The 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships marks the thirty eighth yr the most effective Thoroughbreds in North America meet as much as compete in races that often decide divisional championships on the Eclipse Awards.
Usually, they’re joined by among the greatest racehorses from abroad as properly, particularly in turf races. With a preponderance of elite racing expertise assembled, year-in year-out, one of the crucial thrilling parts of the Breeders’ Cup from a fan’s and a handicapper’s perspective is watching (and hopefully cashing in on) the inevitable upsets that happen.
Solely within the Breeders’ Cup do horses which have gained a number of Grade 1 races go off as hefty longshots when the beginning gates open. Yearly, a minimum of one or two unbelievable winners will elicit questions reminiscent of “how did they get ignored?” or “the place did that horse come from?” and people moments are what make the Breeders’ Cup such a particular occasion. Simply assume again to 2017 when Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup card began off with wins by Caledonia Road ($36.60), Stormy Liberal ($62.40), and Bar of Gold ($135.40).
So, earlier than the entries are introduced for this yr’s World Championships at Del Mar on Nov. 5-6 and everybody delves deep into the previous performances with final-exam focus, let’s look again at 12 of essentially the most memorable upset wins in Breeders’ Cup historical past.
** This text was initially printed in 2018 and has been up to date **
12. Sheikh Albadou, 1991 Breeders’ Cup Dash
This race’s presence right here owes extra to whom European invader Sheikh Albadou defeated than to his 26.30-1 odds. Housebuster had already been voted champion sprinter in 1990, and entered the 1991 Dash at Churchill Downs as a heavy favourite resulting from his 4-2-0 report in seven begins that yr, together with his solely poor effort coming when stretched out in distance within the Met Mile. However Housebuster broke poorly within the Dash at odds of 2-5 earlier than recovering to take a quick lead in early stretch, and when Sheikh Albadou engaged him on the eighth pole, the champion had little left. Sheikh Albadou drew clear beneath a hand journey from Pat Eddery and romped by three lengths over late-arriving Nice Faucet, who could be voted champion older male in 1992. “I couldn’t consider how simple he was going,” Eddery mentioned afterward. Housebuster pale to ninth, however repeated as champion sprinter on the 1991 Eclipse Awards and entered the Corridor of Fame in 2013.
11. Money Run, 1999 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
The 1999 Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream Park introduced collectively extremely regarded Chilukki, winner of six in a row to start her profession for Bob Baffert, together with 5 graded stakes, and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Surfside, winner of the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes, in a highly-anticipated matchup. As an alternative, it was the opposite Lukas-trained filly, 32.50-1 Money Run, who stole the present with a gritty 1 ¼-length win over 3-2 favourite Chilukki, with 5-2 Surfside closing to get third. Money Run had gained two of 4 begins and completed third within the Grade 2 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland for Padua Stables, however gave a career-best effort within the Juvenile Fillies with Jerry Bailey aboard, responding gamely when headed by Chilukki on the far flip to win the stretch battle. She would go on to win two extra graded stakes early in her 3-year-old season earlier than going winless in her closing eight begins. Chilukki was voted champion 2-year-old filly of 1999, and Surfside champion 3-year-old filly a yr later.
10. Adoration, 2003 Breeders’ Cup Distaff
Juddmonte Farms’ Sightseek had the highlight coming into the 2003 Distaff at Santa Anita Park, having gained 4 consecutive Grade 1 stakes. Puzzlingly, she failed to fireplace at 3-5 odds, ending a distant fourth. The David Hofmans-trained Adoration, however, moved instantly to the entrance beneath Pat Valenzuela and stored six challengers at bay all through, pulling away to a 4 ½-length romp at odds of 40.70-1. Her win was the second of three Breeders’ Cup victories for Hofmans so far – the opposite two had been longshots as properly, Alphabet Soup (19.85-1) within the 1996 Basic and Desert Code (36.50-1) within the 2008 inaugural Turf Dash.
9. Lashkari, 1984 Breeders’ Cup Turf
One of many greatest upsets in Breeders’ Cup historical past occurred throughout the inaugural World Championships in 1984 at Hollywood Park, when France-based, English-bred Lashkari rallied by way of the stretch to edge Corridor of Fame racemare All Alongside by a neck at odds of 53.40-1. The Aga Khan’s 3-year-old son of Mill Reef entered the Breeders’ Cup off of a win in a Group 2 stakes at Longchamp. He defeated a stellar discipline, together with 1983 Horse of the 12 months All Alongside, winner of that yr’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and three Grade 1 races in North America. Lashkari gained one in every of 4 races in 1985 main as much as the second Breeders’ Cup at Aqueduct. There, in his closing profession begin, he completed fourth however was disqualified from purse cash after a drugs violation was found.
