London Bridge rallies down the center in the stretch
The longest race on Breeders' Cup weekend is the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon (G2), a 1 3/4 mile test around 3 turns of the Santa Anita Park oval. Ever Rider, winner of the General Belgrano (G2) in Argentina, was sent off as the lukewarm 9-2 favorite in the 10 horse field. In to challenge him included 5-1 Worldly, third in the Homecoming Classic at Churchill Downs after finishing second in the Governor's Cup at Remington Park, and 6-1 Indian Jones, second in the Greenwood Cup (G3) at Parx and in a Laurel allowance last out.
8-1 Commander and Ever Rider set the early pace of 46,71, 1:11.55, and 1:37.62. 7-1 Blueskiesnrainbows and jockey Martin Pedroza who stalked the lead pair in third, inherited the lead into the stretch through 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.87 and 1 1/2 in 2:29.62. 9-1 London Bridge, 8th early under Mike Smith, outfinished Blueskiesnrainbows to win by 1 length in 2:58.32. It was a neck back to Worldly third, while favorite Ever Rider was pulled up after 10 furlongs by jockey Gary Stevens and walked off.
London Bridge wins the Marathon
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show
7 London Bridge Smith 20.00 10.20 6.40
8 Blueskiesnrainbows Pedroza 9.00 6.20
10 Worldly Flores 4.80
Winning Time: 2:58.32
$1 Exacta 7-8 96.20
$1 Trifecta 7-8-10 695.30
$1 Superfecta 7-8-10-5 4,742.20
Left: London Bridge in the winner's circle. Jockey Mike Smith said, "He just had to work really hard. He was never really sure of the dirt. The change in his shoes made a big difference, but even with that he was never really confident. I had to keep riding him at times, taking a hold of him, riding him, trying get him confident, but keep moving all at the same time. I felt if I kept chasing them, he'd lose confidence. So I did a little of both and he outlasted them, because really, if it was on grass, it would have been a much better victory."
Right: London Bridge in the paddock.
The trophy presentation with assistant trainer Mikael Magnusson on the left and owner Paul Fudge in the center. Magnusson said, "When he came through the backstretch the second time, I thought he would have a chance. Because I know the horse and I saw how hard Mike had to work to get his very lazy horse. We had him in the cheek pieces for the first time. Mike won't believe that, but it has helped him. He's not ungenuine; he's just very unfocused. So when they turned him for home, I thought he would win it because the other horses looked pretty knackered at that time, you know? We sold the horse prior to this race and he will now go and race in Australia."
Left: Second place finisher Blueskiesnrainbows in the post parade. Jockey Martin Pedroza said, “I was very pleased with my position. I had a good spot right behind the leaders and my horse relaxed real nice. He was pulling me pretty hard early, but I got him settled. I needed to move when I did because most of the other horses were starting to come at that point." Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer added, "We can't complain about that. He ran huge."
Right: Third place finisher Worldly returns after the race. Jockey David Flores said, "Wow, that was a long way out there. I kept him in the clear on the outside because this is a horse that does not like dirt in his face. Being outside did not cost him the race. He ran a big race and just had (London Bridge) run by the two of us (with Blueskiesnrainbows)."
Beaten favorite Ever Rider who did not finish the distance in the post parade. Jockey Gary Stevens said, "He was done after six furlongs. I took care of him after that. He should be fine." AAEP on-call veterinarian Dr. Wayne McIlwraith added, "The report from the veterinarians is that Ever Rider was pulled up and he just got tired. He checked out normally, and he's walking back to the barn. He didn't need to go on the ambulance."
Breeders' Cup Saturday Results - There were 9 races Saturday highlighted by the $5 million Classic where American Pharoah was an impressive winner in his final start before retiring to stud. Also on the card, Found won the Turf, Nyquist won the Juvenile, and Tepin won the Mile. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 9 races here. Get more photos and comments for each race here.
