The two-day Breeders' Cup festival, which encompassed a record 14 races for the first time. Nine were contested on Saturday and the day's results highlighted the international flavor of the event. In addition to the Classic and Juvenile Turf, Europeans won the Turf, Mile on turf, and the inaugural Marathon, which is run on the main track. The Classic lost the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to injury, and it almost lost its other big draw - defending champion Curlin - to Santa Anita's new synthetic surface. The most radical change to the Breeders' Cup in the last 25 years was tested Friday in five races exclusively for females that opened the two-day, season-ending championships.
The $2 million Ladies' Classic was billed as one of the glamour matchups of this year's Breeders' Cup, pitting the undefeated Zenyatta against Ginger Punch, last year's champion, along with six other quality opponents. It turned into a one-horse show as Zenyatta roared to victory with a scintillating last-to-first sweep to extend her winning streak to nine. Ginger Punch, who won last year at New Jersey's Monmouth Park when it was called the Distaff, was never a factor, finishing sixth. Zenyatta has to be a serious contender for Horse of the Year.
Ventura won the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint; Maram won the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf; Stardom Bound captured the $2 million Juvenile Fillies; and Forever Together took the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf.
Curlin was upset in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Saturday, demoted to a fourth-place finish behind 13-1 long shot Raven's Pass from Britain. Neither reigning Horse of the Year Curlin nor Raven's Pass had ever raced on a synthetic surface. But Raven's Pass trains on something similar, and European horses used to running on turf often make an easier transition to synthetics. Raven's Pass capped a day of long-shot upsets at the season-ending championships, with European-based horses winning five of nine races. Seven of the winners at Santa Anita were long shots.
Goldikova was particularly dazzling in the Mile, and enabled her trainer, Freddy Head, to become the first person to both ride and train a Breeders' Cup winner. Head rode Miesque to victories in the Mile 1987 and 1988. Midnight Lute became the first two-time winner of the Sprint, and only the eighth horse to win two Breeders' Cup races, joining Bayakoa, Da Hoss, High Chaparral, Lure, Miesque, Ouija Board, and Tiznow. Ireland-bred Conduit won the $3 million Turf by 1 1/2 lengths in an upset. Desert Code, a 36-1 shot, won the $1 million Turf Sprint; Muhannak captured the $500,000 Marathon at 12-1 odds; and Britain-bred gelding Donativum won the $1 million Juvenile Turf under Dettori.
Garrett Gomez was the riding star of the day, doubling his career win total at horse racing's richest weekend, picking up a record four wins, including a record-breaking three Saturday. The 36-year-old Gomez piloted Midshipman (Juvenile), Albertus Maximus (Dirt Mile), Midnight Lute (Sprint) and Ventura (Filly & Mare Sprint) to victory over the sun-splashed track. Bob Baffert won two races, the Sprint with Midnight Lute, and with Midshipman in the Juvenile. Among owners, Darley Stable claimed three victories, with Princess Haya of Jordan sharing in two, including the Classic.
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