A field of just 9 older horses went to post in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), a 1 mile trip around one turn of the main track at Santa Anita Park. Emcee was sent off as the 5-2 favorite off his win in the Forego (G1) ar Saratoga. In to challenge him included 3-1 second choice Shackleford, second in the Kelso (G2) last out, and 9-2 third choice Jersey Town, winner of the Kelso after finishing third in the Forego.
Tapizar leads with Rail Trip on the rail and Delegation on the far outside.
Jockey Alan Garcia sent Emcee to the lead first time by and he set fractions of 22.77 and 46.58 while pressed by 15-1 Tapizar. On the far turn, Tapizar pushed to the lead by 1/2 a length through 3/4 in 1:22.95. He quickly opened up a 2 1/2 length lead through 7/8 in 1:22.95. 8-1 Rail Trip attempted to close from 8th to no avail as Tapizar cruised past the post 2 1/4 lengths clear ina time of 1:35.34. It was another 1 3/4 lengths back to 19-1 Delegation third, while favorite Emcee checked in sixth.
Tapizar (outside) wins the Dirt Mile over Morning Line
Left: Tapizar in the winner's circle. Owner-breeder Ron Winchell said, "The key was we shipped him out here, he worked over the surface a couple of times and he worked way better than he was going at Belmont and we thought it was definitely worth a shot at this point. This race we knew we were going to run differently because when he ran in the Breeders' Cup Mile last year, the plan was to restrain him and not let him have too much speed and that proved to be ineffective with his style of running, so the plan today was to let him be a free-running horse, to go out there and let him be on the lead or off the lead and hopefully have something left coming home."
Right: Tapizar heads back to the barn after the race. Jockey Corey Nakatani said, "This never gets old. Winning a race on Breeders' Cup day is special; it's special just to get the chance to compete. It's extremely gratifying. We had a good trip. He got away in good order. Last time (6th in the Kelso), he just didn't handle the track. I told Steve (Asmussen) to go on to the Breeders' Cup, and I'm glad he did."
Left: Second place finisher Rail Trip in the post parade. Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. said, "Considering the way this track has been playing for speed, I thought he ran a great race. When Shackleford missed the break, I think that changed the whole complexion of the race. When I got through at the head of the stretch, I had a lot of horse, but we were just second best today. It is a credit to Ron Ellis that he gets this horse back after two years and he still has his number."
Right: Third place finisher Delegation returns after the race. Trainer Mark Casse said, "I thought he ran great. Patrick said he was trying to get out, but he had a good trip." Jockey Patrick Husbands added, "I had so much horse and I was coming on the rail. I was begging for a little break. When I finally got it, it was too late. He showed up like a champion. He ran a big race."
Sixth place finisher and beaten favorite Emcee returns after the race. Jockey Alan Garcia said, "He broke good and I saw that Shackleford stumbled out of the gate, so I said 'let me take a chance.' We fell into the lead and he gave me all he could. Just no luck today."
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: Tapizar in the winner's circle. Owner-breeder Ron Winchell said, "The key was we shipped him out here, he worked over the surface a couple of times and he worked way better than he was going at Belmont and we thought it was definitely worth a shot at this point. This race we knew we were going to run differently because when he ran in the Breeders' Cup Mile last year, the plan was to restrain him and not let him have too much speed and that proved to be ineffective with his style of running, so the plan today was to let him be a free-running horse, to go out there and let him be on the lead or off the lead and hopefully have something left coming home."
Left: Second place finisher Rail Trip in the post parade. Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. said, "Considering the way this track has been playing for speed, I thought he ran a great race. When Shackleford missed the break, I think that changed the whole complexion of the race. When I got through at the head of the stretch, I had a lot of horse, but we were just second best today. It is a credit to Ron Ellis that he gets this horse back after two years and he still has his number."
