First BC Classic
Oct 6, 2015 1:00:06 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Oct 6, 2015 1:00:06 GMT -5
Remember this?
Breeders’ Cup Longshots: A ‘Wild’ Beginning
by Ray Paulick
The first Breeders’ Cup, Nov. 10, 1984, at Hollywood Park, had a little bit of everything.
Chief’s Crown won the Juvenile, the race that kicked off this long-running year-end championship event, as one of four successful betting favorites in the seven Breeders’ Cup contests. The second race, the Juvenile Fillies, saw the first Breeders’ Cup disqualification, when stewards ruled Fran’s Valentine caused interference at the top of the stretch, elevating Outstandingly to first place. The Turf was won by European invader Lashkari, who paid $108.80 as the longest shot in the 11-horse field.
But the Classic was the race that stamped this first Breeders’ Cup as one to remember.
Slew o’ Gold, along with a stablemate who was supposed to act as a pace-setter, was favored at 3-5 off an unbeaten year in 1984, including four Grade 1 victories in New York. Bettors were willing to overlook the foot problems that were plaguing this son of Seattle Slew. Gate Dancer, who’d won that year’s Preakness, was the second choice.
But it was a frontrunning 31-1 longshot, Wild Again, who outran them all, holding off a fast-closing Gate Dancer by a head, with Slew o’ Gold a half-length back in third.
Breeders’ Cup Longshots: A ‘Wild’ Beginning
by Ray Paulick
The first Breeders’ Cup, Nov. 10, 1984, at Hollywood Park, had a little bit of everything.
Chief’s Crown won the Juvenile, the race that kicked off this long-running year-end championship event, as one of four successful betting favorites in the seven Breeders’ Cup contests. The second race, the Juvenile Fillies, saw the first Breeders’ Cup disqualification, when stewards ruled Fran’s Valentine caused interference at the top of the stretch, elevating Outstandingly to first place. The Turf was won by European invader Lashkari, who paid $108.80 as the longest shot in the 11-horse field.
But the Classic was the race that stamped this first Breeders’ Cup as one to remember.
Slew o’ Gold, along with a stablemate who was supposed to act as a pace-setter, was favored at 3-5 off an unbeaten year in 1984, including four Grade 1 victories in New York. Bettors were willing to overlook the foot problems that were plaguing this son of Seattle Slew. Gate Dancer, who’d won that year’s Preakness, was the second choice.
But it was a frontrunning 31-1 longshot, Wild Again, who outran them all, holding off a fast-closing Gate Dancer by a head, with Slew o’ Gold a half-length back in third.