8. Shared Account, 2010 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf
After profitable the 2009 Filly and Mare Turf, Juddmonte Farms’ Noon went 3-for-4 in Europe with one second (all three wins in Group 1 stakes) earlier than delivery again to the U.S. for the 2010 Filly and Mare Turf at Churchill Downs. She was despatched off because the 9-to-10 favourite in a race the place a number of high-quality turf distaffers had been ignored by bettors. A type of was Sagamore Farm’s Shared Account, a two-time graded stakes winner who had additionally completed second in three Grade 1s throughout 2009-’10 for coach Graham Motion. In an exciting race, Shared Account, who saved floor all through beneath an skilled journey from Edgar Prado, defeated Noon by a neck at odds of 46-1, with 31.70-1 longshot Keertana one other neck again in third. It was Movement’s second Breeders’ Cup win on the time; his first was additionally an upset, when Better Talk Now defeated champion Kitten’s Pleasure at odds of 27.90-1 within the 2004 Turf.
7. Volponi, 2002 Breeders’ Cup Basic
A well-matched 12-horse discipline clashed within the 2002 Basic at Arlington Park, that includes the likes of 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Struggle Emblem, Jockey Membership Gold Cup winner and iron horse Night Apparel, European Group 1-winning invader Hawk Wing, and Travers Stakes winner Medaglia d’Oro. Alternatively, Volponi had gone 2-for-7 in ’02 previous to the Breeders’ Cup and had achieved his greatest working on turf for Corridor of Fame coach P.G. Johnson. The top end result was one few may have envisioned, as Volponi stalked from fifth by way of the primary six furlongs earlier than transferring up by way of the far flip after which powering clear beneath Jose Santos to win by 6 ½ lengths over favourite Medaglia d’Oro. Volponi’s 43.50-1 odds signify the second-highest amongst all Breeders’ Cup Basic winners, bumping inaugural 1984 Basic winner Wild Once more (31.30-1) to 3rd place. His win additionally proved to be the undoing of a trio of conspirators, together with a rogue Autotote worker, who had tried to control the tote system to be able to take down the Decide 6 solely to be found resulting from their unbelievable closing ticket.
6. One Dreamer, 1994 Breeders’ Cup Distaff
Three fillies had been despatched off at odds of two.10-1 or decrease in a loaded 1994 Distaff at Churchill Downs – Ogden Phipps’ champion 3-year-old filly Heavenly Prize, champion older feminine and eventual Corridor of Famer Sky Magnificence, and 1993 champion 3-year-old filly and Distaff winner Hollywood Wildcat. In the meantime, Glen Hill Farm’s One Dreamer entered the Distaff off of a third-place end in a turf stakes at Dueling Grounds in south-central Kentucky (now Kentucky Downs). That being mentioned, the grey daughter of Relaunch had loads of expertise, as she’d gone 11-for-24 as much as the Breeders’ Cup, and in Louisville she reunited with Gary Stevens, who rode her to a pace-setting victory in a Grade 2 stakes at Churchill a yr earlier. Within the Distaff, horse and jockey employed the identical techniques once more, taking pictures out to the early lead, setting snug fractions, after which going all out within the stretch to carry off a sport Heavenly Prize by a neck at odds of 47.10-1. That efficiency, which impressed one in every of announcer Tom Durkin’s many traditional race calls, was One Dreamer’s final profession race earlier than she was retired to Leonard Lavin’s Florida farm.
5. Spain, 2000 Breeders’ Cup Distaff
The 2000 Distaff was additionally held at Churchill Downs and featured each 1999 Distaff winner Lovely Pleasure and a heavy favourite in 2-5 Riboletta, a Brazilian import who had gained seven of 10 races in 2000, together with 5 Grade 1 stakes. Riboletta would win the Eclipse Award as champion older feminine in 2000, however she threw in a clunker within the Distaff, fading to seventh within the nine-horse discipline. The winner was 55.90-1 Spain, owned by Prince Ahmed bin Salman’s The Thoroughbred Corp. and skilled by Corridor of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. The epitome of a hard-trying racemare, Spain would retire on the finish of 2002 having gained 9 of 35 begins, with 9 seconds and 7 thirds and greater than $3.5 million in earnings. She practically scored a repeat win within the 2001 Distaff, dropping by a head to Unbridled Elaine, and fetched $5.3 million as a broodmare on the 2002 Keeneland November breeding inventory sale when she was bought following Prince Ahmed’s dying.
4. Courtroom Imaginative and prescient, 2011 Breeders’ Cup Mile
A case might be made that the 2011 Mile is the most important upset in Breeders’ Cup historical past, even when the winner didn’t carry the longest odds within the occasion’s historical past. It’s not that Courtroom Imaginative and prescient wasn’t an excellent horse – he definitely was that, a millionaire who’d gained 4 Grade 1 stakes over four-plus seasons (though he was unplaced in 4 prior begins in 2011). However, for many followers and gamblers, Churchill Downs was the anticipated website for a history-making fourth consecutive Breeders’ Cup Mile win by the incomparable globe-trotting Goldikova, who was justifiably despatched off because the 13-10 favourite in a loaded 13-horse discipline. The Wertheimer brothers’ Irish-bred celebrity had toyed together with her competitors in her three prior Miles, seemingly able to taking up every race at will. This time, Goldikova was bottled up on the within coming into the lane, bullied her method by way of visitors to take a quick lead, however then was overwhelmed by an onrushing Courtroom Imaginative and prescient and Grade 1 winner Turallure to her exterior. One of many slimmest margins ever separated the highest two, with Courtroom Imaginative and prescient nosing out Turallure for one million dollar-plus profession finale and Goldikova settling for third. The winner’s odds: 64.80-1.
