A Prelude to Zenyatta: Unrivalled Belle Rolls to Victory in Ladies' Classic

A day before Zenyatta attempts to win her 20th consecutive start, the 27th edition of the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships got off to a spectacular start as the $2 million Grade 1 Ladies' Classic was won decisively by Unrivalled Belle.

The four-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song, who had won her only other start at Churchill Downs and finished second in her last three tries in Grade 1 races, took charge at the top of the stretch and held off the late running 3-to-2 favorite Blind Luck to win by two lengths as the 7-to-1 third choice.

“This is one of the most hard trying fillies I ride. She throws her body down every time I turn her loose,” said jockey Kent Desormeaux. “I passed those horses and hadn’t even asked her to run yet. Boy, when I released the lines and cued her for one more gear she gave me three.”

The television audience watching on ESPN2 was made aware of some last-minute negative news regarding the 7-to-2 second betting choice in the field, Life At Ten, when her rider John Velazquez said she had not warmed up well and was not her normal self. She proceeded to break dead last and desperately trail the rest of the field throughout the race.

Afterwards, her trainer Todd Pletcher admitted she probably should have been scratched. For the bettors who wagered more than $300,000 to win on her, this was surely a frustrating set of circumstances.

This marked the first time in the history of the event that it was held in primetime and under the lights at Churchill Downs.

In Friday’s other Breeders’ Cup races:

$500,000 Grade 3 Marathon – The day got off to a wild start with a fight between jockey’s Calvin Borel and Javier Castellano breaking out after Eldaafer rallied from off the pace under John Velazquez to win at 10-to-1.

Castellano was aboard the original second place finisher Prince Will I Am; however, he was disqualified for causing interference going into the turn for home and placed 10th. Borel, aboard eventual third place finisher A.U. Miner, and Martin Garcia on Romp, took the worst of Castellano’s ill-advised aggressiveness.

Moved up to second place was the front-running 25-to-1 long shot Gabriel’s Hill.

$1 million Grade 2 Juvenile Turf – Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay’s More Than Real, under jockey Garret Gomez, displayed a scintillating turn of foot at the top of the stretch and held off even money favorite Winter Memories and jockey Jose Lezcano by two lengths to post the upset at 13-to-1.

After 20 defeats, this was the first winner for trainer Todd Pletcher with two-year-olds in Breeders’ Cup races.

$1 million Grade 1 Filly and Mare Sprint – Dubai Majesty romped home from off the pace to win by over two lengths at 8-to-1 and give jockey Jaime Theriot his first Breeders’ Cup win. It was the fourth win in seven starts over the Churchill Downs strip for the five-year-old daughter of Essence of Dubai.

A pair of three-year-old fillies based in California rounded out the trifecta, with Switch and jockey Joel Rosario finishing second and Evening Jewel with jockey Victor Espinoza running third.

$2 million Grade 1 Juvenile Fillies – Jockey Jeffery Sanchez upstaged Theriot by winning on the first Breeders’ Cup mount of his career aboard the still undefeated Awesome Feather. Sent off as the 4-to-1 co-favorite, the two-year-old daughter of Awesome of Course had rolled to five straight wins at Calder Race Course over lesser competition, and was able to out duel R Heat Lightning through the stretch to win by two and a quarter lengths.

$2 million Grade 1 Filly and Mare Turf – Shared Account pulled off the biggest upset in the history of this race by wearing down odds-on favorite and defending champion Midday to win at 45-to-1 under jockey Edgar Prado. It was also the second longest shot to ever win a Breeders’ Cup race.

With the win, the four-year-old daughter of Breeders’ Cup Classic champion Pleasantly Perfect captured the first Grade 1 victory of her career.

Another massive price, Keertana at 31-to-1, finished third.

Before the Ladies’ Classic was even run, it was guaranteed that nobody would hit the Pick 6, and there would be a carryover of $817,642 into Saturday.

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