Another Chapter in Taylor Made’s Breeders’ Cup Story

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup

Can you imagine being a horse racing-crazy kid with a ringside seat to the creation of the Breeders' Cup? Mark Taylor can, because he was.

Fast forward more than four decades and now he is president and CEO of the Central Kentucky farm that is believed to have raised and/or sold more Breeders' Cup winners than any other. There's also the matter of having stood the Breeders' Cup winner who currently holds the record for siring the most Breeders' Cup winners in turn. And, oh yes, there's also Knicks Go, another Breeders' Cup winner, in the farm's stud barn right now, as well as a few in the fields. Yes, surely Taylor can be excused if his reverence for the Breeders' Cup might be even greater than usual.

“Listen, the [Kentucky] Derby is amazing, but if you're in this industry, the Breeders' Cup is the real deal,” said Taylor. “Every division: turf, dirt, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, older horses, all coming together and laying it all on the line.”

Taylor's father was the legendary farm manager Joe Taylor, whose fortunes coincided with that of Gainesway. Many will remember Gainesway under John Gaines and the elder Taylor together. At one point the farm on Paris Pike stood 40 stallions and bred over 2,000 mares a year. This was all the more remarkable considering it was in the days when stallion books were much smaller and reproductive work wasn't quite so advanced, often necessitating multiple covers per mare.

In addition to owning one of the most successful stallion stations in our sport's history, Gaines is also credited with the conception of the Breeders' Cup. Joe Taylor was at his side for all of it. Although they were farm owner and employee, the two men were far closer than that, said Mark Taylor.

“Mr. Gaines and my dad were like brothers in a lot of ways,” he said. “Mr. Gaines was a brilliant business guy and the visionary. My dad was the diplomat and the horseman. My dad was really gratified for Mr. Gaines when he got it all together and got the Breeders' Cup done. What an amazing thing.”

Knicks Go at Taylor Made | Sarah Andrew

Taylor said he was the youngest of eight kids and a young teenager when Gaines hatched the idea behind the Breeders' Cup.

“I feel like I got a front-row seat,” said Taylor. “I was the last kid still in the house in those years where the Breeders' Cup was really coming to fruition. I could hear my dad in there on the phone with Mr. Gaines and the two of them brainstorming.

“It was like political warfare, getting everyone on board. For Mr. Gaines to try to bring this concept to fruition he deserves some sort of Nobel Peace Prize. I don't know how he got it done.”

All these years later, Taylor still marvels at the unobstructed view he received.

“It's really amazing. I feel like of all the thousands and thousands of people in this industry, I got to see this and I was just a 13- or 14-year-old kid. I had a really unique view of this thing coming together. I was really into horse racing. I'd be waiting for the Blood-Horse or Thoroughbred Record every week, and the race results in the Herald-Leader every day. The TDN wasn't around yet.

“It was kind of cool watching it all come together. I love the Breeders' Cup. It's one of my favorite days of the year. Watching what it's become is really special.

“I'll never forget that first Breeders' Cup Classic. That wild stretch drive. I think it was more than Mr. Gaines could have dreamt up the way it came together.

“What a privilege to see it all come together.”

Sarah Andrew

After witnessing something so special, no wonder Taylor–along with his older brothers–would later found Taylor Made Farm, today a diverse operation which has conquered the worlds of boarding, selling, stallions, and more. No fewer than 20 individual Breeders' Cup winners have been raised or sold by Taylor Made. Lest one think those eventual winners simply passed through sales barns, a full 11 of those 20 spent their formative years cavorting through Taylor Made pastures. Among those raised on Taylor Made's land were Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and leading sire Unbridled's Song. The latter also spent his entire stud career at Taylor Made and would sire six individual Breeders' Cup winners. Long before he sired a foal, Unbridled's Song was tied to Taylor Made.

“It's a long story,” said Taylor. “We had Unbridled's Song here on the farm when he was a weanling owned by Mandysland Farm. They were dispersing; ultimately he was bought by someone else and they took him to Saratoga where he sold as a yearling, but was sent back to Taylor Made for some R&R. Ernie Pargallo's Paraneck Stable and Buzz Chace bought him.

“Back then, Taylor Made sold 2-year-olds in training. We obviously didn't have a training center, so we were the marketing arm. I never will forget when Unbridled's Song breezed, he was just this big, gray monster. He breezed so effortlessly. As he crossed the line, the announcer said, 'He went so fast the infield trees swayed.'”

