American Pharoah is the greatest athlete of 2015 ... or is a horse no athlete?

You can debate whether or a horse is an athlete, or whether a thoroughbred even knows it’s racing. You can talk about how horse racing is dead and not even the biggest victory in a quarter-century will be enough to give it a brief revival. You can acknowledge that horse racing is just a novelty that only gains the interest of the public a few times per year, like boxing or the 100-meter dash, or swimming. But what you can’t argue is this: American Pharoah is the athlete of the year.

The reason?

American Pharoah is the first thoroughbred to win horse racing’s Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978, going wire-to-wire at the Belmont Stakes (just the second time that’s been done in 30 years) to make history. And anytime you’ve accomplished something in any athletic endeavor that hasn’t been accomplished in 37 years, you’re the king of sport, whether you spend your nights in a stable or not.

Even if Serena Williams wins the Grand Slam, American Pharoah still has her, as Steffi Graf won the Slam a full 10 years after Affirmed took the Triple Crown.

Novak Djokovic winning the men’s Grand Slam (which he can get halfway to with a win on Sunday) or Jordan Spieth doing it in golf would certainly take the crown from Pharoah.

Steph Curry can average 40 points for the rest of the NBA finals, Rory McIlroy can win the last three Slams, Tiger Woods can win any major and Tom Brady can have a 128.3 passer rating with properly inflated footballs, it won’t matter.

For now, Pharoah taking the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, then holding off all the ringer horses that skipped Baltimore to run a surprise assault in New York, is the greatest sports achievement of the year. And if you don’t think a horse is an athlete, clearly you weren’t watching on Saturday, when Pharoah turned the last corner and came down the stretch and into history, with 100,000 full-throated fans roaring every with every stride.

Only an athlete could generate so much excitement.