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Breeders’ Cup Day 2: Bayern wins Classic in close, controversial race

Jockey Martin Garcia guides Bayern to victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park.
Jockey Martin Garcia guides Bayern to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park.
(Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images)
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At the start of Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, 3-year-old Bayern broke from the No. 7 hole and headed left instead of straight, slamming into favored Shared Belief but never stopped running and held on for a nose victory over Toast Of New York in a controversial final race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships before 61,114 at Santa Anita.

California Chrome finished a neck behind in third place and Shared Belief was fourth in the 1 1/4-mile race.

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FOR THE RECORD:

Breeders’ Cup: A summary of the Breeders’ Cup Turf championship in the Nov. 2 Sports section reported that winner Main Sequence was trained by Gordon Motion. The trainer’s name is Graham Motion. —
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The inquiry sign went up soon after the finish, but the stewards announced there would be no change in the order of finish.

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“For some reason, drama follows me wherever I go,” said Bob Baffert, Bayern’s trainer.
Bayern returned $14.20 for the win under jockey Martin Garcia.

The Santa Anita stewards released the following statement on the incident:

“Following the running of the 12th race today (Breeders’ Cup Classic), we posted the inquiry sign to examine an incident at the start. Involved in the incident were the winner #7 Bayern (M. Garcia) and several horses to his inside -- #6 Shared Belief (M. Smith) and #4 Moreno (J. Castellano). Film review revealed that #7 Bayern broke in sharply, bumped #6 Shared Belief, causing a chain reaction with several other horses to his inside, including #4 Moreno, who also broke out slightly. #6 Shared Belief finished fourth, 3½ lengths behind the third place finisher while #4 Moreno finished far behind the leaders.

“After speaking with the patrol judges and riders involved, it was our unanimous decision that pursuant to CHRB Rule 1699, that the incident occurred in a part of the race where the horses interfered with were not cost the opportunity to place where they were reasonably expected to finish.”

Karakontie runs down Obviously to win Mile

The Japanese-bred Karakontie charged down the stretch to overhaul a tiring Obviously and won the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile on Saturday at Santa Anita under jockey Stephane Pasquier.

The 3-year-old son of Bernstein paid $62.00. Anodin finished second and Trade Storm was third. The margin of victory was one length and the final time for the turf win was 1:32.88.

It was a sweep for foreign-raced horses. Anodin is from Ireland and Trade Storm is from Britain.

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The front-running Obviously appeared headed to victory but tired in the deep stretch and faded to fifth.

Work All Week wins Sprint race at 19-1 odds

The Illinois-bred Work All Week, ridden by Florent Geroux, won the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Saturday at Santa Anita.

The 5-year-old gelding, trained by Roger Brueggemann, was sent off at odds of 19-1 and paid $40.20. Secret Circle finished second and Private Zone was third.

It was the 12th win in 15 career starts for Work All Week.

Texas Red wins Juvenile by 6 1/2 lengths

Texas Red was overlooked at 13-1 entering the 1 1/16 mile Juvenile for 2-year-olds. But how he moved through the stretch to win the $2-million race by 6 1/2 lengths has him on the short list for next year’s Kentucky Derby.

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Winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is not at all a sign a horse will win the Kentucky Derby. In the previous 30 years only one horse -- Street Sense in 2006 and 2007 -- has won both the Juvenile and the Derby.

It was Texas Red’s fifth lifetime race.

After breaking in at Arlington Park in Chicago for a second-place finish in a maiden race, he moved west to Del Mar and finished fourth in his second race. On Aug. 20 he won by 1 1/2 lengths in a maiden race. On Sept. 27, he was at Santa Anita and finished fourth in the Grade I Front Runner. So, it was that modest start that had him off most people’s radar.

The favorite, Carpe Diem, finished second by a photo over Upstart.

Texas Red paid $29.80, 9.80, 5.60. The colt is ridden by Kent Desormeaux and trained by his brother Keith.

Main Sequence wins Turf by a neck

Main Sequence, a 5-year-old gelding who was unsuccessful in Europe last year before getting sent to America to be under the tutelage of trainer H. Graham Motion, rallied in the stretch to win the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf by a neck.

It was his fourth Grade I win this year since joining the Motion barn. Jockey John Velazquez guided him to victory in the 1 1/2-mile race and returned $14.40 for the win.

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Flintshire finished second and Twilight Eclipse was third.

Trainer Chad Brown gets third victory of weekend

There’s officially a Chad Brown celebration going at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita.

The East Coast-based trainer won his third race of the weekend when Bobby’s Kitten rallied in the stretch to prevail by a half-length over No Nay Never to win the $1 million Turf Sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs.

The 3-year-old son of Kitten’s Joy is owned by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey. Undrafted finished third in a blanket finish. Bobby’s Kitten returned $16.40 for the win.

Brown earlier Saturday saddled Dayatthespa to victory in the Filly & Mare Turf and Lady Eli on Friday in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Mike Smith wins 21st race with Filly & Mare Sprint

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Jockey Mike Smith won his 21st Breeders’ Cup race by guiding Judy The Beauty to victory in the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Judy The Beauty was the second winner of the weekend for trainer Wesley Ward. Smith won a stretch duel over Better Lucky and jockey Javier Castellano, prevailing by a head. Thank You Marylou finished third.

The 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper finished the seven furlongs in 1:21.92 and paid $8.20.
Judy The Beauty has finished out of the money only once in 18 career starts.

Dayatthespa wins $2 million Filly & Mare TurfTrainer Chad Brown is hot at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita. He saddled his second winner of the weekend when Dayatthespa won the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf by 1 1/4 lengths on Saturday. Brown also was the trainer of the second-place finisher, Stephanie’s Kitten.

Just The Judge finished third.

Dayatthespa, ridden by Javier Castellano, is a 5-year-old daughter of City Zip and covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:00.12. She was sent off at odds of 5-1 and returned $13.00.

Brown’s Lady Eli won the Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday.

Take Charge Brandi wins $2 million Juvenile Fillies

The second day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships began Saturday at Santa Anita with a huge upset.

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Take Charge Brandi, ridden by Victor Espinoza and sent off at odds of 60-1, won the $2 million Juvenile Fillies, holding off Top Decile and jockey Rosie Napravnik by a half length. Wonder Gal finished third.

It was the 20th Breeders’ Cup win for trainer Wayne Lukas, the most of any trainer. Take Charge Brandi, a 2-year-old daughter of Giant’s Causeway, returned $125.40 for the victory, running the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.95.

Take Charge Brandi led from start to finish on a main track listed as fast after rain on Friday. The track had been sealed overnight but might be a clue for the rest of the day, indicating speed could hold up.

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Sun is trying to break through the clouds as day two of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships begins on Saturday at Santa Anita.

After Friday’s rain, the main track was listed as good for the first two races but has been upgraded to fast. Races one and three, originally set to be run on the turf, were switched to the main track as part of a 12-race card.

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The first of nine Breeders’ Cup races is the $2 million Juvenile Fillies in race four. The $5 million Classic will be race No. 12 and is scheduled to be run at 5:35 p.m.

Follow Eric Sondheimer on Twitter @LATSondheimer

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