The 2012

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

World Championships was the 29th edition of the premier event of the North American

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...

year, which took place November 2 and 3 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 race ...

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 t ...

. The winners were bred in the United States except where indicated. The Breeders' Cup is generally regarded as the end of the North American racing season, although a few

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

events take place in later November and December. The 2012 Breeders' Cup results were highly influential in the Eclipse Award divisional championship voting.

Breeders' Cup Challenge series

The

Breeders' Cup Challenge The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year. The Challenge series began in 2007 with 24 "Win and Yo ...

provides winners of the designated races with an automatic "Win and You're In" Berth in the Breeders' Cup. Races are chosen by the

organization and included key prep races in the various Breeders' Cup divisions from around the world. For 2012, the series consisted of 73 races in 10 countries, 52 of which were Grade / Group One events. Forty-five horses entered in the 2012 Breeders' Cup races qualified via the challenge series, including seven of the winners. These were: *

Fort Larned Fort Larned National Historic Site preserves Fort Larned which operated from 1859 to 1878. It is approximately west of Larned, Kansas, Larned, Kansas, United States. History The Camp on Pawnee Fork was established on October 22, 1859, to pr ...

, who qualified for the Classic by winning the Whitney * Royal Delta, who won both the

Delaware Handicap The Delaware Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Delaware Park Racetrack in Wilmington, Delaware. The Grade III race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one mile and one eighth on the dirt. ...

and

Beldame Beldame (1901–1924) was an American racehorse and broodmare. Background The chestnut filly was foaled near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1901. She was by Octagon, out of the English-bred Bella Donna (by The Derby winner Hermit). Named Beldame, sh ...

to qualify for the Ladies' Classic * Little Mike, who qualified for the Turf by winning the

Arlington Million The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on turf. It was originally raced at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of miles. The Arling ...

Wise Dan Wise Dan (foaled February 20, 2007) is a champion American Hall of Fame and Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He is the first horse to win the same three Eclipse Awards in consecutive years, having been named American Horse of the ...

, who won both the

Woodbine Mile The Woodbine Mile is a Grade I stakes race on turf for Thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up held annually in mid September at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Canada. Currently sponsored by Ricoh, the Woodbine Mile offers a purse of Can$1, ...

and Shadwell Turf Mile to quality for the Breeders' Cup Mile * Groupie Doll, who qualified for the Filly & Mare Sprint by winning the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes *

Shanghai Bobby Shanghai Bobby (foaled February 27, 2010) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2012 he was unbeaten in five races including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was awarded American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt at the Eclipse Awards. Background Sh ...

, who earned his berth in the Juvenile by winning both the

Hopeful Hopeful may refer to * Hopeful (Ami Suzuki song), "Hopeful" (Ami Suzuki song) * Hopeful (Bars and Melody song), "Hopeful" (Bars and Melody song) * Hopeful, Alabama * Hopeful, Georgia * Mount Hopeful, peak in the Shetland Islands See also

* Hop ...

and

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

* Calidoscopio, who qualified for the Marathon by winning the Clasico Belgrano

Results

The highlight of the 2012 event was generally considered to be Wise Dan's victory in the Mile, completed in an "eye-popping" 1:31.78, a new track record. Although European horses were expected to be his biggest challengers, the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom finished second despite not having raced since February. "It really hasn't hit me yet", said Wise Dan's trainer Charles Lopresti. "It's an incredible accomplishment, but it's really just the horse. He's done things in the morning that you just don't believe, and you work all your life to have a horse like this."

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 Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes: the Santa Anita Handicap in 2011, 2013, and 2014 the on ...

came into the Classic as the favorite after a brilliant campaign that included wins in the

Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade II 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 $200,000 ...

and

Awesome Again Stakes The Goodwood 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. His ...

. A win would likely have earned him Horse of the Year honors but he was sluggish and finished seventh. Longshot

won in a front running performance, just holding off

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 ...

at the wire.

Rosie Napravnik Anna Rose "Rosie" Napravnik (born February 9, 1988) is a former American Thoroughbred horse race, Thoroughbred horse racing jockey and two-time winner of the Kentucky Oaks. Beginning her career in 2005, she was regularly ranked among the top joc ...

became just the second female jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race after guiding Shanghai Bobby to a win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. After the early leader tired, Shanghai Bobby inherited the lead, then lost his concentration and slowed down. He's Had Enough drew even before Shanghai Bobby responded to urging from Napravnik to prevail by a head. After capturing the Marathon, Calidoscopio became both the oldest horse to ever win a Breeders' Cup race and the first one trained in South America. The biggest controversy of the 2012 Breeders' Cup related to the use of the anti-bleeding medication

Furosemide Furosemide, sold under the brand name Lasix among others, is a loop diuretic medication used to treat edema due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease. Furosemide may also be used for the treatment of high blood pressure. It can ...

(Lasix), commonly used in North America but not permitted elsewhere. To move towards international standards, the Breeders' Cup decided to eliminate the use of Lasix in the Juvenile races, with the intention of extending the ban to other races in subsequent years. However, there was considerable push back from a majority of American owners, trainers and bettors, who feared the form of American horses would be disrupted by the withdrawal of the drug. The raceday ban on Lasix would eventually be removed for the 2014 event. In the 2012 Eclipse Award voting, nine of the eleven

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...

categories were awarded to horses who won at the Breeders' Cup. Wise Dan won three Eclipse Awards (Horse of the Year, Champion Turf Male and Champion Older Male), becoming the first horse since John Henry in 1981 to do so. The other winners were Shanghai Bobby (Champion 2-year-old Male), Beholder (Champion 2-year-old Female), Royal Delta (Champion Older Female), Zagora (Champion Turf Female), Trinniberg (Champion Male Sprinter) and Groupie Doll (Champion Female Sprinter).

Friday

Saturday

The Breeders' Cup races were part of a 12 race program with post time at 10:05 am PST for the first race. The post time of the first Breeders' Cup race was 11:51 am PST. The attendance was 55,123.

References

{{BreedersCup

Breeders' Cup

Santa Anita Park