[h=1]Breeders' Cup Clocker Report October 26, 2017.[/h]
[h=1]Bob Baffert Talks Breeders' Cup.[/h]
[h=1]Arrogate Jogs At Santa Anita - 10-26-17[/h]
[h=1]Scott Blasi Likes What He Sees From Gun Runner.[/h]
[h=1]Collected Gallops At Santa Anita - 10-26-17.[/h]
[h=1]2016 Breeders' Cup Mile.....Tourist gets the win.[/h]
[h=1]2016 Breeders' Cup Sprint.....Drefong gets the win.[/h]
[h=1]2016 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.....Queens trust nips Lady Eli at the wire.[/h]
[h=1]Top 10 Breeders’ Cup Upsets.[/h]
Next week’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships marks the 34th year the best Thoroughbreds in North America meet up to compete in races that usually determine divisional championships at the Eclipse Awards.
Often, they are joined by some of the best racehorses from overseas as well, especially in turf races. With a preponderance of elite racing talent assembled, year-in year-out, one of the most exciting elements of the Breeders’ Cup from a fan’s and a handicapper’s perspective is watching (and hopefully cashing in on) the inevitable upsets that occur.
Only in the Breeders’ Cup do horses that have won multiple Grade 1 races go off as hefty longshots when the starting gates open. Every year, at least one or two improbable winners will elicit questions such as “how did they get overlooked?” or “where did that horse come from?” and those moments are what make the Breeders’ Cup such a special event.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup has an extra layer of anticipation already percolating, as it will be held at beautiful Del Mar for the first time in the event’s history. Some of the races have clear-cut favorites coming in – Bolt d’Oro in the Sentient Jet Juvenile, Lady Eli in the Filly and Mare Turf – but most don’t.
So, before the final entries are announced and everyone delves deep into the past performances with final-exam focus, let’s look back at 10 of the most memorable upset wins in Breeders’ Cup history.
Next week’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships marks the 34th year the best Thoroughbreds in North America meet up to compete in races that usually determine divisional championships at the Eclipse Awards.
Often, they are joined by some of the best racehorses from overseas as well, especially in turf races. With a preponderance of elite racing talent assembled, year-in year-out, one of the most exciting elements of the Breeders’ Cup from a fan’s and a handicapper’s perspective is watching (and hopefully cashing in on) the inevitable upsets that occur.
Only in the Breeders’ Cup do horses that have won multiple Grade 1 races go off as hefty longshots when the starting gates open. Every year, at least one or two improbable winners will elicit questions such as “how did they get overlooked?” or “where did that horse come from?” and those moments are what make the Breeders’ Cup such a special event.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup has an extra layer of anticipation already percolating, as it will be held at beautiful Del Mar for the first time in the event’s history. Some of the races have clear-cut favorites coming in – Bolt d’Oro in the Sentient Jet Juvenile, Lady Eli in the Filly and Mare Turf – but most don’t.
So, before the final entries are announced and everyone delves deep into the past performances with final-exam focus, let’s look back at 10 of the most memorable upset wins in Breeders’ Cup history.
10. Sheikh Albadou, 1991 Breeders’ Cup Sprint
This race’s presence in the top 10 owes more to whom European invader Sheikh Albadou defeated than to his 26.30-1 odds. Housebuster had already been voted champion sprinter in 1990, and entered the 1991 Sprint at Churchill Downs as a heavy favorite due to his 4-2-0 record in seven starts that year, with his only poor effort coming when stretched out in distance in the Met Mile. But Housebuster broke poorly in the Sprint at odds of 2-5 before recovering to take a brief lead in early stretch, and when Sheikh Albadou engaged him at the eighth pole, the champion had little left. Sheikh Albadou drew clear under a hand ride from Pat Eddery and romped by three lengths over late-arriving Pleasant Tap, who would be voted champion older male in 1992. “I couldn’t believe how easy he was going,” Eddery said afterward. Housebuster faded to ninth, but repeated as champion sprinter at the 1991 Eclipse Awards and entered the Hall of Fame in 2013.