Sarah Andrew

Unbridled's Song brought $1.4 million in 1995 at the Barretts March sale. At the time, it was a world record for a 2-year-old in training. However, there was a hitch. A chip was found in the colt's hind ankle and the buyer, according to Taylor, tried to negotiate a reduced price.

“We had an anxiety attack,” said Taylor. “Here we'd spent all this money going to California–we'd flown all the way to Barretts to sell him–and our big horse was being turned back. Ernie Paragallo said, 'Don't worry about it. We're going to win the Breeders' Cup with him.' The rest is history.”

Sure enough, Unbridled's Song did just that. About seven months later, he captured the GI Juvenile in a spectacular stretch duel with Hennessy.

“That was amazing. Of course, he came here [after his racing career], led the general sires list, and was a tremendous sire for us,” said Taylor. “He really put our stallion operation on the map. He had so much speed for a big horse and could carry it two turns. He also had such a sweet disposition, not a mean bone in his body.

“And he died with that chip in his hind ankle!”

Knicks Go with Ernesto Martinez  | Sarah Andrew

Unbridled's Song passed away in 2013 at the age of 20. Another Breeders' Cup winner, 2021 Classic winner and 2020 Dirt Mile winner Knicks Go, is currently in the stallion barn.

“Several farms were after him, so the fact that we were able to get the horse was very exciting,” said Travis White, director of sales at Taylor Made. “It's not often you get a horse like that. For us he checked a lot of boxes. We feel so fortunate and excited to have him.

“The Breeders' Cup is the Super Bowl of our sport. Anytime you can get a horse of that caliber, the best of the best, proven on the world's biggest stage, it's a great addition to a stallion roster. You're going to attract the top breeders in the world.”

Knicks Go was just history's sixth horse to find the winner's circle in two different Breeders' Cup races, but there was almost a third Breeders' Cup win on his CV. It's often lost among the Eclipse championships and two championship day wins, but Knicks Go also finished runner-up as a 2-year-old in the 2018 Juvenile behind eventual champion Game Winner.

“I think a lot of people forget he was a Grade I winner at two and that he won or placed in three different Breeders' Cup races,” said White. “It is extremely rare for a horse to be as precocious as he was and then come back and win two different Breeders' Cup races as an older horse. Most horses have a niche–they can't go two turns, can't come from off the pace, have to have things go their own way–but he was able to do it all. Hats off to Brad Cox and his crew for doing such a great job with him.”

White said it's an honor to have Knicks Go in the stallion barn at Taylor Made. “Anytime you have a horse with his accomplishments and accolades, it means the world.”

Knicks Go isn't the only Breeders' Cup winner currently on the farm. The most high-profile Breeders' Cup-winning mare at Taylor Made at the moment is undoubtedly Blue Prize (Arg), winner of the 2019 Distaff and a $5-million purchase out of Fasig-Tipton by OXO Equine. However, it is Miss Macy Sue who holds pride of place.

Miss Macy Sue at Taylor Made last month | Sarah Andrew

Miss Macy Sue, a graded winner who was third in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, had five foals to race. Four were stakes winners, including GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam's Map (who is by Taylor Made's Unbridled's Song) and Not This Time, who was runner-up by a neck in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and is now king of the stallion barn at Taylor Made.

“She is pensioned and still lives here,” said Taylor. “She is the grand dame of Taylor Made. Almost two Breeders' Cup winners. What an achievement. Stallions get to produce hundreds and hundreds of foals every year, but mares get one chance a year for maybe 10 or 15 years. For her to have that kind of strike rate in the Breeders' Cup is just incredible.”

Taylor Made has had a lot of significant moments in the Breeders' Cup, but there was one that might have been a little extra special. In the 2004 edition at Lone Star Park, two mares grazing in Taylor Made paddocks both had Breeders' Cup winners. Silken Cat and Goulash produced Sprint winner Speightstown and Distaff winner Ashado, respectively. Now the mares are buried next to each other at Taylor Made.

Silken Cat's grave at Taylor Made | Sarah Andrew

“Both were bred by Aaron and Marie Jones, long-time customers. That day was incredible,” remembered Taylor. “We raised them both here and they were on opposite ends of the spectrum price-wise. Speightstown was a $2-million Keeneland July yearling and Ashado brought $170,000 at Keeneland September. And yet they both turned into champions. Later we resold Ashado for a then world-record $9 million.”

It's probably safe to say Taylor Made's story in the Breeders' Cup is far from over. Whether future chapters will be written from the mare side or the sales division or even by horses standing in the stallion barn remains to be seen, but the touch of Taylor Made will likely continue to be felt alongside the Breeders' Cup. What could be more fitting for a kid with a front-row seat to the birth of racing's championship days?

