Zayat Stables’ American Pharoah romped over the sloppy track at Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore, Maryland, to register a seven-length victory in Saturday’s 140th Preakness Stakes, earning an opportunity to make a bid for a Triple Crown sweep in three weeks.

The Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old colt, who had to work hard to win the Kentucky Derby by a length two weeks ago, overpowered his seven rivals in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown with a front-running triumph under Victor Espinoza.

American Pharoah is scheduled to run in the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, in Elmont, New York, on June 6 to vie for a chance to become Thoroughbred racing’s 12th Triple Crown champion and first since Affirmed earned immortality in 1978.

“He’s just an amazing horse,” Baffert said. “Everybody talks about the greatness and he’s starting to show it. To me, they have to prove it. Today, the way he did it. He’s just so fast, the way he ran. It was like poetry in motion