A field of 12 older horses went 1 1/2 miles starting on Santa Anita's downhill turf chute in the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). Irish Champion Stakes (G1) and Yorkshire Oaks (G1) winner The Fugue was sent off as the 3-2 favorite in the field of 12 over 4-1 Point of Entry, winner of the Manhattan Handicap (G1) on Belmont Stakes day, and 11-2 defending champion Little Mike, off his win in the Turf Classic Invitational (G1) also at Belmont.
96-1 longest shot Teaks North and jockey Martin Garcia battled for the lead with Little Mike under Mike Smith through fractions of 24.02, 46.94, 1:10.67, and 1:35.26 while stalked by 68-1 Tale of a Champion under Joe Talamo. On the third turn, Little Mike poked his head in front through 1 1/4 mile in 1:59.47 before tiring. The Fugue, 7th early under William Buick, moved up to take the lead at the 1/8 pole but 12-1 Magician, 11th early under Ryan Moore, closed wide and outfinished her by 1/2 a length in 2:23.23. It was another 3/4 length back to Indy Point third.
Magician wins the Turf
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show
11 Magician Moore 27.60 11.80 7.00
7 The Fugue Buick 4.40 3.00
9 Indy Point Stevens 5.40
Winning Time: 2:23.23
$1 Exacta 11-7 36.70
$1 Trifecta 11-7-9 316.90
$1 Superfecta 11-7-9-8 1,450.30
Left: Magician heads to the winner's circle. Trainer Aidan O'Brien, celebrating his fourth Breeders' Cup Turf win said, "Ryan said going out he was drawing a little bit wide, and he was going to go forward and slash him in. And because the pace was so strong, he was very happy to let him relax. He got him balanced after the bend, and that's an art to do that. He produced them after the bend long later on, and the run just carried him to the line. He's by Galileo, which is just probably the most incredible stallion that we ever, ever had or probably ever will have anything to do with. Just don't know when to give up, really. It's incredible determination and class that he puts into it."
Right: Magician returns after the race.
The trophy presentation with owners Paul Smith and J.P. Magnier, jockey Ryan Moore, and trainer Aidan O'Brien. J.P. Magnier said, "(Moore) gave him a lovely, patient ride. He wouldn't have liked to be back at him halfway, but he obviously knew what he was doing and he gave him a very good ride. Aidan brought him here for a reason. He must have been confident enough. So that was very good."
Jockey Ryan Moore said, "He's one of the best horses I've ridden in a long time. He switched off nice at the beginning. I was a little farther back than I wanted to be because he got a bump at the turn and he lost his back end, but he leveled off nicely, got his balance. From there he took me where I wanted to be."
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite The Fugue heads over to the turf course. Trainer John Gosden said, "She's run a great race. We came a bit wide into the straight. We've beaten a very good Argentinian horse (Indy Point), but the form is very hard to assess as the winner (Magician) hasn't run since June. He's a bit of a joker in the pack (deck). She ran her race. She improved her position. She just got beat at the end." Jockey William Buick added, "She did nothing wrong, she did everything right. She felt good to me. She ran well."
Right: Third place finisher Indy Point returns after the race. Trainer Richard Mandella said, "He ran great. I was very pleased with his effort. Gary (Stevens) told me he wished he would have gone one way instead of the other. In a race you have to make a quick decision and he did. I sure will take this race over Arlington (Million, last of 13)." Jockey Gary Stevens added, "He gave me a big run. It was a game effort. He's a very nice horse and I enjoy riding him. He dug in and gave me everything he had. I couldn't ask for anything more from him."
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: Magician heads to the winner's circle. Trainer Aidan O'Brien, celebrating his fourth Breeders' Cup Turf win said, "Ryan said going out he was drawing a little bit wide, and he was going to go forward and slash him in. And because the pace was so strong, he was very happy to let him relax. He got him balanced after the bend, and that's an art to do that. He produced them after the bend long later on, and the run just carried him to the line. He's by Galileo, which is just probably the most incredible stallion that we ever, ever had or probably ever will have anything to do with. Just don't know when to give up, really. It's incredible determination and class that he puts into it."
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite The Fugue heads over to the turf course. Trainer John Gosden said, "She's run a great race. We came a bit wide into the straight. We've beaten a very good Argentinian horse (Indy Point), but the form is very hard to assess as the winner (Magician) hasn't run since June. He's a bit of a joker in the pack (deck). She ran her race. She improved her position. She just got beat at the end." Jockey William Buick added, "She did nothing wrong, she did everything right. She felt good to me. She ran well."