3. Bar of Gold, 2017 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Dash
What do you get once you mix the surprising defeat of a celebrity fan favourite who had gained her earlier 5 begins by a mixed margin of 32 ¼ lengths with a winner who had by no means earlier than gained a graded stakes race? How a couple of 66.70-1 upset! Bar of Gold, a 5-year-old by Medaglia d’Oro, entered the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in 2017 with little fanfare coming off a sixth-place end within the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes. It’s not as if Bar of Gold had not earned her spot within the race, having gained the Yaddo Stakes in August and completed second in each the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters and Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes. However most of her greatest efforts had come on grass or artificial surfaces. Unique Bella, however, entered the race on a five-race profitable streak and appeared to tower over her opposition … on paper. Horse racing, after all, isn’t settled on paper. After setting a blistering tempo by way of a half-mile in :44.35, Distinctive Bella had no gasoline left within the tank by the stretch and pale to seventh. Bar of Gold, reserved in 13th behind the lightning-fast half-mile, used the quick tempo to her benefit and swept previous 12 horses to prevail by a nostril over Ami’s Mesa within the closing strides. The Filly and Mare Dash was the ultimate race of Bar of Gold’s profession, whereas Distinctive Bella capped her season with a victory within the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes and took house champion feminine sprinter honors with 5 graded stakes wins on the yr.
2. Order of Australia, 2020 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Introduced by PDJF
For runner-up on this record, let’s have a look again one quick yr in the past (though in COVID-19 time it could actually look like an eternity). The Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland was held regardless of attendance being extraordinarily restricted as a result of pandemic, and the turf races as traditional attracted top-class expertise from Europe. The Mile drew an overflow discipline together with One Grasp, two-time winner of the Group 1 Qatar Prix de la Foret and fifth-place finisher within the 2018 Mile, and Coolmore’s Circus Maximus, who had gained the distinguished Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes throughout the Royal Ascot meet earlier within the season. From the U.S, defending race winner Uni was again for a repeat bid, and different achieved contenders reminiscent of Ivar, Halladay, and Digital Age made the Mile arguably essentially the most aggressive race on the two-day World Championships card.
On race day, nonetheless, One Grasp was sadly scratched from the Mile, and that enabled one other Coolmore-owned horse, Order of Australia, to attract in from the also-eligible record. The three-year-old Australia colt had gained a few weight-for-age handicaps throughout September however was thumped by 47 ¾ lengths in a Group 3 stakes on the Curragh in Eire simply three weeks previous to the Breeders’ Cup. That end result, plus his draw within the far exterior 14 publish, made Order of Australia a 73.20-1 longshot because the gates opened. To additional stack the percentages, Order of Australia’s named rider Christophe Soumillon didn’t journey to the U.S. after testing constructive for COVID-19; as a substitute, Pierre-Charles Boudot, who was initially slated to journey the scratched One Grasp, picked up the mount.
Strategizing on the fly, Boudot managed to offer his new task an ideal stalking journey in fourth by way of the backstretch as Halladay set the tempo within the Mile. Order of Australia angled out and rallied three large on the prime of the lane and was all out to carry off stablemate Circus Maximus by a neck in an exciting end, setting off cries of disbelief amongst bettors who ignored the late entry and ones of celebration from Coolmore associates who secured a profitable trifecta (their third entry, Lope Y Fernandez, completed third). Amazingly, Boudot picked up his second win on the day with a substitute mount, as he piloted Audarya to attain within the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf earlier when that filly’s authentic jockey additionally needed to cancel his journey resulting from a COVID-19 constructive. The win payout for Order of Australia got here to $148.40, behind solely the primary horse on this record because the highest-priced victor in Breeders’ Cup historical past.
1. Arcangues, 1993 Breeders’ Cup Basic
Arcangues’ 1993 Basic win over champion Bertrando at no-it’s-not-a-misprint 133.60-1 odds is the kind of mark which will properly endure for 133 years of World Championships, or longer. The cosmos of excellent fortune aligned completely over Santa Anita Park that yr – an unknown European horse with first rate however inconsistent turf kind, a prime French coach’s hunch that his horse would carry out properly on a floor he’d by no means tried, and an elite American jockey (Jerry Bailey) given minimal driving directions in a language he couldn’t actually perceive. For the primary mile or so of the Basic, Andre Fabre-trained Arcangues ran nearly as much as the expectations of a 133.60-1 shot … till he didn’t. His explosive run by way of the stretch from seventh to first nonetheless amazes, and all these years later nonetheless leads Bailey to humorously flash again to that day now and again from the NBC Sports activities TV sales space.
