Breeders' Cup 2015 Results: Winner, Payouts and Order of Finish for Classic Race

American Pharoah cruised to a victory in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday, sprinting past many of the year's top horses in the final race of his career. 

According to SportsCenter, the Triple Crown champion became the first horse ever to capture the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup. 

In typical American Pharoah fashion, per Eric Mitchell of BloodHorse.com, the horse went out in record-breaking style:

American Pharoah was the biggest name at Keeneland in Kentucky, the state in which he claimed his first major triumph of 2015, but there was uncertainty around the thoroughbred after finishing second at the Travers Stakes in August. 

Here's the full order of finish and payout results from this year's Classic:

Position	Horse	Lengths Back	Prize Payout
1	American Pharoah	-	$2.75 million
2	Effinex	6 1/2	$900,000
3	Honor Code	11	$500,000
4	Keen Ice	12 1/2	$300,000
5	Tonalist	12 1/2	$150,000
6	Hard Aces	12 1/2	-
7	Frosted	12 3/4	-
8	Gleneagles	25 1/4	-

Position	Horse	Win	Place	Show
1st	American Pharoah	$3.40	$3.00	$2.40
2nd	Effinex	-	$14.20	$6.60
3rd	Honor Code	-	-	$3.40

Coming into the race, American Pharoah's trainer, Bob Baffert, told the Associated Press his horse was in the best shape possible after having a two-month layoff following the Travers Stakes.

"The time off gave him the chance to get his strength back," Baffert said. "He's at his peak, he's happy and he's doing really well. He's going to come out of there running."

Baffert also said his advice to jockey Victor Espinoza was to keep American Pharoah "happy" and make sure the horse stayed "in his groove."

Espinoza ran American Pharoah perfectly, getting the three-year-old in the lead quickly out of the gate and keeping him at a good pace before the final turn. Then he cut loose and finished 6.5 lengths ahead of runner-up Effinex. 

After the race on the NBC telecast, per Scott Rabalais of the Advocate, Espinoza seemed to downplay the greatness of American Pharoah, though it was likely unintentional:

In Espinoza's defense, he has been a jockey for two decades and has won a lot of races on the back of many great horses. That said, given everything the two accomplished in 2015, he may eventually reconsider his position.

As far as reaction to the victory, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Ben Revere compared American Pharoah to the world's fastest man:

"

American Pharoah is the Usain Bolt of horse racing

— Ben Revere (@BenRevere9) October 31, 2015"

Since American Pharoah is riding off into the sunset with arguably the greatest year of any horse in the history of the sport, analysts tried to put his accomplishments in perspective. 

Jeremy Balan of BloodHorse.com was left almost speechless by American Pharoah:

Britney Eurton of TVG Network had a similar reaction:

The world of sports moves so quickly that it can be hard to appreciate greatness in the moment. LeBron James has endured his share of criticism, as has Serena Williams, Bryce Harper and many other active superstars. 

Yet when there is finally a moment to step back and realize what these athletes have done, it makes you want to have another chance to watch them. American Pharoah has completed one of the best seasons in horse racing ever and deserves every accolade he receives.