The feature race on Championship Friday is the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) (run for part of its history as the Ladies Classic), contested at 1 1/8 miles over the main track and usually decides Champion Older Female and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly. Wedding Toast, winner of both the Ogden Phipps (G1) and the Beldame (G1), was the 3-1 favorite in the field of 14 over 9-2 I'm a Chatterbox, winner of the Cotillion (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and 6-1 Got Lucky, winner of the Spinster (G1), the main local prep for the Distaff.
Down the stretch with Stopchargingmaria and Stellar wind battling on the outside
45-1 My Sweet Addiction set the pace of 23.75, 47.28, and 1:11.49 over the fast main track while pressed by 19-1 Yahilwa and stalked by Wedding Toast. In the stretch the pacesetters tired as 7-1 Stopchargingmaria, 6th early but always in touch, took over through 1 mile in 1:36.36 and held off 7-1 Stellar Wind by a neck in 1:48.98. It was a long 3 1/2 lengths back to 10-1 Curalina third while favorite Wedding Toast faded to 11th. Victor Espinoza aboard Stellar Wind claimed foul against Javier Castellano aboard Stopchargingmaria for interference in the stretch (there was bumping at the 3/16) but the stewards allowed the result to stand.
Left: Stopchargingmaria in the winner's circle. WInning trainer Todd Pletcher said, "I felt confident that she would train well enough that we could have her ready to run a big race and felt like if we ran in the Spinster or the Beldame or one of those races in between that she might not fire her A shot.
She's a very easy filly to read. When she's on her game, she trains exceptionally well, and I felt really confident after a breeze here on Sunday that she was coming into the race as well as she could."
Right: The trophy presentation with trainer Todd Plecher on the far right.
Left: Stopchargingmaria walks over before the race. Winning jockey Javier Castellano said, "I like to start a good position in the race, especially in the first turn. A lot of horses, a big field.
It worked out perfect. I go out of the gate, I put it in full position, all the way in the race in the backside. I think the key was in the first turn where I put the horse head right behind the Wedding Toast and put it outside. All control the race, I think it was the key to win the race."
Right: Stopchargingmaria heads back to the barn with her new winner's blanket.
Left: Second place Stellar Wind returns after the race. Jockey Victor Espinoza said, "Turning for home I was right next to Javier (Castellano aboard Stopchargingmaria). I didn't want to get bumped. His horse went about 6 wide and I had to go with him. My filly showed a lot of fight."
Right: Third place finisher Curalina crosses the finish line. Jockey Joel Rosario said, "It was a good trip. She was in a good spot and traveling beautifully. I waited a little more than I wanted. She ran her race and ran hard, I couldn't get them." Trainer Todd Pletcher added, " She was making a big move splitting horses down the back side. When a seam opened up on the rail, I thought they might battle it out. Joel, talking to him afterwards, said he thought she was just a little bit intimidated when things got tight and lost her momentum a bit. I thought it was a huge effort from her."
Left: 11th place finisher and beaten favorite Wedding Toast in the post parade. The Kiaran McLaughlin trainee pressured the pace under jockey Jose Lezcano but tired in the stretch to finish 11th beaten 8 3/4 lengths.
Right: The field breaks from the gate for the Distaff. You can see My Sweet Addiction (6) went to her knees at the start.
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.