The 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 30th 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 ...

, part of the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on November 2, 2013 at

Santa Anita race track 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 ...

in Arcadia, California for a purse of $5,000,000. In a photo finish that was later voted the NTRA Moment of the Year,

Mucho Macho Man Mucho Macho Man ( foaled June 15, 2008) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic. He was foaled in Florida and named after the Village People song " Macho Man". His breeders were Carole and John Rio of Flori ...

held off late charges from

Will Take Charge Will Take Charge (foaled April 13, 2010) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, the horse is best known for his wins in the 2013 Travers Stakes and Clark Handicap and for being beaten by a nose in the 2013 Breed ...

and Declaration of War to win by a nose. Favored

Game On Dude Game On Dude (foaled April 26, 2007 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse gelding. He won fourteen graded stakes races, including eight Grade I stakes: the Santa Anita Handicap in 2011, 2013, and 2014 the only horse to have wo ...

finished ninth. 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 an allowance of 3 lb

Contenders

was the favorite for the Classic after winning six straight starts leading up to the race, including California's three most prestigious races for older horses – the

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 o ...

Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000 ...

and

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 ...

. A win at the Breeders' Cup would have made Game On Dude the favorite for Horse of the Year honors. The second choice was

, who had finished second in the 2012 Classic. He was pulled up in his first start of 2013, suffering from what was later determined to be a respiratory illness. He missed months of training while recovering, then returned in the summer with two third place finishes on the East Coast. Shipping to California to prep for the Classic, Mucho Macho Man posted an impressive win in the

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. ...

. Facing them was a highly competitive field, including: * Paynter – winner of the

Woodward Stakes The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. It is named for prominent racehorse owner William Woodward. The race was first run in 1954 at Aqueduct Rac ...

* Declaration of War – European contender making his first start on dirt. Winner of the

Queen Anne Stakes The Queen Anne Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and is scheduled to take pl ...

and

Juddmonte International The International Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 56 yards (2, ...

* Fort Larned – winner of the 2012 Classic. His form in 2013 was inconsistent, highlighted by a win in the

Stephen Foster Handicap The Stephen Foster Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt run annually in mid-June at Churchill Downs Spring Meet in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is named in ...

Palace Malice Palace Malice (foaled May 2, 2010) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2013 Belmont Stakes. After winning one minor race as a two-year-old he made steady improvement in the early part of 2013, being placed in the Ris ...

– winner of the Belmont Stakes *

– winner of the Travers and

Pennsylvania Derby The Pennsylvania Derby is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Parx Racing and Casino (formerly known as Keystone Race Track, then from 1986 through 2010 as Philadelphia Park) each year. The track's premiere event is open to horses, age three, ...

* Flat Out – third in the 2012 Classic and winner of the 2013 Suburban Handicap * Ron the Greek, winner of the 2013 Jockey Club Gold Cup, was a late scratch.

Race description

Game On Dude went to the early lead, joined by Fort Larned and longshot Moreno. Setting a brisk pace, the three exchanged leads for the first three-quarters of a mile before first Moreno, then Game On Dude started to fall back. Meanwhile, Mucho Macho Man raced a few lengths behind until starting his move while racing wide on the final turn, moving to the lead with a quarter of a mile to go. As they entered the stretch, Declaration of War failed to change leads but still moved into second, slowly closing ground on the leader. Will Take Charge also started making up ground on the turn while running six wide. As they approached the finish, the gap between the three horses narrowed until the final stride, where the result was too close to call with the naked eye. A photo finish showed Mucho Macho Man had held on to win by inches, with Will Take Charge a head (roughly a foot) in front of Declaration of War. The finish was later named the NTRA Moment of the Year. It was the first Classic win for jockey Gary Stevens, who had resumed racing in 2013 at age 50 after having retired seven years earlier due to a series of injuries. "This is a dream come true," he said. "This is the one race missing from my résumé."

Katherine Ritvo Katherine "Kathy" Ritvo (born February 13, 1969) is a race horse trainer who won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2013 with Mucho Macho Man after having finished a close second in the same race in 2012. She is the first woman to have trained a winne ...

became the first female trainer to win the Classic, an especially noteworthy feat for a woman who had undergone a

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedu ...

in 2008. Ritvo gave credit to the horse and rider. "When Gary waved the stick (after the finish), I figured he won," she added. "He got a great trip. Gary did a fantastic job. When he used 'Macho,' 'Macho' showed up. He is a good horse. I'm excited. If I didn't have the support of my family, I wouldn't be here." Mucho Macho Man was later awarded the

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

for Champion older male horse, although he lost out in Horse of the Year balloting to turf horse Wise Dan. Will Take Charge's second place finish helped him earn the title for Champion three-year-old colt.

Results

Source: Equibase Times: – 0:23.39; – 0:46.36; – 1:10.23; mile – 1:34.84; final – 2:00.72.
Fractional Splits: (:23.39) (:22.97) (:23.87) (:24.61) (:25.88)

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 "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...

(6-10) Paid $73.00 * $2

Trifecta file:Trifecta.svg, Trifecta A trifecta is a parimutuel betting, 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 Austra ...

(6-10-5) Paid $608.80 * $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 ...

(6-10-5-7) Paid $3,832.40

References

{{BreedersCup Breeders' Cup

Breeders' Cup Classic, 2013