He spent the first part of the 2009 season as Southern California's chief Kentucky Derby hopeful. Owned by Zayat Stables, he went on to win that race along with the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, but he would have to wait many years before doing so.

But Pioneerof the Nile tasted stakes success long before then. Sired by 2003 Belmont Stakes champion Empire Maker out of the Lord at War mare Star of Goshen, Pioneerof the Nile is best remembered for his West Coast achievements with Bob Baffert and Zayat Stables. But he actually started his career back East on the Saratoga turf under Bill Mott in the summer of 2008. The results were mixed, with Pioneerof the Nile winning second time out on the Spa's grass course and placing third in Keeneland's Grade I Breeders' Futurity that fall. His final start for Mott came in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, which yielded a fifth. Ironically, Baffert saddled Midshipman to the win that day, and that was Pioneerof the Nile's first visit to a venue where he would see better results.

By the time Pioneerof the Nile showed up at Hollywood Park for the Grade I CashCall Futurity, he was a Southern California-based horse and a member of Baffert's stable. After teaming with Kent Desormeaux and Robby Albarado, he now had veteran Garrett Gomez, no stranger to winning big races. That is where the fun began.

Favored at 7-5, Pioneerof the Nile outfought I Want Revenge for his first graded stakes win. With that new momentum, Pioneerof the Nile ascended to the upper echelon of Southern California's three-year-old division by sweeping the Grade II Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Grade II San Felipe Stakes, and Grade I Santa Anita Derby to emerge as one of the contenders for the 135th Kentucky Derby. The sophomore showed his toughness to California racing fans during that stretch, particularly during the Robert B. Lewis when he raced wide into the stretch and stormed home on the extreme outside. He was strong in the Santa Anita Derby, too, for he was fully extended and found just a little bit more to hold off Chocolate Candy for the win. It was a call back to the Breeders' Futurity, where Pioneerof the Nile finished a well-beaten third, but fought all the way to the wire to get the show. Indeed, power flowed through the Grade I winner from the early phase of his career.

Not only was Pioneerof the Nile a stout racehorse, he was also a runner capable of adapting to different styles. He could be near the front, but he was not shy about coming from behind if the situation required it. Being a multi-dimensional runner never hurts on the First Saturday in May, and it was reasonable to believe that the colt might be Baffert's next Kentucky Derby champion.

Many thought that scenario would play out in Louisville. Pioneerof the Nile was among the favorites to win the Triple Crown's opening race, and he ran to his status. Running on an off track for the first time, he spent the race in the top four, ensconsed in a perfect striking position behind the leaders. He got to the front in the stretch, but just briefly, for Mine That Bird shocked the sport by sneaking along the rail en route to producing one of the biggest longshot wins in Derby history. But Pioneerof the Nile came home a respectable second in his off-track debut after outlasting a couple of rivals, again proving his strength in North America's biggest horse race.

The Triple Crown was off the table for Pioneerof the Nile, but at least one piece of it was still up for grabs. Wheeled back fourteen days later in the Preakness, he was in a similar position to where he was in Louisville in terms of being within striking distance of the lead. But he did have a wide trip, and he had nothing left in the tank as he concluded the race in eleventh.

Pioneerof the Nile never raced again after the Preakness. He moved on to the breeding shed, where he developed into a noted stallion. Cairo Prince, Jojo Warrior and Social Inclusion were among his early progeny that turned into graded stakes winners. Midnight Storm competed at his father's old stomping ground of Southern California, emerging as a graded stakes winner on turf and dirt. But two of his children have stood out as champions.

Eight years after running in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, Pioneerof the Nile won the race as a sire when Classic Empire took first place at the exact same track to sew up Champion Juvenile honors for the year. Like his father, Classic Empire transformed into a multiple graded stakes winner, and went on to be second in the 2017 Preakness Stakes.

Classic Empire is without question one of Pioneerof the Nile's best offspring, but his most successful and popular horse by far is American Pharoah, a fellow member of Zayat Stables who was part the Southern California racing scene as a two-year-old. Pioneerof the Nile missed out on a Triple Crown race win, but he would go on to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont as a sire when American Pharoah stopped the thirty-seven year wait to become the twelfth member of racing's most exclusive club in 2015. It also gave Pioneerof the Nile some belated glory after coming up short in the 2009 Derby and Preakness. He had to wait a few years, but he was meant to have a win in both those races and the Belmont.

Although Pioneerof the Nile is no longer around after passing away in 2019, he will always be a part of the Triple Crown timeline thanks to both his strong Derby prep season and American Pharoah.

As a racehorse, he was filled with strength and class. As a sire, he handed those traits down to his children. And given what he achieved on the track and off it, Pioneerof the Nile can be called one of the most successful horses of the early twenty-first century.