The post Another Chapter in Taylor Made’s Breeders’ Cup Story appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Taking Stock: Varola, Hewitt Discuss Vaguely Noble & Caro

If you are a student of pedigrees, you'll know of Franco Varola and Abram S. Hewitt. If not, take my word for it that they were two giants in the field of pedigree research, and both were excellent writers. Varola, an Italian whose first name was Francesco, is known for two iconic books, “Typology of the Racehorse” and “The Functional Development of the Thoroughbred,” both of which examined influential stallions by aptitude and classified them as “chefs-de-race” within the dosage framework originally developed by Lt. Col. J.J. Vuillier at the beginning of the last century; Hewitt, an American, is a major name among pedigree writers in North America and is the author of the classic “Sire Lines.” Hewitt worked with Dr. Steven Roman and Leon Rasmussen in the early days of classifying chefs for American racing.

Rasmussen was another pedigree giant and outstanding writer who penned the longtime “Bloodlines” column for Daily Racing Form, and he frequently referred to Hewitt as the “doyen of American turf writers,” a testament to his respect for Hewitt.

Hewitt and Varola published their books at the time Rasmussen was writing his column for DRF. Varola's “Typology” came out in 1974; Hewitt's “Sire Lines” was published in 1977; and Varola's “Functional Development” was released in 1980. All three men communicated with one another through letters during this period, which coincided with a 16-year-old–me–sending a note to Rasmussen in 1976 about a stallion he and Hewitt had been discussing as a potential breed shaper. Long story short, I never expected Rasmussen to reply, and when he did, it began a longtime pen pal relationship that developed into a lifelong friendship, which even included a family trip with my wife and two young sons to visit Leon and his wife in Los Angeles.

Leon died of cancer at 88 in August of 2003. On a solo visit to the Rasmussens at their Los Feliz home about a year or so before that, Leon told me he didn't have much time left. “They found this growth behind my ear, pal,” he said. Leon then took me into his office and showed me about eight cardboard boxes he'd packed, addressed to me in Brooklyn. “I'd like you to have all my racing correspondence, if you don't mind?” I said I was honored, but not to expect me to attend the funeral. He saw I was visibly shaken by his news. “Let's get some Chinese food and martinis, then, and celebrate now,” he said, and we did. That was the last time I saw Leon in person, and I kept my word to not attend his funeral.

Unfortunately, I wasn't a good steward of that cache. I went through each letter over a period of a few years after Leon died, and it was fascinating reading. Leon detailed notes about his trip to Dormello to see legendary breeder Federico Tesio's operation, for instance, and there was correspondence with many of the greatest breeders and owners of the last century. All of it perished during a storm that flooded my basement, and all I had were my memories, I thought.

Vaguely Noble and Caro

Just the other day, as I was preparing to move from Brooklyn to Tampa, I found some correspondence from Leon that I'd brought upstairs years ago to write about but had forgotten to do: letters between Varola and Hewitt from 1977. Hewitt had given copies of them to Leon.

They are captivating historical artifacts that illuminate the relationships of Varola and Hewitt with some notable breeders and horses, and they reveal how some matings were planned. I'm going to be specific here for space reasons and I quote the writers to only discussions they had about imports Vaguely Noble (Ire), who was controlled by Nelson Bunker Hunt during his stud career at Gainesway during the John Gaines era; and Caro (Ire), who started off at stud in Europe but was then moved to Brownell Combs's Spendthrift in the late 1970s. Caro was the champion sire in France in 1977, but his sire line went dormant for a period after he was long gone, resurging in North America only years later, first through California-bred Indian Charlie and then through the latter's son Uncle Mo, one of the best young sires at stud today. Vaguely Noble's sire line has all but disappeared here, but during his career he was one of the great transmitters of stamina, which is something of an anomaly for U.S.-based stallions nowadays.

By the Hyperion-line Vienna (GB), who was owned by Sir Winston Churchill, Vaguely Noble was a Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, and he came to Kentucky after Gaines purchased a quarter of the horse from Bunker Hunt and his partners, Robert and Wilma Franklyn.

At the time, Hewitt was doing the Bunker Hunt matings, which he wrote about to Varola in a letter dated Jan. 15, 1977. Varola, who lived in Rio de Janeiro from March to September and in Rome from October to February, was late getting the letter, which had been sent to Rome and then was forwarded to Rio.

