‘The baddest in the land.’ Several records fall during Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland
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2020 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington.
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The North American Thoroughbred racing season reached its thrilling climax Saturday on the final day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland on a beautiful fall day in Lexington.
The general public was barred from the Breeders’ Cup because of COVID-19, but Keeneland was teeming with plenty of spectators with connections to the Thoroughbreds who contested the 12 races on Saturday’s card — and they got to witness several record-setting performances, along with a wild upset.
Filly & Mare Turf Sprint
Bob Baffert picked up the first win of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup slate when his trainee Gamine easily won race No. 4, the Filly & Mare Sprint, in record-breaking fashion.
Even-money favorite Gamine shot past runner-up Serengeti Empress near the final turn and won with a time of 1:20.20, setting a Keeneland record for a 7-furlong race.
“I’m so proud and happy for this filly,” Baffert said. “We’ve always thought she was the baddest in the land going one turn and she got to prove it today.
“She’s the fastest sprinting filly that I’ve ever trained in my life. She’s brilliant.”
Mile
In a stacked field of 14, a horse who began the day on the outside looking in pulled off a stunner in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Order of Australia broke at odds of 73-1 and held on to win the Mile by a neck for Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien. The 3-year-old colt was a late entry after One Master was scratched earlier in the day and paid $148.40 on a $2 win bet.
O’Brien trainees took the top three spots in the Mile, with Circus Maximus runner-up and Lope Y Fernandez finishing third. All three were bred in O’Brien’s native Ireland.
O’Brien, who set a world record in 2016 by racing 26 Group or Grade 1 winners in one calendar year, didn’t make the trip to Lexington, opting instead to follow the Breeders’ Cup from back home.
Turf Sprint
History was also made in race No. 5.
Great Britain-bred Glass Slippers won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with odds of 10-1. It was the North American debut for the 4-year-old filly, who edged out front of a tightly packed cluster coming down the stretch and held on for a close win at the wire.
With Glass Slippers’ thrilling run — which pushed her over $1 million in career earnings — Kevin Ryan became the first European trainer to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
“I’m ecstatic. To come and compete against the best sprinters in the world and beat them is just amazing,” Ryan said. “Today was our day.”
Dirt Mile
Trainer Brad Cox and the ownership group of Knicks Go strongly considered retiring the 4-year-old colt prior to 2020 after he was required to undergo bone-chip surgery. But the recovery went well, and Knicks Go was back in the game.
After Knicks Go set a track record in winning an allowance race during Keeneland’s Fall Meet in October, Cox decided the Breeders’ Cup was a go. His confidence was rewarded, as Knicks Go won the Dirt Mile on Saturday by 3 1/2 lengths over Jesus’ Team, setting yet another track record with a time of 1:33.85.
It’s the third career victory at Keeneland for Knicks Go. In 2018, he won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity as a 2-year-old.
With Monomoy Girl’s thrilling win in the Distaff hours later, Cox now has seven Breeders’ Cup victories.
Filly & Mare Turf
17-1 long shot Audarya, a French-bred 4-year-old filly, charged to a tentative lead in the stretch under jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot and held on at the wire to win the Filly & Mare Turf in course-record time for a 1 3/16-mile turf race. She bested 5-2 favorite Rushing Fall by a neck.
Florent Geroux was tossed from the saddle on Starship Jubilee from the inside post at the start of the race, but quickly got to his feet and was unharmed. Starship Jubilee was also uninjured, galloping out the race without a rider.
Sprint
The fourth time proved to be the charm for the elder statesman in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Whitmore pulled ahead early in the stretch and cruised to a 3 1/4-length romp in the 7-furlong speed test under jockey Irad Ortiz.
Whitmore, a 7-year-old gelding who finished last in the 2016 Kentucky Derby, tried his luck in the Sprint three times previously. He finished second in 2018 and third last year.
Whitmore now has six graded stakes wins and more than $4 million in career earnings.
Turf
Ireland-bred Tarnawa hit a new gear in the stretch and picked off rival after rival, pulling ahead late to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf by a length.
It’s the fourth straight win for the 4-year-old filly and her first on American soil. She shipped to the U.S. for the Breeders’ Cup after three stakes wins in Europe this year. It’s also the first Breeders’ Cup victory for trainer Dermot Weld.
Somber start
Absolutely Aiden, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred colt, was euthanized after sustaining an injury to his front right leg during an accident in race No. 2.
Three horses got bunched up heading into the stretch. Jockeys Chris Landeros, David Cohen and Tyler Gaffalione all went down along with Absolutely Aiden.
All three jockeys left the track under their own power and were medically cleared to resume riding. Absolutely Aiden was vanned off and evaluated by a team of track veterinarians.
Keeneland released a statement following the decision to euthanize the colt.
“Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup are saddened by the death of Absolutely Aiden and offer our condolences to his connections. Throughout the Fall Meet and leading up to the World Championships, we have worked together and with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, a team of top equine veterinarians and racing surface experts to ensure every measure was in place to provide our athletes the safest conditions possible.”
Distant milestone for Pletcher
While he was at Keeneland on Friday for the opening day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, trainer Todd Pletcher earned the 5,000th victory of his career when Microsecond won race No. 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York.
“It’s such a great tribute to the whole staff, the whole team,” Pletcher, whose trainees have earned more than $395 million, said. “A lot of people are dedicated and put in a lot of hard work. But mainly it’s about the horses.”
Pletcher had horses entered in five Keeneland races on Friday, three of which were Breeders’ Cup contests.
“It would have been kind of cool to do it in a Breeders’ Cup race,” he said of reaching the career milestone. “But ... every win counts, and we’re happy to get it.”
Future Stars finances
All-sources handle for Future Stars Friday at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships was $50,285,986. That was an 11 percent decrease from the $56,517,228 wagered last year through all sources during Breeders’ Cup opening day at Santa Anita.
Though Breeders’ Cup opening-day wagering was slightly down this year, Friday’s total exceeded that of six of the previous 13 years.
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 5:18 PM.