Breeders' Cup Friday Results - There were 4 races Friday highlighted by the Distaff where Stopchargingmaria won by a neck over Stellar Wind and the Dirt Mile won by Liam's Map. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 4 races here.
Thursday Breeders' Cup Photos - Photos and comments for 38 horses out on Thursday morning at Keeneland on both the main and training tracks, including American Pharoah. Beholder was also out, but was found to have bled when scoped and is scratched from the Classic.
Wednesday Breeders' Cup Photos - Photos and comments for 46 horses out on a very rainy Wednesday morning at Keeneland on both the main and training tracks, including Keen Ice, Frosted, and Golden Horn. No American Pharoah yet, hopefully he comes out tomorrow.
2015 Breeders' Cup Entries - Check out the entries, post postitions, and morning line odds for the 13 Breeders' Cup World Championship races to be held at Keeneland on October 30 and 31.
Tuesday Breeders' Cup Photos - Photos and comments for 31 horses out on a rainy Tuesday morning at Keeneland including Stephanie's Kitten, Grand Arch, and Private Zone.
Monday Breeders' Cup Photos - Photos and comments for 28 horses out Monday morning at Keeneland including Rachel's Valentina and a timed work by Beholder.
Sunday Breeders' Cup Photos - Photos and comments for 10 horses out Sunday morning at Keeneland including Liam's Map and Lea
Breeders' Cup Weather - Check out the latest weather forecasts for the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland
Review: Crushing the Cup 2015 - by Jim Mazur and Peter Mallett. An invaluable tool for trying to unlock the mysteries of handicapping the Breeders' Cup races at Keeneland updated for 2015.
2014 Breeders' Cup Saturday Results - The feature race was the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic won by Bayern. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 9 races here.
2014 Breeders' Cup Friday Results - Friday was headlined by the $2 million Ladies Classic won by Untapable. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 4 races here.
Breeders' Cup History - Historical info, past results, and photos from previous runnings
The Breeders' Cup Championship Day - The official page for the Breeders' Cup championship races. Just about anything you need to know about it: results, video clips, and race calls for past years, and eventually nominations, entries, and results.
Free Prep Replays - for major prep races in the Breeders' Cup Challenge. The ones with camera logos have video available.
Blazing Silks, Breeders' Cup Edition- an interactive social network game that allows horse racing fans and social gamers to train and care for Thoroughbred horses.
TV Schedule - for all the preps and other programming leading up to the big day
Breeders' Cup Postcards - Breeders' Cup theme virtual postcards to send your friends including many past winners
Breeders' Cup Supplemental Entries - The old official policy on supplemental entries plus all the supplemental entries and how they fared, mostly it was a losing proposition. There are no more supplements now, only late nominations making it impossible to track now.
Left: London Bridge in the winner's circle. Jockey Mike Smith said, "He just had to work really hard. He was never really sure of the dirt. The change in his shoes made a big difference, but even with that he was never really confident. I had to keep riding him at times, taking a hold of him, riding him, trying get him confident, but keep moving all at the same time. I felt if I kept chasing them, he'd lose confidence. So I did a little of both and he outlasted them, because really, if it was on grass, it would have been a much better victory."
The trophy presentation with assistant trainer Mikael Magnusson on the left and owner Paul Fudge in the center. Magnusson said, "When he came through the backstretch the second time, I thought he would have a chance. Because I know the horse and I saw how hard Mike had to work to get his very lazy horse. We had him in the cheek pieces for the first time. Mike won't believe that, but it has helped him. He's not ungenuine; he's just very unfocused. So when they turned him for home, I thought he would win it because the other horses looked pretty knackered at that time, you know? We sold the horse prior to this race and he will now go and race in Australia."
Left: Second place finisher Blueskiesnrainbows in the post parade. Jockey Martin Pedroza said, “I was very pleased with my position. I had a good spot right behind the leaders and my horse relaxed real nice. He was pulling me pretty hard early, but I got him settled. I needed to move when I did because most of the other horses were starting to come at that point." Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer added, "We can't complain about that. He ran huge."
