Breeders' Cup Classic Results 2012: Winner, Top Finishers and Order

Brian Hernandez Jr. on Fort Larned took the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic in a thrilling finish. 

Leading up to the Classic, Fort Larned was generating a decent amount of buzz heading in, but he was completely overshadowed by favorite Game On Dude. 

Well, Game On Dude can have all the pre-race chatter—Fort Larned took the day, and it was a nice day for racing at Santa Anita. 

Check out the slideshow for more on the race, winner and payouts. 

Winner: Fort Larned

Fort Larned impressively went gate to wire to claim the richest race in American horse racing: The Breeders' Cup Classic. 

As the horses entered the home stretch, it looked like Mucho Macho Man was going to run Fort Larned down, and the two pulled away from the pack. However, Brian Hernandez Jr. stayed on his horse and Fort Larned responded with a nice finishing kick that it seemed impossible he'd still possess at that point in the race. 

Fort Larned took the win by a head.

It was a shock to see both Fort Larned and Mucho Macho Man lead so strongly from start to finish. Flat Out was a distant third. 

Winning Breeder: Janis R. Whitham

Winning Owner: Janis R. Whitham

Winning Trainer: Ian R. Wilkes

Payouts

Payouts

According to ESPN.com.

PGM	HORSE	WIN	PLACE	SHOW
4	Fort Larned	$20.80	$9.80	$6.80
11	Mucho Macho Man		$6.60	$4.60
2	Flat Out			$5.20

$2 Daily Double		2-4		55.80
$1 Daily Double		L. CLASSIC/CLASSIC 6-4		31.50
$1 Exacta		4-11		62.70
$1 Superfecta		4-11-2-10		1,763.30
$1 Super High Five		4-11-2-10-9		14,024.60
$1 Trifecta		4-11-2		306.90
$1 Pick 3		9-2-4 (3 correct)		420.10
$0.50 Pick 4		7-9-2-4 (4 correct)		5,647.40
$2 Pick 6		11-4-7-9-2-4 (5 correct)		2,712.00
$2 Pick 6		11-4-7-9-2-4 (6 correct)		419,245.40

Finishing Order

Finishing order according to Breederscup.com.

1.	Fort Larned
2.	Mucho Macho Man
3.	Flat Out
4.	Ron the Greek
5.	Richard's Kid
6.	Nonios
7.	Game On Dude
8.	Pool Play
9.	Handsome Mike
10.	To Honor and Serve
11.	Brilliant Speed
12.	Alpha

Game On Dude's Failure

Game On Dude left the gate as a 9-5 pre-race favorite. He has an amazing track record at Santa Anita, and had the legendary Bob Baffert training him. 

He got a bad start out of the gates and made a slight hint of a charge, but was never a factor and finished seventh, comfortably out of the money. 

Despite some successes in smaller races, it has been a season to forget for Baffert. 

The Wrap-Up

Game On Dude was the big betting surprise of this race, but with only the fifth lowest odds at the start of the race, Fort Larned was nearing long-shot status at 9-1. 

The place and show finishers were no surprise. Mucho Macho Man and Flat Out both had the second lowest odds on the board at 5-1.

At 16-1, To Honor and Serve finished 10th, and he was the only thing keeping the horses with the fourth lowest odds from the bottom. 

All in all, the race went fairly close to script with the notable exception being the winner.