Breeders' Cup 2013 Winner: Mucho Macho Man Justifies Odds with Dominant Race
By the time the dust settled on the dirt track at Santa Anita Park in California, Much Macho Man and legendary jockey Gary Stevens silenced any and all critics with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Mucho Macho Man entered the 30th annual running of the race as the favorite with 5-1 odds, per Daily Racing Form, and in combination with Stevens, who came out of retirement this season after a seven-year absence, pulled out just ahead of Will Take Charge and Declaration of War.
| 1 | Mucho Macho Man | Gary Stevens | Kathy Ritvo | 6 |
| 2 | Will Take Charge | Luis Saez | D. Wayne Lukas | 10 |
| 3 | Declaration of War | Joseph O'Brien | Aidan O'Brien | 5 |
| 4 | Fort Larned | Brian Hernandez Jr. | Ian Wilkes | 7 |
| 5 | Last Gunfighter | Javier Castellano | Chad Brown | 1 |
| 6 | Palace Malice | Rafael Bejarano | Todd Pletcher | 8 |
| 7 | Paynter | Martin Garcia | Bob Baffert | 2 |
| 8 | Flat Out | Joel Rosario | William Mott | 12 |
| 9 | Game On Dude | Mike Smith | Bob Baffert | 9 |
| 10 | Moreno | Joseph Talamo | Eric Guillot | 4 |
| 11 | Planteur | Ryan Moore | Marco Botti | 3 |
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With $5 million purse in hand (or hoof), Much Macho Man proved once and for all the odds were in no way incorrect about his chances.
Mucho Macho Man finished second at Santa Anita Park last year behind Fort Larned, who struggled despite favorable odds as well and ended up in fourth place.
Interestingly enough, paired with his near victory last year and taking into account Mucho Macho Man's lone victory in four starts this year also came at Santa Anita Park, it was easy to see this win coming.
Call it a home-field advantage.
Of course, the addition of Stevens helped. Despite a seven-year break, Stevens has over 27,000 starts to his name, with over 4,000 of those being first-place finishes—meaning his overall winnings is well over $227 million.
Feel free to add another $5 million to that total.
| Mucho Macho Man | $10 | $4.60 | $3.60 |
| Will Take Charge | — | $7.20 | $4.80 |
| Declaration of War | — | — | $4.80 |
Despite an illustrious career with nine Triple Crown wins and plenty of Grade 1 Stakes victories, this is the one that had always alluded Stevens. Until now. Here's what he had to say after the big win, as captured by Derek Thompson:
Not only did Mucho Macho Man prove able in the face of strong odds, but he also made history—with his win, Kathy Ritvo became the first female trainer in history to win the Classic, as illustrated by Jennie Rees of the Louisville Courier-Journal:
Ritvo herself is an amazing story after a heart transplant in 2008. She now resides in a special moment in sports history next to Mucho Macho Man, as does the 50-year-old legend Stevens, who gets a picture-perfect ending to his comeback story.
Mucho Macho Man delivered on the odds Saturday, but the victory represents so much more.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
