(JNS.org) American Pharoah, a horse owned by an Egyptian-born Jew, on Saturday won the Belmont Stakes to claim horse racing’s first Triple Crown since 1978.

The horse’s owner, Ahmed Zayat, is an Orthodox Jew from Cairo who currently lives in Teaneck, N.J. “We all wanted it. We wanted it for the sport. I’m happy for the horse, for the fans,” Zayat said after the Triple Crown-clinching win, NJ.com reported.

Before winning the Belmont, American Pharoah’s jockey, Victor Espinoza, had visited the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson, in the Queens section of New York City. During the visit, Espinoza—who is not Jewish, but is a spiritual person—carried a copy of the 2014 book “Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History.”