This race’s presence in the top 10 owes more to whom European invader Sheikh Albadou defeated than to his 26.30-1 odds. Housebuster had already been voted champion sprinter in 1990, and entered the 1991 Sprint at Churchill Downs as a heavy favorite due to his 4-2-0 record in seven starts that year, with his only poor effort coming when stretched out in distance in the Met Mile. But Housebuster broke poorly in the Sprint at odds of 2-5 before recovering to take a brief lead in early stretch, and when Sheikh Albadou engaged him at the eighth pole, the champion had little left. Sheikh Albadou drew clear under a hand ride from Pat Eddery and romped by three lengths over late-arriving Pleasant Tap, who would be voted champion older male in 1992. “I couldn’t believe how easy he was going,” Eddery said afterward. Housebuster faded to ninth, but repeated as champion sprinter at the 1991 Eclipse Awards and entered the Hall of Fame in 2013.
9. Cash Run, 1999 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
The 1999 Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream Park brought together highly regarded Chilukki, winner of six in a row to begin her career for Bob Baffert, including five graded stakes, and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Surfside, winner of the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes, in a highly-anticipated matchup. Instead, it was the other Lukas-trained filly, 32.50-1 Cash Run, who stole the show with a gritty 1 ¼-length win over 3-2 favorite Chilukki, with 5-2 Surfside closing to get third. Cash Run had won two of four starts and finished third in the Grade 2 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland for Padua Stables, but gave a career-best effort in the Juvenile Fillies with Jerry Bailey aboard, responding gamely when headed by Chilukki on the far turn to win the stretch battle. She would go on to win two more graded stakes early in her 3-year-old season before going winless in her final eight starts. Chilukki was voted champion 2-year-old filly of 1999, and Surfside champion 3-year-old filly a year later.
The 1999 Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream Park brought together highly regarded Chilukki, winner of six in a row to begin her career for Bob Baffert, including five graded stakes, and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Surfside, winner of the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes, in a highly-anticipated matchup. Instead, it was the other Lukas-trained filly, 32.50-1 Cash Run, who stole the show with a gritty 1 ¼-length win over 3-2 favorite Chilukki, with 5-2 Surfside closing to get third. Cash Run had won two of four starts and finished third in the Grade 2 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland for Padua Stables, but gave a career-best effort in the Juvenile Fillies with Jerry Bailey aboard, responding gamely when headed by Chilukki on the far turn to win the stretch battle. She would go on to win two more graded stakes early in her 3-year-old season before going winless in her final eight starts. Chilukki was voted champion 2-year-old filly of 1999, and Surfside champion 3-year-old filly a year later.
8. Adoration, 2003 Breeders’ Cup Distaff
Juddmonte Farms’ Sightseek had the spotlight entering the 2003 Distaff at Santa Anita Park, having won four consecutive Grade 1 stakes. Puzzlingly, she failed to fire at 3-5 odds, finishing a distant fourth. The David Hofmans-trained Adoration, on the other hand, moved immediately to the front under Pat Valenzuela and kept six challengers at bay throughout, pulling away to a 4 ½-length romp at odds of 40.70-1. Her win was the second of three Breeders’ Cup victories for Hofmans to date – the other two were longshots as well, Alphabet Soup (19.85-1) in the 1996 Classic and Desert Code (36.50-1) in the 2008 inaugural Turf Sprint.
Juddmonte Farms’ Sightseek had the spotlight entering the 2003 Distaff at Santa Anita Park, having won four consecutive Grade 1 stakes. Puzzlingly, she failed to fire at 3-5 odds, finishing a distant fourth. The David Hofmans-trained Adoration, on the other hand, moved immediately to the front under Pat Valenzuela and kept six challengers at bay throughout, pulling away to a 4 ½-length romp at odds of 40.70-1. Her win was the second of three Breeders’ Cup victories for Hofmans to date – the other two were longshots as well, Alphabet Soup (19.85-1) in the 1996 Classic and Desert Code (36.50-1) in the 2008 inaugural Turf Sprint.
7. Lashkari, 1984 Breeders’ Cup Turf
One of the biggest upsets in Breeders’ Cup history occurred during the inaugural World Championships in 1984 at Hollywood Park, when France-based, English-bred Lashkari rallied through the stretch to edge Hall of Fame racemare All Along by a neck at odds of 53.40-1. The Aga Khan’s 3-year-old son of Mill Reef entered the Breeders’ Cup off of a win in a Group 2 stakes at Longchamp. He defeated a stellar field, including 1983 Horse of the Year All Along, winner of that year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and three Grade 1 races in North America. Lashkari won one of four races in 1985 leading up to the second Breeders’ Cup at Aqueduct. There, in his final career start, he finished fourth but was disqualified from purse money after a medication violation was discovered.
