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The final call belongs to owner Ahmed Zayat but trainer Bob Baffert is in favour of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah’s racing career continuing beyond his shock weekend loss in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Speculation that American Pharaoh will be retired without another race was rife following Saturday’s loss to Keen Ice, ending his unbeaten run through his three-year-old season.

However by Sunday Baffert was far more positive, acknowledging that the demands of travelling from California to New Jersey for the Haskell Invitational and again to New York for the Travers Stakes in the space of a month probably caught up with American Pharoah at Saratoga.

American Pharoah was blowing hard when he return to be unsaddled but Baffert said the colt recovered quickly and had cooled out in 10 to 15 minutes.

“He has been doing the impossible,” Baffert said. “Sometimes, you feel like he’s invincible, but they all get beat.

“There’s no horse that’s ever done it like he’s done it. I’ve never had a horse that could bring performance after performance after performance.

“They can’t keep it going. He almost did it.”

Baffert said he would likely train the colt for the Breeders’ Cup Classic without another race in the interim.

“He looks great today,” Baffert said on Sunday. “I don’t think he tailed off, I think he just didn’t bring his A game.

“He still looks pretty healthy. He doesn’t look like a tired horse.”

After Keen Ice ran down American Pharoah in the Travers Zayat said it was his gut feeling that it might be time to retire the colt but Baffert suggested that may have just been an emotional response to the loss from the owner.

American Pharoah is scheduled to fly back to California on Monday and will return to Baffert’s barn at Del Mar when plans to keep the colt in training for the $5 million BC Classic wil be resolved.

“Basically we’ll let the horse tell us what he’s doing,” Baffert said.

Zayat defers to Baffert on training and racing matters but the Hall of Fame trainer described himself as more of an advisor.

“It’s his horse,” Baffert said. “My job is if I see something, if he were to come up with something I didn’t like, then I’d tell him.

“Nothing has shown up today. He looked fine and he’s healthy.”

Baffert said he didn’t regret the decision to come to Saratoga and that Zayat deserved the credit for letting him run.

“If I had to do it again, I would have brought him,” Baffert said. “I’m glad I brought him. I think racing needed something like this.”

“You really have to thank him (Zayat). He wanted to share him.

“He did it for racing, and it didn’t work out.

“Last night I kept running into people and all they could say was thank you for bringing him.

“The horse has done so much for the excitement of racing, building it up.

“We walked into a restaurant last night and everybody gave me a standing ovation for bringing him. It was pretty cool.”