Breeders' Cup 2013 Results: Winners from Early Friday Action

The best horses and jockeys in the world have descended upon Santa Anita for the 2013 Breeders' Cup.

Outside of the Triple Crown races, few, if any, events are able to capture the attention of horse racing fans quite like the Breeders' Cup can. There's a ton of money on the line, and races featuring top competition from across the entire world.

What's not to like?

Although all eyes will be on Saturday's races—capped off with the $5 million Classic—it didn't take away from what was some exhilarating action on Friday evening.

Here are the results from the first three races on Day 1 of the Breeders' Cup, courtesy of Horse Racing Nation.

Marathon
Place	Horse	Jockey
1	London Bridge	Mike Smith
2	Blueskiesnrainbows	Martin Pedroza
3	Worldly	David Flores
4	Suns Out Guns Out	Julien Leparoux
5	Indian Jones	Angel Castillo
6	Old Time Hockey	Jose Lezcano
7	Pool Play	Eurico Rosa Da Silva
8	Commander	Aaron Gryder
9	Cease	David Cohen
10	Ever Rider	Gary Stevens

Mike Smith ran a phenomenal race to get his 18th win at the Breeders' Cup—the most of all time—via Daily Racing Form.

He didn't have London Bridge storm out of the gate. Instead, he hanged back, making sure to stick close enough to the leaders and not let the gap grow too large.

Then, on the final stretch, Smith and London Bridge made their move. They came flying up, overtaking Suns Out Guns Out, Blueskiesnrainbows and Worldly, among others en route to the win, via Breeders' Cup Twitter account.

Over a 1.75-mile race, Smith was smart enough not to push the horse too early or get stuck on the inside rail. He trusted his colt enough to count on that late push. As the other horses started to falter, London Bridge had enough stamina left to get into the lead.

Blueskiesnrainbows and Worldly both ran very good races, too. They were near the lead for just about the entire race and finished second and third, respectively.

One of the interesting storylines from the race was the performance of Ever Rider. He came in as the favorite but pulled up lame mid-race. Rather than trying to push the horse beyond his limits, jockey Gary Stevens chose to let Ever Rider gingerly gallop to the finish. It was heartening to see the jockey forsaking the short term in order to put the horse's health first.

Juvenile Turf
Place	Horse	Jockey
1	Outstrip	Mike Smith
2	Giovanni Boldini	Ryan Moore
3	Bobby's Kitten	Javier Castellano
4	Bon Accord	Joel Rosario
5	Got Shades	Gary Stevens
6	Bashart	John Velazquez
7	Aotearoa	Corey Nakatani
8	Poker Player	Channing Hill
9	Wilshere Boulevard	William Buick
10	Ontology	Mario Gutierrez
11	Shamshon	Richard Hughes
12	Home School	Rafael Bejarano
13	All Cash	Luis Saez

And the rich get richer. Mike Smith wasted no time in getting No. 19, winning the Juvenile Turf with Outstrip.

Once again, he and his horse ran a brilliant race. He didn't push Outstrip too early, leaving enough in the tank to make a late push. Down the final stretch, it was Outstrip surging ahead and into the lead, as Bobby's Kitten and Giovanni Boldini were powerless to make up the difference.

Perhaps lost in the afterglow of Outstrip's win was how well Ryan Moore did. It looked like Giovanni Boldini would be the benefactor following Bobby's Kitten's fade toward the end. Instead, Outstrip pushed ahead and overtook Giovanni Boldini. Moore still ran a great race, and there's no shame in finishing second to somebody as decorated as Smith is at the Breeders' Cup.

Bobby's Kitten came in as the heavy favorite. He started out extremely strong out of the gate and set a blistering pace early. However, that fast start ended up costing Bobby's Kitten in the end, as he didn't have anything left to overtake either Outstrip or Giovanni Boldini.

Dirt Mile
Place	Horse	Jockey
1	Goldencents	Rafael Bejarano
2	Golden Ticket	Joel Rosario
3	Brujo de Olleros	Alan Garcia
4	Verrazano	John Velazquez
5	Hymn Book	Javier Castellano
6	Fed Biz	Martin Garcia
7	Pants on Fire	Paco Lopez
8	Alpha	Joe Bravo
9	Broadway Empire	Rico Walcott
10	Holy Lute	Mike Smith
11	Centralintelligence	Victor Espinoza
Scratch	Taptowne	Brian Hernandez
Scratch	Easter Gift	Joel Rosario

Goldencents came into the Dirt Mile as one of the top favorites, and lived up to the hype with a dominating win.

It's his first victory since the Santa Anita Derby back in April.

After he started strongly right out of the gate, you wondered if this would be the case of another fast horse peaking too early and fading down the final stretch. That was the narrative of the first two races of the day.

Instead, Goldencents remained right at the top and even managed to create some distance as the race was winding down. After the first two races, it was refreshing to see a horse take control early and not let the lead slip.

It was a wire-to-wire finish and more evidence that there may be no horse around better at running the mile than Goldencents.

Verrazano was the favorite coming in, but he could only manage a fourth-place finish. The Wood Memorial winner was never much of a factor.