The Kentucky Derby - Breeders' Cup Classic Double

 

The Kentucky Derby – Breeders’ Cup Classic Double
Joseph Di Rienzi

Arguably the two most important races on the United States thoroughbred scene are the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. For a three-year-old to win both in the same year is quite an achievement. In fact, even to stay in training these days from early spring to mid-autumn to contest both races has become a rarity. Nine Derby winners in the 40-year history of the Breeders’ Cup have tried in their sophomore year to win the Classic and four have been successful. (There have been two Derby heroes that won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in their four-year-old season.) This piece will highlight the four who were able to accomplish this double in the same year.

Actually, the first Kentucky Derby winner to contest the Breeders’ Cup Classic was Alysheba in 1987 and he made a gallant effort but fell short by a nose to the 1986 Kentucky Derby hero Ferdinand. (However, Alysheba would return as a four-year-old to notch his Breeder’s Cup Classic victory in the slop at Churchill Downs.)

The first sophomore to complete the double was Sunday Silence in 1989. The nearly black son of Halo with a curious stripe down his face was owned by Ernest Gaillard, Arthur Hancock III and Charlie Whittingham and trained by the last named, affectionately known as the “Bald Eagle”. Sunday Silence had his Triple Crown quest denied when Ogden Phipps’ Easy Goer, who he had defeated in both the Derby and the Preakness Stakes, scored a resounding victory against his rival in the Belmont Stakes.

After the Belmont Easy Goer went from strength to strength, notching dominating victories in the Whitney Handicap, Travers Stakes, Woodward Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup. Sunday Silence, on the other hand, was upset by Prized in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park but returned to his best form in winning the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs by 6 lengths.

The 1989 Breeders’ Cup Classic, run that year at Gulfstream Park, was the stage for the decisive race between these two superlative equines. There were six others in the field, however, just about everybody picked the two top three-year-olds to finish 1-2. Easy Goer was the surprising strong favorite, considering that Sunday Silence had won two of the three previous meetings in that the result of the Belmont Stakes was taken as definitive. However, that was at 1½ miles and around Belmont Park’s gentle turns. The Breeders’ Cup Classic was run at a 1¼ mile around the tight oval of Gulfstream Park which Easy Goer had not negotiated well in the past. An added uncertainty was that Chris McCarron was now the rider of Sunday Silence in that his regular jockey Pat Valenzuela was serving a suspension due to repeated drug abuse.

As the field was sent on their way, Slew City Slew showed his speed to take a three length lead setting a fast pace with Blushing John in second. Sunday Silence was parked in fourth and then third, with Easy Goer further back in sixth place. Down the backstretch, Sunday Silence ambled smoothly toward the leaders, and Easy Goer made a quick move to be just behind his rival. Around the turn, Blushing John forged to the front as Slew City Slew fell back. As feared, Easy Goer was not able to keep pace around the final turn with Sunday Silence and lost ground. At the top of the stretch, Sunday Silence readily moved to and then past Blushing John as Easy Goer mounted a desperate challenge once in the straight. In the last 1/16 of a mile, Easy Goer closed considerable ground but fell short by a neck at the finish. Blushing John in a strong effort was one length behind Easy Goer. With this result, Three-Year-Old Male Champion and Horse of the Year honors were awarded to Sunday Silence.

Sunday Silence (no. 8) wins the 1989 Breeders' Cup Classic
(Horsephotos)

The very next year, 1990, another Kentucky Derby victor was able to triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. This was nonagenarian Mrs. Frances Genter’s Unbridled. The burly bay son of Fappiano was trained by Carl Nafzger. After winning the Kentucky Derby, Unbridled finished second in the Preakness (to Summer Squall) and fourth in the Belmont (to Irish raider Go and Go).

Rested for a Fall campaign, Nafzger had his colt win an allowance race at Arlington Park and then finished second to stablemates in both the Secretariat Stakes (on turf) at Arlington and the Super Derby.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic of 1990, run that year at Belmont Park, appeared to be a motley affair compared to the titanic battles between Derby winners Ferdinand and Alysheba in 1987 or the great rivals Sunday Silence and Easy Goer in 1989. Absent from the 14 horse field were the three best older horses, Criminal Type, Sunday Silence and Easy Goer. Also not present was Preakness winner Summer Squall. Unbridled, entered off a four stakes race losing streak, and the fact that his Derby winning rider, Craig Perret, had deserted him for Travers Stakes winner Rhythm was seen as a lack of support. (Pat Day, who last rode Unbridled in the Florida Derby, reclaimed the mount.) The Belmont Stakes victor, Go and Go, was in the field, but coming off a poor effort in the Travers Stakes. Other contenders in the field were Dispersal, Flying Continental, Rhythm, Izvestia and Home At Last (coupled in the betting with Unbridled). The public made Rhythm the solid favorite with Izvestia the second choice, despite both having finished third in their respective prior starts. The Unbridled-Home At Last entry was priced at a generous 6.60-1.

As the Classic field was sent on their way, Thirty Six Red, Dispersal and Beau Genius set a demanding pace. The stout English bred, Ibn Bey was surprisingly up close with Rhythm in 11th and Unbridled in 13th place. At the end of the backstretch, Thirty Six Red drew clear as both Dispersal and Beau Genius faltered, but the chase was taken up by Ibn Bey. Around the far turn several horses including Rhythm began rallies on the outside while Pat Day aboard Unbridled was making up ground along the inside. In the stretch, Thirty Six Red had the lead, but 30-1 Iben Bey was slowly wearing him down. Day had Unbridled behind both of the leaders on the rail, but he found a little room between Thirty Six Red and Ibn Bey and drove the big son of Fappiano through it to forge to the lead and win by a length. Second, in a startling effort for his first time on dirt was Ibn Bey. Third, another length behind, was a very game Thirty Six Red.