In a reply dated Apr. 13, Varola responded, after explaining the reasons for the tardy reply [I'm reproducing the exact language they used with no edits for punctuation or style]: “I do appreciate the magnitude of the job which you have undertaken on behalf of Mr. Bunker Hunt, involving as it does 176 mares, which is more than double any single similar job I have undertaken in the past. I am sure however that you will derive great personal satisfaction from it, and I wonder if you would care to send to me some of the tabulated pedigrees of matings which you may have devised for one reason or another, and if you would be further agreeable to my quoting some of these matings in my coming book.”

On Apr. 19, Hewitt responded: “You probably already know that Bunker Hunt has bred virtually all the good racers by Vaguely Noble. The program has been basically simple. Since Vaguely Noble was a very high-class horse who stayed exceptionally well, he was bred to very fast mares, who typically came from 'speed' strains. This has balanced out very well.

“One of my hobbies has been to listen to horses' hearts. Vaguely Noble has much the best 'staying heart' of any sire in Kentucky; Secretariat is also exceptional.

“Doing the matings for the Hunt Stud is enjoyable. However, I have by no means a free hand. Mr. Hunt likes to move matings around, like moving chess pieces. In addition, he owns a controlling share in Vaguely Noble, Mississipian, Ace of Aces, Youth, Empery, and Sir Wiggle. This means that I am very restricted in the use of 'outside' sires which I would like to patronize. To some extent, I have been permitted to do so, and must say, that the foals of these 'outside' sires are on the whole superior to the others, except for 5 or 6 by Vaguely Noble.”

At the time of these letters in 1977, the Bunker Hunt-bred-and-owned Dahlia, a member of Vaguely Noble's first crop, had been retired and covered for the first time, by Bold Forbes. Foaled in 1970 and raised at Claiborne for Bunker Hunt, Dahlia was one of the best of her generation, which included Secretariat, Forego, and Allez France in the same crop. She raced until she was six, winning 15 of 48 starts and nearly $1.5 million. Like many of Bunker Hunt's homebreds, she'd started off in Europe, where she won the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. against older males at three, among other races of note, before returning to the U.S. full time as an older mare. Dahlia was a champion in England, Ireland, and the U.S.

As Hewitt noted, the mating that produced Dahlia was based on the idea of using a fast and precocious mare. Her dam Charming Alibi, a daughter of Honey's Alibi, was a tough and fast California-bred who won stakes races in the Midwest, making 13 starts at two and 71 altogether. There was nothing blue-blooded about her pedigree.

In 1976, the last year Dahlia raced, Bunker Hunt won the G1 Epsom Derby with the Vaguely Noble homebred Empery, whose dam was the champion Peruvian-bred mare Pamplona II. She'd previously produced his 1970 French 1,000 Guineas winner Pampered Miss, a daughter of Sadair. Like Charming Alibi, Pamplona didn't come from a fashionable sire line, but she had performance on her resume, plus production, at the time she was bred to Vaguely Noble.

Bunker Hunt also won the G1 French Derby in 1976 with Youth, a son of Ack Ack. He must have been one of the Bunker Hunt homebreds that Hewitt liked by an “outside” stallion. His dam was Gazala II, a daughter of Dark Star–the horse who defeated Native Dancer in the Kentucky Derby. Gazala, a small, unimpressive, and delicate mare, won the French 1000 Guineas and the Oaks for Bunker Hunt in 1967, displaying terrific acceleration. She was by far Dark Star's best runner. Before Youth, Gazala had produced the Vaguely Noble colt Mississipian, the champion 2-year-old colt in France in 1973, and after Youth, she foaled the Vaguely Noble colt Gonzales, who won the G1 Irish St. Leger in 1980.

Hewitt wrote to Varola again July 29. By this time, he'd digested Varola's “Typology of the Racehorse,” difficult as that was, he noted, and was experimenting with Varola's diagrams within Vuillier's framework of dosage. He wrote: “I have been doing a certain amount of investigating with the use of your diagrams, with the added use of the names of key American stallions which do not appear in your tables; and in addition to this I have tried assigning numbers to each name in accordance with the Vuillier dosage method. The results to date have been quite illuminating.

“Mr. Hunt, [sic] horse Vaguely Noble, for instance, works out at a consistency figure about 2 1/2 times the average, suggesting a lack of brilliant offspring and the probability of somewhat late maturity. This has proven to be the case. In fact, all of his best stock have been from mares with a high turn of speed and tending towards early maturity.”

