Chicago Artist To Paint American Pharoah's Official Portrait
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The owners of American Pharoah have chosen a Chicago artist to paint the official portrait of the Triple Crown winner.
"It was really, really spectacular. It was the best day of my life. It was really amazing," said artist Thomas Allen Pauly, who paints horses and jockeys.
Pauly was at Belmont Park last Saturday, when American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes by five and a half lengths, to win the first Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing since 1978.
"I have been to the last seven attempts to see the Triple Crown at Belmont, and, finally, seven was the lucky number, I guess," he said.
Pauly always gets credentialed as a photographer, and shoots pictures during races. He then uses those photos to paint portraits of the winning horse and jockey.
"It was just so cool. After I shot the pictures, this photographer next to me - I don't even know who she was - we both had tears in our eyes, and we hugged each other. That's a really cool feeling to be part of that," he said
This week, the owners of American Pharoah asked Pauly to paint the official portrait of the the 3-year-old thoroughbred with an unusually short tail. Another horse chewed the end off American Pharoah's tail during his days on a Florida farm.
To view Pauly's work, visit www.horseartist.com.