One of the biggest upsets in Breeders’ Cup history occurred during the inaugural World Championships in 1984 at Hollywood Park, when France-based, English-bred Lashkari rallied through the stretch to edge Hall of Fame racemare All Along by a neck at odds of 53.40-1. The Aga Khan’s 3-year-old son of Mill Reef entered the Breeders’ Cup off of a win in a Group 2 stakes at Longchamp. He defeated a stellar field, including 1983 Horse of the Year All Along, winner of that year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and three Grade 1 races in North America. Lashkari won one of four races in 1985 leading up to the second Breeders’ Cup at Aqueduct. There, in his final career start, he finished fourth but was disqualified from purse money after a medication violation was discovered.
6. Shared Account, 2010 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf
After winning the 2009 Filly and Mare Turf, Juddmonte Farms’ Midday went 3-for-4 in Europe with one second (all three wins in Group 1 stakes) before shipping back to the U.S. for the 2010 Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs. She was sent off as the 9-to-10 favorite in a race where several high-quality turf distaffers were overlooked by bettors. One of those was Sagamore Farm’s Shared Account, a two-time graded stakes winner who had also finished second in three Grade 1s during 2009-’10 for trainer Graham Motion. In a thrilling race, Shared Account, who saved ground throughout under an expert ride from Edgar Prado, defeated Midday by a neck at odds of 46-1, with 31.70-1 longshot Keertana another neck back in third. It was Motion’s second Breeders’ Cup win at the time; his first was also an upset, when Better Talk Now defeated champion Kitten’s Joy at odds of 27.90-1 in the 2004 Turf.
After winning the 2009 Filly and Mare Turf, Juddmonte Farms’ Midday went 3-for-4 in Europe with one second (all three wins in Group 1 stakes) before shipping back to the U.S. for the 2010 Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs. She was sent off as the 9-to-10 favorite in a race where several high-quality turf distaffers were overlooked by bettors. One of those was Sagamore Farm’s Shared Account, a two-time graded stakes winner who had also finished second in three Grade 1s during 2009-’10 for trainer Graham Motion. In a thrilling race, Shared Account, who saved ground throughout under an expert ride from Edgar Prado, defeated Midday by a neck at odds of 46-1, with 31.70-1 longshot Keertana another neck back in third. It was Motion’s second Breeders’ Cup win at the time; his first was also an upset, when Better Talk Now defeated champion Kitten’s Joy at odds of 27.90-1 in the 2004 Turf.
5. Volponi, 2002 Breeders’ Cup Classic
A well-matched 12-horse field clashed in the 2002 Classic at Arlington Park, featuring the likes of 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner and iron horse Evening Attire, European Group 1-winning invader Hawk Wing, and Travers Stakes winner Medaglia d’Oro. On the other hand, Volponi had gone 2-for-7 in ’02 prior to the Breeders’ Cup and had done his best running on turf for Hall of Fame trainer P.G. Johnson. The end result was one few could have envisioned, as Volponi stalked from fifth through the first six furlongs before moving up through the far turn and then powering clear under Jose Santos to win by 6 ½ lengths over favorite Medaglia d’Oro. Volponi’s 43.50-1 odds represent the second-highest among all Breeders’ Cup Classic winners, bumping inaugural 1984 Classic winner Wild Again (31.30-1) to third place. His win also proved to be the undoing of a trio of conspirators, including a rogue Autotote employee, who had attempted to manipulate the tote system in order to take down the Pick 6 only to be discovered due to their improbable final ticket.
A well-matched 12-horse field clashed in the 2002 Classic at Arlington Park, featuring the likes of 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner and iron horse Evening Attire, European Group 1-winning invader Hawk Wing, and Travers Stakes winner Medaglia d’Oro. On the other hand, Volponi had gone 2-for-7 in ’02 prior to the Breeders’ Cup and had done his best running on turf for Hall of Fame trainer P.G. Johnson. The end result was one few could have envisioned, as Volponi stalked from fifth through the first six furlongs before moving up through the far turn and then powering clear under Jose Santos to win by 6 ½ lengths over favorite Medaglia d’Oro. Volponi’s 43.50-1 odds represent the second-highest among all Breeders’ Cup Classic winners, bumping inaugural 1984 Classic winner Wild Again (31.30-1) to third place. His win also proved to be the undoing of a trio of conspirators, including a rogue Autotote employee, who had attempted to manipulate the tote system in order to take down the Pick 6 only to be discovered due to their improbable final ticket.
