The 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 33rd running of the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...

, part of the 2016 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on November 5, 2016 at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

with a purse of $6,000,000.

California Chrome California Chrome (foaled February 18, 2011) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2014 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and 2016 Dubai World Cup. He was the 2014 and 2016 American Horse of the Year. In 2016, he surpassed ...

, who was the top-ranked Thoroughbred racehorse in the world, was the favorite for the race after an undefeated season. He led for most of the race but was caught near the finish line by

Arrogate Arrogate (April 11, 2013June 2, 2020) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2016 Travers Stakes in a track record time in his first graded stakes race, stakes appearance. He then won the Breeders' Cup Classic and was named the Ameri ...

, a late developing three-year-old. The Classic is run on dirt at one mile and one-quarter (approximately 2000 m). It is run under weight-for-age conditions, with entrants carrying the following weights: *Northern Hemisphere three-year-olds: 122 lb *Southern Hemisphere three-year-olds: 117 lb *Four-year-olds and up: 126 lb *Any fillies or mares receive a 3 lb allowance

Contenders

(program #4) was the even money favorite on the morning line for the Classic after a perfect season of six wins from six starts, including the

Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic: ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place wher ...

Pacific Classic The Pacific Classic Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of one and one quarter miles on the dirt track scheduled annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The ev ...

and

Awesome Again Stakes The Awesome Again Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old or older over the distance of one and one-eighth miles on the dirt scheduled annually in September at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. ...

. He was ranked number one on the Longines

World's Best Racehorse Rankings The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf R ...

and held the North American earnings record. California Chrome was also the 2014 Horse of the Year after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. His trainer Art Sherman said, "He's more mature, bigger, stronger, and you can see it in the way he's running. He's pretty well focused. He's kind of awesome to watch, to be honest with you." Arrogate-BCC2016-1

(p #10) was the second choice at 5-2 on the morning line, based on his record-setting win in the

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds according to internation ...

in late August. The lightly raced three-year-old was trained by

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...

, who won the Classic in 2014 with

Bayern Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and in 2015 with

American Pharoah American Pharoah (foaled February 2, 2012) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first ho ...

. The Classic was only his second stakes race appearance.

Frosted Frosted (stylised as FroSTed) was an American pop punk band, founded by ex-Go-Go's guitarist and singer Jane Wiedlin in 1995. The band was so-named because ''"it sounds sweet"''.''The Daily Aztec''link) The letters S and T were capitalised in tr ...

(p #2) was the third choice at 3-1 on the morning line. Beaten by California Chrome in the Dubai World Cup, Frosted rebounded with noteworthy wins in the

Metropolitan Handicap The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 furl ...

and

Whitney Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

before being upset in the Woodward. The 9-horse field also included: * Effinex, runner-up in the 2015 Classic to American Pharoah * Keen Ice, winner of the 2015 Travers * Win the Space, finished 3rd in the 2016 Awesome Again *

Melatonin Melatonin is a natural product found in plants and animals. It is primarily known in animals as a hormone released by the pineal gland in the brain at night, and has long been associated with control of the sleep–wake cycle. In vertebrates ...

, winner of the 2016

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...

and Gold Cup at Santa Anita but unraced since June 25 * War Story, 2nd in the Pennsylvania Derby Champion Stakes * Hoppertunity, winner of the

Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the sp ...

Shaman Ghost Shaman Ghost (foaled May 5, 2012) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2015 Queen's Plate and was named Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. In 2016, he won two graded stakes races in the United States, including the prestigious Woo ...

, winner of the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and Woodward, scratched the day before the race.

Race Description

BCC2016-race-1.jpg, Shortly after the break, California Chrome takes command BCC2016-race-3.jpg, In the stretch, California Chrome leads by lengths BCC2016-race-4.jpg, Arrogate starts cutting into the lead Arrogate-AfterBCC2016.jpg, Arrogate being led back to the stable California Chrome broke well and was urged by jockey Victor Espinoza to the early lead. Arrogate broke poorly from the outside post position but quickly moved to the middle of the pack, then up to third. With a quarter of a mile remaining, Arrogate moved into second, trailing California Chrome by a length and a half. Espinoza looked back at the field then set California Chrome down for the stretch drive. Arrogate was also urged on by his jockey Mike Smith and started to draw clear of the remaining horses, but did not initially make up any ground on the leader. Entering the last sixteenth of a mile, California Chrome still led by about a length but Arrogate had hit his best stride and was gaining. Arrogate finally assumed the lead in the final strides and won by half a length. The time of 2:00.11 was very good on a fast track that was playing slower than normal, earning Arrogate a Beyer Speed Figure of 120. It was trainer Bob Baffert's third consecutive victory in the Classic, one he doubted Arrogate could pull off turning into the stretch. "I thought there was no way. California Chrome is a great horse. I didn't think we could run him down", he said. "I thought he'd get second. I'm thinking, 'At least he showed up.' But then I saw Mike getting down on him, and that big stride of his. That was an incredible race by two incredible horses." "That winner is the real McCoy", said Art Sherman, trainer of California Chrome. "I knew he was the one we had to beat, but I didn't know how good he was."

Results

Source: Equibase Times: – 0:23.28; – 0:47.15; – 1:10.96; mile – 1:35.72; final – 2:00.11.
Fractional Splits: (:23.28) (:23.87) (:23.81) (:24.76) (:24.39)

Payout

Payout Schedule: * $2

Exacta Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the Vigorish, "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff Odds#Gambling odds versus probabilities, odds a ...

(10-4) Paid $10.00 * $2

Trifecta Trifecta A trifecta is a parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Australia, this is known as a tricast in t ...

(10-4-3) Paid $149.20 * $2

Superfecta {{Wiktionary The superfecta is a type of wager in USA and Canada parimutuel betting in which the bettor, in order to win, must pick the first four finishers of a race in the correct sequence. This is even more unlikely than a successful wager in th ...

(10-4-3-9) Paid $592.60

References

{{BreedersCup Breeders' Cup

Breeders' Cup Classic, 2016