At Breeders’ Cup, happy ending eludes stars of Triple Crown

DEL MAR — The communicative of the 2021 thoroughbred racing play successful America was astir prima — and star-crossed — 3-year-old horses.

It’s a communicative that ended successful sadly fitting manner Saturday evening successful the Breeders’ Cup Classic astatine Del Mar racetrack.

That is to accidental Medina Spirit, Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie ran into much misadventure, successful this lawsuit the misfortune of moving into a 5-year-old buzz saw named Knicks Go, who led from commencement to decorativeness to each but officially wrapper up the North American Horse of the Year title.

Since its debut successful 1984 astatine Hollywood Park (now reduced to a shot stadium), the Breeders’ Cup festival of million-dollar races has marked the climax of each racing year, settling championships and spotlighting career-making performances for horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and, yes, breeders.

Casual followers of racing mightiness deliberation of the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown arsenic the defining events successful the sport, but arsenic Triple Crowns grew much uncommon aft the 1970s, the Breeders’ Cup became racing’s biggest marquee.

The happiest endings person occurred erstwhile large 3-year-olds, known to the nationalist from the Triple Crown chase, instrumentality the measurement of older horses arsenic generations clash successful autumn stakes and yet the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

And Saturday’s Classic seemed to beryllium acceptable up for conscionable specified a conclusion.

Knicks Go, the apical older horse, looked susceptible arsenic helium tried to agelong his velocity 1-1/4 miles for the archetypal time. Medina Spirit figured to unit Knicks Go from the commencement and tyre him out. Based connected past efforts, Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie would beryllium poised down the speedsters and acceptable to prime up the pieces.

There was adjacent a hint 4 hours earlier the Classic that Saturday would beryllium to 3-year-olds. Life is Good dominated the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile successful the day’s astir visually awesome performance. Life is Good had been a Kentucky Derby contender past winter, erstwhile helium thumped Medina Spirit successful the San Felipe Stakes astatine Santa Anita.

But for this people of 3-year-olds, the anticipation of having a spot called decision snatched from the jaws of triumph has loomed circular each racetrack turn.

You retrieve Medina Spirit. He appeared to person fixed trainer Bob Baffert his seventh Kentucky Derby victory, lone to neglect a post-race cause test. The lawsuit remains successful limbo, but Medina Spirit’s estimation has already fallen unfortunate to sloppy barn management, which astatine this level of the crippled is astir arsenic atrocious arsenic a existent effort to cheat.

You retrieve Essential Quality. He was the favourite successful the Derby, but suffered his worst racing luck that time astatine Churchill Downs, taking a bump astatine the commencement and racing wide connected the turns. He bounced backmost to triumph the Belmont Stakes, but his fourth-place decorativeness successful the Derby was the lone blemish successful his nine-race vocation going into Saturday.

And you retrieve Hot Rod Charlie. Third successful the Derby, 2nd successful the Belmont, helium broke done with a thrilling photo-finish triumph successful the Haskell Stakes successful New Jersey — lone to beryllium disqualified for drifting successful during the agelong tally and interfering with different horse, a occupation that immoderate blamed connected a caller regularisation astatine Monmouth Park barring jocks from utilizing whips.

Now came Saturday and the $6 cardinal Breeders’ Cup Classic, a triumph successful which could person made up for a batch of disappointment.

But Medina Spirit started excessively dilatory to property Knicks Go, who took an unhurried pb and widened it to 2-3/4 lengths astatine the wire.

Medina Spirit finished second.

“I broke slow, and (going) by the ligament the archetypal clip I had to instrumentality a small clasp of him,” said John Velazquez, Medina Spirit’s rider. “I gave him his caput astir the archetypal turn, and astir the 2nd crook helium came moving and kept running.

“Who’s the champion 3-year-old now?” Velazquez said, touting his equine for a 3-year-old title to headdress a play of controversy.

“I’m precise arrogant of him,” Baffert said. “He ran a large race. The victor was conscionable excessively much.

“To me, he’s the champion 3-year-old.”

Essential Quality came connected for third.

“I wasn’t expecting the gait to beryllium that slow,” jockey Luis Saez said. “Everything was a mess.”

Hot Rod Charlie loomed up on the obstruction connected the crook for location but got nary person than third.

“He ran a gutsy race,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “I’m ace arrogant of Charlie.”

Whichever of the trio of 3-year-old stars races onward adjacent year, they tin instrumentality encouragement successful thing said aft the Classic by Jin Woo Lee, a typical of Knicks Go’s South Korea-based ownership group.

“It (was) a unsmooth clip erstwhile helium was 3 years old,” Lee said of Knicks Go, “but we overcame the hard twelvemonth and past turned the country (at 4 and 5).”

Surely, for Medina Spirit, Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie, the communicative volition person a blessed ending someday. Surely.