The 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 28th running of the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the s ...

, part of the

2011 Breeders' Cup The 2011 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 28th edition of thoroughbred racing's season ending premier event, and took place on November 4 and 5 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Friday The Breeders' Cup races were part of a 10 r ...

World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on November 5, 2011 at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

with a purse of $5,000,000. Drosselmeyer, a 15-1 longshot who was in tenth place with a quarter mile left in the race, closed rapidly and won by a length and a half over another longshot, Game On Dude. With none of the favorites finishing in the top three, the

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 ...

paid $41,631.80. 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: *Southern Hemisphere three-year-olds: *Four-year-olds and up: *Any

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, ...

or mares receive a allowance

Contenders

The field for the Classic lacked in star power, especially when compared to the 2010 running featuring

Zenyatta Zenyatta (foaled April 1, 2004) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic and Breeders' Cup Distaff and 19 of her 20 starts. She was the 2010 American Horse of the Year, and Champion Older Female in 2 ...

and

Blame Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, or making negative statements about an individual or group that their actions or inaction are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for ...

. However, the field was very deep with most of the entries given a legitimate chance of winning. The leading contenders included: *

Uncle Mo Uncle Mo (foaled March 10, 2008, in Kentucky) is an American champion Thoroughbred racehorse who went undefeated in his two-year-old season and was named the American Champion Two-Year-Old of 2010. However, his three-year-old season was disrupted ...

, who was the previous year's two-year-old champion but missed the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

due to illness. Recovered to win the

Kelso Handicap The Kelso Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older run over a distance of one mile (8 furlongs) on the dirt held annually in late October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event offers a purse of $3 ...

in October and was the morning line favorite but had never raced at miles * Flat Out, who was the lukewarm post-time favorite for the race after winning 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 ...

* Havre de Grace, a highly regarded filly who had defeated Flat Out in 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 Ra ...

but had never won at miles *

So You Think So You Think (foaled 10 November 2006) is a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse, now majority owned by Coolmore Stud of Ireland. So You Think came to prominence through winning the 2009 and 2010 Cox Plates, Australia's premier weight for a ...

, a New Zealand-bred five-year-old with three European Group I wins in 2011 in but who had never raced on the dirt * Game On Dude, winner of 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 old ...

and Goodwood Stakes. Ridden by Chantal Sutherland, who hoped to become the first woman jockey to win the Classic *

Stay Thirsty Stay Thirsty (foaled on 29 March 2008) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse sired by the leading stallion Bernardini. He was bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther and John Darren Gunther. His dam, Marozia, was sired by Storm Bird. Stay Thirst ...

, winner of the

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, 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 acco ...

* Drosselmeyer, winner of the 2010 Belmont Stakes and runner-up in the Jockey Club Gold Cup

Race Description

Game On Dude went to the lead but was challenged by Uncle Mo. The two set moderate early fractions, followed closely by a large pack of challengers. Turning into the stretch, Uncle Mo hit the lead but then faded, eventually finishing tenth. Game On Dude then repelled challenges from To Honor and Serve and So You Think, opening up a one length lead in mid-stretch. Meanwhile, Drosselmeyer had raced near the back of the field, over ten lengths behind the leaders. He started to make up ground around the far turn but was still in tenth place with a quarter of a mile remaining. Swinging wide, he put in a burst of speed and swept past Game On Dude in the final strides, winning by a length and a half. One of the biggest stories after the race centered on the fact that Drosselmeyer's jockey Mike Smith had once been engaged to Sutherland on Game On Dude. Sutherland had thought she would win, only to see Smith move past her near the finish line. "I'm very proud of my horse, very proud of myself. I had an amazing time," she said after the race. "And I'm happy for Mike. But really? Really? Of all people." For Smith, it was a "redemption" of sorts after the defeat of Zenyatta the year before. "Compared to last year, this is incredible. Last year still hurts like nothing ever before in my life," he said. "The key to this horse is you gotta' keep him moving, gotta' keep pedaling. He can run all day." It was Smith's fifteenth Breeders' Cup win, tying him for the all-time lead with

Jerry Bailey Jerry D. Bailey (born August 29, 1957 in Dallas, Texas) is an NBC Sports thoroughbred racing analyst and a retired American Hall of Fame jockey. Early years Bailey was born in Dallas but raised in El Paso. He had a pony as a child and became int ...

. Drosselmeyer's trainer, Bill Mott, had previously won the Classic with Cigar in 1995. He also won the Ladies' Classic with Royal Delta on the Friday card.

Results

Source: Equibase Times: – 0:23.61; – 0:47.84; – 1:12.82; mile – 1:38.27; final – 2:04.27.
Fractional Splits: (:23.61) (:24.23) (:24.98) (:25.45) (:26.00)

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 ...

(3-8) Paid $444.80 * $2

Trifecta Trifecta A trifecta is a parimutuel bet placed on a horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for comp ...

(3-8-4) Paid $5,427.40 * $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 ...

(3-8-4-10) Paid $47,631.80

References

{{BreedersCup Breeders' Cup

Breeders' Cup Classic, 2011