A field of 12 older horses went 1 1/2 miles around 3 turns of Keeneland's Haggin Turf COurse in the $3 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). Irish Champion Stakes (G1) and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner Golden Horn ws sent off as the 4-5 favorite over Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) winner at 11-2 Big Blue Kitten and 6-1 The Pizza Man, winner of the Arlington Million (G1)
As expected "rabbit" Shining Copper (stablemate of Big Blue Kitten) sprinted clear of the field soon after the start, and set fractions of 24.56, 48.38, 1:12.64, and 1:39.07 while as many as 20 lengths in front of 151-1 longest shot Cage Fighter in second, in turn 2 lengths ahead of Golden Horn stalking him in third. At the top of the stretch for the last time, Shining Copper clocked 1 1/4 mile in 2:07.20 and was dropping from contention along with Cage Fighter, as Golden Horn easily inherited the lead. However, 13-2 fourth choice Found, who was 6th early, rallied late to win by 1/2 a length in 2:32.06 over the good course. It was another 3/4 length back to late-running Big Blue Kitten third.
Found wins the Turf
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show
9 Found Moore 14.80 7.80 4.60
1 Golden Horn Dettori 2.60 2.20
7 Big Blue Kitten Bravo 3.00
Winning Time: 2:32.06
$2 Exacta 9-1 42.80
$2 Trifecta 9-1-7 199.60
$2 Superfecta 9-1-7-4 1,107.20
Left: Found in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Ryan Moore said, "She is very tough filly. To run in Champion Stakes and the Arc and to come on here is amazing. She beat a champion (Golden Horn) and that is special too. I had to go around one and then I had to go."
Right: Found walks over before the race. Co-owner M.V. Magnier said, "Ryan said that she's exceptional and so what can I say? Ryan gave her a fantastic ride. Aidan has done an unbelievable job keeping her going. And (sire) Galileo, I don't know what more to say about him."
The trophy presentation with owner Michael Tabor and trainer Aidan O'Brien on the right. O'Brien said, "We trained her, kept her a mile earlier in the year with a view to giving her a break in the middle and then training her for the Arc. Everything went well for the Arc, but she just didn't have much look and went to the line on the bridle. So we came back to the Champions Stakes. She was drawn badly, but came out of the race really well. Like I say, the lads made a decision to run. I thought it was a little bit far-fetched, like she was a 3-year-old filly after running in two Champion Stakes and an Arc within a month. But she didn't have any look in any of the races. She's very special filly."
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Golden Horn racing in third place first time by, over 20 lengths behind the rabbit Shining Copper. Trainer John Gosden said, "We always knew we were taking a risk running on ground like this that is softer than anything he's run on before. Take nothing away from the winner. She's a very good filly, and the best turf horse in America has finished third, Our horse has run a terrific race on ground that didn't suit him." Jockey Frankie Dettori added, "(The turf) was just too loose for him. He ran a great race though. He was laboring from the top of the stretch."
Right: Third place finisher Big Blue Kitten in the post parade. Trainer Chad Brown said, "Disappointed they didn't win, but man, those four horses on the wire together are four very good racehorses. I'm really proud of the effort my two horses put in. I'm so proud of them at age seven to be running as good as ever. I can tell you those two horses ahead of them, Found and Golden Horn, they weren't backing up either. They were flying through the lane. So it's hard to make up ground on horses that are that talented and finishing that strong at 1 1/2. What a terrific horse race!"
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: Found in the winner's circle. Winning jockey Ryan Moore said, "She is very tough filly. To run in Champion Stakes and the Arc and to come on here is amazing. She beat a champion (Golden Horn) and that is special too. I had to go around one and then I had to go."
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Golden Horn racing in third place first time by, over 20 lengths behind the rabbit Shining Copper. Trainer John Gosden said, "We always knew we were taking a risk running on ground like this that is softer than anything he's run on before. Take nothing away from the winner. She's a very good filly, and the best turf horse in America has finished third, Our horse has run a terrific race on ground that didn't suit him." Jockey Frankie Dettori added, "(The turf) was just too loose for him. He ran a great race though. He was laboring from the top of the stretch."
