The Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which has been held at Louisville’s Churchill Downs the past two years, may have left the Derby City, but the Derby City was sure to follow it to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Kentucky connections had a banner day at Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup, winning in seven of the nine races.
In the fifth race on the card, the day’s second Breeders’ Cup race, Groupie Doll won the $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint for Churchill Downs trainer Fred “Buff” Bradley which kicked off a series of wins for Kentucky connections.
Next on the card was the $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in which Dale Romans’ Shackleford looked poised to give the Louisville trainer another victory. However, it was Churchill Downs trainer and Louisville resident Steve Asmussen that would take home the win when his longshot Tapizar took down the field.
After the seventh race proved uneventful for Kentucky connections, the eighth race, the $2,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, produced a winner for Louisville’s Jack Wolf, Ed Glasscock, and their Starlight Racing Partnership when Shanghai Bobby held on to victory by a head over He’s Had Enough. The Kentucky Derby winning connections that brought us I’ll Have Another teamed to produce second-place finisher He’s Had Enough.