The $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) features 2-year-old colts and geldings going 1 1/16 miles on the main track, and often decides the early favorite for the next Kentucky Derby. Breeders' Futurity (G1) winner Carpe Diem was sent off as the 9-5 favorite in the field of 11. In to challenge him included 5-2 second choice Daredevil, winner of the Champagne (G1), and 6-1 third choice Upstart, second in the Champagne after winning the Funny Cide.
Texas Red leads in the stretch.
65-1 Blue Dancer and 10-1 Souper Colossal contested the pace through fractions of 22.37, 45.66, and 1:10.17 while stalked by 20-1 Mr. Z. The fast pace took its toll on the front three, setting the race up for the closers. 14-1 Texas Red, last for the first 5/8 mile, circled the field 5 wide to gain the lead at the 3/16 marker, and drew off to win by 6 1/2 lengths over late-running favorite Carpe Diem in 1:41.91. It was just a nose back to Upstart third.
Owner Gary West said, "We've had a lot of nice wins, and we've won a lot of Group 1 races, but this is by far the biggest accomplishment that Mary and I have ever achieved in horse racing. I think when everybody takes a look at what's happened over the last couple of days with the incredible speed bias, and when you go watch the replay of this race to see the amount of ground that this horse made up, I think it's going to be an impressive race when the sports writers and all the equine analysts take a look at this."
Texas Red wins the Juvenile
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show
7 Texas Red Desormeaux 29.80 9.80 5.60
9 Carpe Diem Velazquez 3.80 2.80
13 Upstart Ortiz 3.60
Winning Time: 1:41.91
$2 Exacta 7-9 50.30
$2 Trifecta 7-9-13 335.70
$2 Superfecta 7-9-13-4 4,016.10
Left: Texas Red heads to the winner's circle. Jockey Kent Desormeaux said, "He was so far back, there was nobody in his way until the 1/4 pole, so it was a pretty uneventful trip. I had a horse that was slowing down in front and to the right of me, and I didn't know whether to go around him and just have an unadultered trip, because I had so much horse. So just buy another 200 yards and stay inside of him. I elected to stay inside and take that chance, and it worked out really well. Because all Texas Red did was bottle up and conserve more energy. When I swung him out, didn't really need much riding. As the Europeans say, once I presented him, he just bellied down and extended his stride. Full of power."
Right: Texas Red heads back to the barn. Co-owner Erich Brehm said, "I think one of the notes that you guys may like to know is as a yearling, Texas Red's training partner was Cozmic One, Zenyatta's baby. And that was because Texas Red was big enough to train with that horse. Maybe it did us some good."
Trainer Keith Desormeaux and his brother jockey Kent Desormeaux celebrate with the trophy. This is the first time brothers have won a Breeders' Cup race in this manner. Keith said, "We've had five chances, and this is the first one. But this is always going to be the sweetest, I'm sure. Kent and I were always confident with the way the horse was training, and just when you watch the fractions and you see the whole court. The whole Breeders' Cup court seems to be won by horses on the lead. You're just hoping that you get enough of a pace to run at, and that happened."
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Carpe Diem returns after the race. Jockey John Velazquez said, "He started far back. Dirt hit him and he went backward instead of forward. Once he got into the clear, he started running and finished good." Trainer Todd Pletcher added, "He got a big education, a lot of dirt and a different scenario than he's been in. It took him a while to get untracked. I think he finished really well. He's a promising horse for the future."
Right: Third place finisher Upstart toward the back of the pack shortly after the start. Jockey Jose Ortiz said, "Good trip. I was a little wide the first turn; everybody wanted to go. I had to take back and stick in behind them. By the 3/8 I was perfect and he was positioned very well. When I had to move, I had the horse and everything and thought I was going to win. The winner was much the best. Every start he gets better. He really improved and belonged in this race. He will get better."
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.