Hewitt then turns his attention to Caro, whose first foals were 4-year-olds at this writing. Caro, by the way, was a horse that Leon frequently described as a product of a “fish and fowl” mating, because he was by the sprinter Fortino (Fr) out of a stayer, Chambord (GB). Hewitt suggested that the same analysis he'd used for Vaguely Noble didn't provide an accurate reading of Caro's aptitude to that point in time. “Caro, which has made such a brilliant start at stud in France,” he began, was showing more brilliance at stud than was expected, he said, to paraphrase. “This is somewhat surprising to me in a horse that was as late maturing as Caro was and showed as little sheer brilliance as he did.”

What Hewitt didn't know when he wrote that to Varola was that Varola himself had planned Caro's mating for his owner and breeder, Countess Margit Batthyany, a prominent European breeder whose family owned the famed Gestut Erlenhof in Germany.

Varola's reply from Rio Aug. 31 first expressed dissatisfaction with Hewitt's methodology of mashing up his work with that of Vuillier's, and then of Hewitt's opinion of Caro. He wrote: “As regards assigning numbers in Vuillier-like fashion, I am very much more doubtful. I am afraid there are already a lot of numbers in my own basic method such as it is, but the main reason is that since my task is to spot functional types, this is something that is done mainly on personal impression and without any interference of numbers in the initial stage of the analytical process.

“For instance, my own view of Caro [whose dosage diagram was, by the way, designed by me personally back in 1966] is that he has turned out to be exactly what we had hoped at that time he would be, that is a sire with distinctly Intermediate vocation and destined no doubt to influence future pedigrees on the distaff side as well. By the way, I do not agree that he was a horse without brilliance. It was rather a case of a horse of high genetic potential, which tends to manifest himself on the racecourse with good class but without ever attaining the status of a smasher. Big Game was another such example.”

This months-long conversation of two giants of the pedigree world offers more than an insight into Vaguely Noble, Caro, their connections, and the thought processes of the protagonists. For one, it's a record of the early development of dosage in this country; Hewitt, Dr. Roman, and Rasmussen would chisel some of Varola's work into practical usage through Dr. Roman's easily accessible diagrams and formulations, which were first introduced in “Bloodlines” in 1981.

There's something else we are privy to only in hindsight. Caro's breeder and owner Countess Batthyany had Nazi ties and was implicated in a massacre of Jews, which I wrote of in 2018 here. Hewitt, who among many other accomplishments was also a notable owner and breeder, was part of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)–which later became the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)–during WWII and was a Nazi hunter. Varola was an Italian living in Rio de Janeiro, a destination of Nazis after WWII. I have no knowledge that he was associated with Nazis or Nazi sympathizers, other than the revelation that he planned the matings of Countess Batthyany.

What if Varola and Hewitt knew of the other's background and their respective associates as they wrote to each other? Maybe they did, but in these letters they confined their discussions to horses.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

The post Taking Stock: Varola, Hewitt Discuss Vaguely Noble & Caro appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Huge Gamble That Paid Off: Remembering The Inaugural Breeders’ Cup

This is the 38th time, going back to 1984, that I join horsemen, horseplayers, racing media and fans in anxiously awaiting the list of pre-entered horses for the Breeders' Cup that will be released for public consumption on Wednesday.

Back in the 1980s when I was working in the Los Angeles office of Daily Racing Form, the Nov. 10, 1984, date of the inaugural running and the details – a seven-race $10-million extravaganza – were put in print so frequently in the long run-up to the event that they were burned into memory.

I recently came across the West Coast special edition of the Form that our office produced for that first-ever Breeders' Cup at now defunct Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. For $1.75, readers got the regular Daily Racing Form along with a 96-page insert featuring cover art by Pierre “Peb” Bellocq and chock-full of Breeders' Cup news, features and past performances for the day's races.

The lead news story on this revolutionary day of racing and the main column in the Breeders' Cup special section were, naturally, written by Daily Racing Form's esteemed executive columnist, Joe Hirsch. Hirsch quoted John Gaines, the man who created the Breeders' Cup, about the event's prospects for having a long-term impact on the industry: “The test of time has still to be met,” Gaines told Hirsch, “but on the eve of the inaugural, it looks to me like the Breeders' Cup is here to stay.”

Though he wasn't without an ego and for the greater good of the event opted to step away from active oversight of the Breeders' Cup during its formative years, Gaines was quick to praise others who helped transform his idea into reality.

