A full field of 14 older horses contested the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) going about 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf chute at Santa Anita. Eddie D Stakes (G3) winner Unbridled's Note was sent off as the 9-2 favorite over 11-2 second choice California Flag, winner of this race in 2009 and coming off a win in the San Simeon Handicap (G3), and 6-1 third choice Bridgetown, winner of both the Troy and the Woodford (G3).
Mizdirection rallies on the far outside in the stretch
14-1 Starspangledbanner was quickest away and opened a 1 1/2 length lead down the hill through fast fractions of 21.11 and 42.39 while stalked by 31-1- Chosen Miracle and 9-1 Reneesgotzip. After crossing the main track, Starspangledbanner continued to lead through 5/8 in 1:05.36 before tiring, as 7-1 Mizdirection, 10th early, charged on the far outside to win by 1/2 a length over favorite Unbridled's Note in 1:11.39. It was another 1 1/4 lenths back to Reneesgotzip third.
Left: Mizdirection heads to the winner's circle. Winning co-owner, sports talk show host Jim Rome said, "The great thing about this horse is she is so honest and so tough. And like everybody said in a race like that coming down that hill where it's a free for all you hope to get a good break, a good racing lock. But at the end of the day I had concerns as to whether or not she was good enough. She was so tough and honest. I wasn't concerned on who was on the other either side. We wanted to get her in and get her out clean. We're all in love with the horse. It's great to see her run like that and make up the ground she did, it feels great."
Right: Mizdirection heads back to the barn after the race. Trainer Mike Puype said, "We had talked and Alex (Solis Jr., co-owner) pushed me a month ago, he said all the good colts out here in California were getting hurt and we need to do start thinking about this race and that's all I needed to get her in gear. She was wide. She lost ground. She ran like a true champion to lose that much ground and still beat a field as talented as this" Jockey Mike Smith added, "She broke really well and then the race was on. She gathered herself up and hit the dirt (cross-over) running. I think that was a big key, a lot of times they hit the dirt and scramble, she got the dirt and she was in her best stride at the wire, to be honest, she could have went a mile today.
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Unbridled's Note in the post parade. Jockey Corey Nakatani said, "The race set up just the way we thought it would. I was able to get first run on a lot of the horse, but I couldn't catch the winner. He ran a tremendous race. He didn't deserve to lose. All we can ask for them is to do their best – and that's what he did."
Right: Third place finisher Reneezgotzip returns after the race. Jockey Garrett Gomez said, "She broke well, put me in a good spot, tracked well, crossed the dirt well. Peter (trainer Miller) jiggled the idea of trying her on the turf, and when I worked her a half-mile on the turf here a couple of weeks ago she lit up my face."
Mike Smith poses with some fans from Nebraska after the race. The same lady had two other signs for the day: Groupie Doll (winner of the Filly and Mare Sprint) and Mucho Macho Man (2nd in the Classic). Hope she bet the same as her signs!
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: Mizdirection heads to the winner's circle. Winning co-owner, sports talk show host Jim Rome said, "The great thing about this horse is she is so honest and so tough. And like everybody said in a race like that coming down that hill where it's a free for all you hope to get a good break, a good racing lock. But at the end of the day I had concerns as to whether or not she was good enough. She was so tough and honest. I wasn't concerned on who was on the other either side. We wanted to get her in and get her out clean. We're all in love with the horse. It's great to see her run like that and make up the ground she did, it feels great."
Right: Mizdirection heads back to the barn after the race. Trainer Mike Puype said, "We had talked and Alex (Solis Jr., co-owner) pushed me a month ago, he said all the good colts out here in California were getting hurt and we need to do start thinking about this race and that's all I needed to get her in gear. She was wide. She lost ground. She ran like a true champion to lose that much ground and still beat a field as talented as this" Jockey Mike Smith added, "She broke really well and then the race was on. She gathered herself up and hit the dirt (cross-over) running. I think that was a big key, a lot of times they hit the dirt and scramble, she got the dirt and she was in her best stride at the wire, to be honest, she could have went a mile today.
Left: Second place finisher and beaten favorite Unbridled's Note in the post parade. Jockey Corey Nakatani said, "The race set up just the way we thought it would. I was able to get first run on a lot of the horse, but I couldn't catch the winner. He ran a tremendous race. He didn't deserve to lose. All we can ask for them is to do their best – and that's what he did."