Unbridled wins the 1990 Breeders' Cup Classic
(Skip Dickstein photo)

Unbridled thus became the fourth consecutive Kentucky Derby winner to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic joining Ferdinand, Alysheba and Sunday Silence. This victory assured Unbridled of the Eclipse Award for Three-year-old Male but was also another testimony to Carl Nafzger’s ability to bring a horse to peak condition off a series of prep races.

 

We had to wait till 2015 for another Kentucky Derby – Breeders’ Cup Classic double. That was in the form of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. The Zayat Stables owned, Bob Baffert trained bay son of Pioneer of the Nile had come through his epic Triple Crown series with a victory in the Haskell Invitational Stakes at Monmouth Park but suffered a surprising defeat to Keen Ice (a horse he had defeated in the Haskell) in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Racetrack.

Owner Ahmed Zayat’s initial reaction was to retire his star. However, in the weeks ahead, Bob Baffert convinced the owner that after giving American Pharoah some time off, he (Baffert) could prepare the colt for a top effort in the Breeders’ Cup Classic held in 2015 at Keeneland Racetrack.

Seeing American Pharoah train strongly after the shocking Travers Stakes loss, his connections grew confident about his chances in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Familiar foes such as Keen Ice and Frosted were in the Classic field as well as older adversaries such as Honor Code and Tonalist. The biggest threat to American Pharoah appeared to be the five-year-old mare Beholder if she could repeat her phenomenal race in the Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar Racetrack. That she was the only entry in the field that could run with American Pharoah early also enhanced the chances of closers such as Honor Code, Tonalist and Keen Ice. The prospect of a head-and-head battle evaporated when it was announced that Beholder would be withdrawn due to an inflamed throat.

In Beholder’s absence, the race appeared to be American Pharoah’s to lose, as long as he was in top form. As the nine horse field left the starting gate, jockey Victor Espinoza guided American Pharoah to an unchallenged lead, and the race was effectively over by the clubhouse turn. Setting comfortable fractions, the Triple Crown hero always had a clear lead, and when he came into the stretch, Espinoza just let him run on, which he did to a 6½ length victory. Effinex, who had been “Pharoah’s” nearest pursuer the whole race, finished second another 4½ lengths in front of Honor Code whose late running tactics were blunted by the moderate pace. The final time was a new track record for the seldom run 1¼ mile distance at Keeneland.

American Pharoah wins the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic
(BloodHorse.com)

Thus, American Pharoah put a capstone on his incredible year with this victory, and he remains the only horse to have won both the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The final horse requires somewhat of an asterisk in that in 2020 the Kentucky Derby was run on the first Saturday in September due to COVID-19 restrictions. (Only those who had an association with the runners on the day’s race card were in attendance at Churchill Downs.) The favorite was Tiz the Law who had won the Belmont Stakes in June (at an incredulous distance of nine furlongs) and the Travers. Authentic, a lankly bay son of emerging super sire Into Mischief, owned by a diverse racing partnership including some 5000 strong of MyRacehorse.com micro shareholders and trained by Bob Baffert, had won the Haskell Invitational Stakes. In the Derby, under jockey John Velazquez, Authentic led from start to finish, holding off a resolute challenge by Tiz the Law, to win by 1½ lengths.

In the interim between the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup races, Authentic raced in the Preakness (held this year on October 3rd) and went down by a neck to the filly Swiss Skydiver.

On November 7^th, 2020, Keeneland was again the host for the two day Breeders’ Cup series of races. This year the Breeders’ Cup Classic was set to fulfill its role as the definitive race in the U. S. for determining Horse of the Year. The major older horses – Maximum Security, Improbable, Tom’s d’Etat, and By My Standards were in the 10 horse field as well as top sophomores Tiz the Law and Authentic. Other contenders were Global Campaign who was coming off a victory in the Woodward Stakes, and Tacitus who had recently finished second in the Woodward and third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Tiz the Law was installed the slight favorite despite his Kentucky Derby loss to Authentic. Drawing the number two post was considered a disadvantage for the son of Constitution in that he seemed to prefer racing on the outside. Bob Baffert had three entered, and Improbable was given the best chance as the second choice with Authentic and Maximum Security also at relatively low odds in the evenly balanced field.

After an uneventful start, John Velazquez steered Authentic to the front from his number 10 post. Just behind him was Maximum Security and Tiz the Law who was unable to get off the inside. The positions were unchanged up the backstretch as the Kentucky Derby winner carved out a solid pace. Rounding the far turn, several challenged but none could make headway on the fleet front runner. At the top of the stretch Global Campaign and Improbable were Authentic’s closest pursuers, but Velazquez just urged the son of Into Mischief on, and he held his advantage that swelled to 2¼ lengths at the finish. Improbable, in a strong effort, finished second a length in front of Global Campaign. Tacitus ran his usual even performance in finishing fourth two lengths further back while Maximum Security was a nose behind in fifth but a head in front of Tiz the Law. The final time was a track record in the decidedly speed favoring surface, eclipsing American Pharoah’s time.

Authentic wins the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic
(BloodHorse.com)

Authentic thus became the sixth Kentucky Derby winner to triumph in the Classic and the fourth to accomplish this in the same year. Eclipse honors were given to Authentic (Three-Year-Old Male and Horse of the Year).

As of this writing, Sovereignty, who faces a tough field of competitors, has a chance to be the fifth horse to compete the Kentucky Derby – Breeders’ Cup Classic double. We wish him and his connections bella fortuna.