Breeders’ Cup ends with debate about year’s top 3-year-old

Knicks Go took attraction of immoderate Horse of the Year statement with his scintillating gate-to-wire triumph successful Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic astatine Del Mar, but there’s plentifulness of chatter connected societal media astir the contention for apical 3-year-old male.

Trainers Brad Cox and Bob Baffert made their cases for Essential Quality and Medina Spirit, respectively, Sunday morning. Medina Spirit finished 2nd successful the Classic, three-quarters of a magnitude successful beforehand of Essential Quality.

“I deliberation (Essential Quality) deserves to beryllium 3-year-old champion,” Cox told the Breeders’ Cup notes team. “He has 2 large Grade Is, 2 precise prestigious wins successful the Belmont and Travers. He was capable to person a run each year. And then, to travel successful here, and I truly deliberation helium performed precise well.”

Essential’s Quality’s resume for the year: Five wins successful 7 starts, including the 2 Grade Is, a brace of Grade IIs and a Grade III.

Then it was Baffert’s crook to marque his lawsuit for the arguable Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, who tested affirmative for a therapeutic cause aft the contention but is inactive the authoritative victor of the Run for the Roses pending an authoritative determination by the Kentucky Racing Commission.

“He was champion of each the others and helium bushed those aforesaid 3-year-olds (alluding to Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie) again by astir the aforesaid margin,” Baffert said.

Medina Spirit’s 2021 campaign: Four victories successful 9 starts, including a brace of Grade Is and 2 Grade IIIs.

A lawsuit tin beryllium made that Essential Quality’s Belmont and Travers victories trump Medina Spirit’s tainted Derby victory. The Baffert detractors are each implicit Twitter doing conscionable that, but see this: In head-to-head matchups, Medina Spirit outran Essential Quality some times they met connected the contention track.

Of course, Life Is Good mightiness beryllium amended than either one.

The 3-year-old Into Mischief colt turned successful possibly the astir awesome show implicit the weekend, romping successful the $1 cardinal Dirt Mile by 5 3/4 lengths — the second-widest borderline of triumph successful the 15 runnings of the race.

Life Is Good, transferred from the Baffert barn to Todd Pletcher’s unchangeable successful June aft Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association banned Baffert from their tracks, carved retired insane fractions of 21.88, 44.94 and 1:08.76 and conscionable kept going erstwhile a mean thoroughbred mightiness person caved successful astatine the apical of the stretch.

“It was everything that we were hoping for and past possibly adjacent more,” Pletcher said. “The equine had trained spectacularly coming into the contention and I felt similar helium was sitting connected a large race.

“He’s 1 of those horses who’s highly fast, has a precise precocious cruising velocity and the quality to proceed doing it. What was adjacent much awesome to maine than the (fast splits) is that helium fundamentally won geared down.”

Life Is Good’s connections could easy person opted for the Classic alternatively than the Dirt Mile, but they played it conservatively and whitethorn present reap the rewards with a equine seemingly poised for a immense 2022 campaign.

Whether helium begins his 4-year-old play successful the $3 cardinal Pegasus World Cup astatine Gulfstream Park connected Jan. Jan. 29 oregon the $20 cardinal Saudi Cup connected Feb. 26, the owners, including WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, person a ton of options with a equine that was past spring’s Kentucky Derby favourite until helium was injured successful March and taken disconnected the Triple Crown trail.

WinStar proprietor Kenny Troutt didn’t hesitate erstwhile asked if helium wonders what could person been if Life Is Good hadn’t been injured. A Triple Crown and possibly Horse of the Year mightiness person been possible.

“Not really,” helium said. “We’ve been successful this concern agelong capable to cognize that things hap and, if you instrumentality attraction of the horse, they volition instrumentality attraction of you.”

Life Is Good paid his connections backmost with involvement Saturday.

BREEDERS’ CUP

Highlights from the 38th World Championships astatine Del Mar:

Top jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr. won 3 of the 14 races and took location his 4th consecutive Bill Shoemaker Award arsenic apical rider.

Top trainer: The European-based Charles Appleby won 3 races for Godolphin Racing, including the Turf, Mile and Juvenile Turf. It was the archetypal clip an proprietor and breeder won 3 races astatine 1 Breeders’ Cup.

Classic winner: Knicks Go sped to the beforehand and was ne'er headed, scoring a 2 3/4-length triumph portion wrapping up Horse of the Year successful the process.

Japanese flavor: Trainer Yoshito Yahagi saddled the lone 2 horses from Japan to ever triumph a Breeders’ Cup race, including 49-1 longshot Marche Lorraine successful the Distaff.