“Ideas don't climb mountains,” Gaines told Hirsch. “People climb mountains. The reason the Breeders' Cup is here today is because of men like Johnny Nerud, Brownell Combs, Bunker Hunt, John Mabee and others who have worked so hard on its behalf.”

Hirsch was such an icon in racing media that he got a sneak preview of the Cup before Gaines unveiled the concept at a Kentucky Derby week luncheon in 1982. Gaines invited Hirsch to a breakfast meeting, promising him that the meeting would lead to “the most important story” he would ever write.

The concept at the outset was for the Breeders' Cup to be almost fully funded through foal and stallion nominations. Simulcasting was in its infancy, and neither that nor hospitality and ticket sales were seen as significant contributors to Breeders' Cup's early success. For the program and funding mechanism to work, Gaines needed the support of his fellow breeders and stallion owners.

“I realized it was a huge gamble because it involved motivating people to work together who have spent their lives competing against each other,” Gaines told Hirsch. “Needless to say, there was a lot of give and take when everyone got together. There were diverse points of view, but accommodations were made and there were many compromises. People fought hard for what they thought was right. I would say it was a quintessential American experience. … It was like a group of mountain climbers climbing the mountain while tied together. If we fell, we were going to fall together, but I think now we are standing at the top together.”

Gaines said he could see changes to Breeders' Cup from time to time. “The program is not cast in stone,” he said. “We're trying to put on the best show possible, and if we can see a way to improve it with change, then changes will be made.”

As noted, the original Breeders' Cup was a one-day, seven-race event, with five races each offering a $1-million purse, the Turf offering $2 million and the Classic $3 million. It's grown to 14 championship races spread over two days with purses now totaling $31 million, topped by the $6-million Classic.

Stallion and foal nominations, while still an important part of funding, have been joined by simulcast wagering and ticketing as key revenue generators, along with sponsorships. The inaugural Breeders' Cup is the only one where on-track wagering of $11,466,941 was more than the simulcast handle, $8,009,109.  The last two years, simulcasting wagering exceeded $150 million over the two days. Ticket prices for the event have accelerated just as much as wagering.

NBC Sports, led by its Standardbred-owning president, Arthur Watson, was “all in” from the outset, scheduling four hours on network television and putting together a 10-person broadcast team led by Dick Enberg and Dave Johnson. Michael Weisman, executive producer for the telecast, told Daily Racing Form's George Bernet, “This type of production is unprecedented and we're geared up for it with our best people. We are treating this event as we would a World Series or Super Bowl … which it is.”

That first championship day was as good as anyone could have hoped for. So was the NBC Sports telecast that I watched on a small TV in the Form's Bimini Place editorial office (someone had to work, putting together Monday's results issue!).

There was instant credibility when Chief's Crown won the Juvenile as the odds-on favorite to seal an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male, winning for the sixth time in nine starts. Finishing second behind the Danzig colt was Tank's Prospect, who would win the 1985 Preakness. Third-place finisher Spend a Buck would go on to score in the Kentucky Derby and become the champion 3-year-old male and 1985 Horse of the Year.

There were outstanding performances by the likes of Eillo in the Sprint, Royal Heroine in the Mile and Princess Rooney in the Distaff. Lashkari lodged a massive 53-1 upset in the Turf, defeating the globe-trotting 1983 Horse of the Year All Along.

Wild Again (inside) holds off Gate Dancer to win first Breeders' Cup Classic at 31-1

There was drama in the day's second race when Fran's Valentine was disqualified from first for interference at the stop of the stretch in the Juvenile Fillies, making Outstandingly the winner. But that was nothing compared to what would come with the stretch run of the Classic when Wild Again emerged with a narrow victory at 31-1 odds over Gate Dancer and 3-5 favorite Slew o' Gold. Adding to the intrigue was the fact that Wild Again, making his 16th start of the year, was supplemented to the race by his connections at a cost of $360,000 in hopes of winning first prize of $1,350,000.

Jockey Pat Day moved Wild Again to the lead down the backstretch and held off Slew o' Gold and Angel Cordero Jr. and a hard-charging Gate Dancer and Laffit Pincay Jr. the length of the stretch to win by a head over Gate Dancer. Slew o' Gold was another half-length back, but stewards quickly lit the inquiry sign for the second time that day after the three horses exchanged bumps as they raced to the wire. After a lengthy deliberation, stewards left Wild Again as the winner but disqualified Gate Dancer from second to third for causing most of the problems by lugging in to the other two horses.

John Gaines' huge gamble paid off. The Breeders' Cup was off and running. It clearly has stood the test of time now, and I can't wait for the next chapter.

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