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Keen Ice, a 16/1 shot, has beaten Triple Crown champion American Pharoah in the $1.6 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Bob Baffert's brilliant colt was sent off a long odds-on favourite but alarm bells were ringing when he was taken on by Frosted from the half mile with the pair setting a fast pace.

The seven-time G1 winner responded to fight off Frosted and forge clear turning for home but he couldn't find an answer as Keen Ice, who came with a strong late run to win going away by about three-quarters of a length under jockey Javier Castellano. Frosted held third place.

It was a first G1 success for Keen Ice and only the second career defeat for American Pharoah, who lost his first race in August of last year as a two-year-old and had gone unbeaten in six starts this year.

Keen Ice’s trainer Dale Romans was almost apologetic after the upset result before a capped attendance of 50,000 people.

Keen Ice had not won since breaking his maiden last September but had finished third American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes and second last time out in the Haskell Invitational on August 2