Triple Crown or other races later in the season.

The breeding rights are now probably worth around $30 million, according to Bill Oppenheim a horse racing analyst and columnist for Thoroughbred Daily News.

Zayat will continue full ownership of the horse for the rest of its racing career, and said Saturday that he would like to keep running this year, though Coolmore will be included in that decision after the Belmont win. It’s undecided if he will race as a 4-year-old or start breeding next year.

Out of Bankruptcy

Zayat’s road to the Triple Crown podium came after putting Zayat Stables LLC in bankruptcy in 2010, which allowed him to shield $37 million worth of horses, including Pioneerof the Nile, from creditors. He ultimately settled with the bank by restructuring his loan, which cleared the way for American Pharoah to be born into his possession two years later.