VP Mike Pence says Triple Crown winner American Pharoah bit him during visit to Kentucky farm

American Pharoah has it all these days. By becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years in 2015, the horse secured a life of pampering and mating at Coolmore's Ashford Stud Farm in Versailles, Kentucky. 

He also enjoys visits from figures such as Vice President Mike Pence, who visited the horse on the farm in March 2018 while campaigning for Garland "Andy" Barr, (R-Ky). Except apparently Pharoah's interaction with the former governor of Indiana didn't go so well, at least in Pence's version of the events, per multiple reports. 

On Friday at a policy retreat for House Republicans in Baltimore, Pence claimed he was bitten so hard on the arm by American Pharoah that he nearly collapsed. The point of the story was to offer a metaphor for Republicans' hopes of retaking the House next year. 

“In our line of work, you’re going to get bit sometimes, but you keep fighting forward,” Pence said.

Pence said he was invited to grab Pharoah's reins, and that's when the bite happened. But farm manager Dermot Ryan said that type of behavior from Pharoah is not typical. 

“If he gave someone a nasty bite, I’d know it,” Ryan told McClatchy DC. 

Barr spokeswoman Jodi Whitaker told McClatchy the congressman did not see a biting incident but was on Air Force Two when the vice president showed off a bruise. 

American Pharoah was in the news earlier this week, aside from his encounter with the veep, because a yearling filly of his sold for a record $8.2 million Wednesday.