The 2016

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 33rd 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. A total of 185 pre-entries were announced on October 26 in what was considered a highly competitive year in most divisions. The races, all of which were

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 ...

, took place on November 4 and 5 at

Santa Anita Racetrack 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 t ...

and were telecast by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. The

is generally regarded as the end of the North America racing season, although a few Grade I events take place in later November and December. The most anticipated events were the Classic and Distaff. The Classic pitted the five-year-old

California Chrome California Chrome (foaled February 18, 2011) is a National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, US Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who won the 2014 Kentucky Derby, 2014 Preakness Stakes, Preakness Stakes, and 2016 Dubai World ...

, undefeated in 2016, against

Arrogate Arrogate (April 11, 2013June 2, 2020) was a Thoroughbred racehorse, and was the richest horse in equine history (by earnings). He won the 2016 Travers Stakes in a record time in his first stakes appearance. He won the Breeders' Cup Classic a ...

, a late developing three-year-old, with Arrogate prevailing by half a length. The Distaff featured a face-off between three

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. The trophy is made by a few small selected A ...

winners:

Songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

(2015 champion two-year-old filly, undefeated in her career before the Breeders' Cup),

Stellar Wind A stellar wind is a flow of gas ejected from the stellar atmosphere, upper atmosphere of a star. It is distinguished from the bipolar outflows characteristic of young stars by being less collimated, although stellar winds are not generally spheri ...

(2015 champion three-year-old filly) and Beholder (2015 champion older female). Beholder prevailed over Songbird by a nose.

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 ...

is a series of races that provide the winners of designated races with automatic "Win and You're In" berths in a specified division of the Breeders' Cup. Forty-five entrants in the Breeders' Cup qualified via the Challenge series, which was particularly important as seven of the Breeders' Cup races were oversubscribed, in that there were more entries than available space. A maximum of 14 horses (12 in the Dirt Mile) are allowed to start in each race. Winners of the Challenge races are given automatic entries, while other pre-entries were ranked by a points system and the judgement of a panel of experts.

Lead-up

In 2016, Santa Anita hosted the Breeders' Cup for a record ninth time. In preparation for the event, Santa Anita installed a new turf course over the summer of 2016. Early reviews were positive: the jockeys felt the course was very fast but safe and fair. "It's like a carpet right now," said jockey

Kent Desormeaux Kent Jason Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year with 598 wins in 1989. He has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes t ...

. "It's pristine. It's incredible. But we'll see how it holds up." NBC Sports telecast the Breeders' Cup from 4 PM to 8 PM (Eastern) on both Friday and Saturday, plus the Classic was broadcast on NBC from 8 PM to 9 PM on Saturday. All races were streamed live. In the

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

division,

was the clear favorite after an undefeated season that included wins in 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 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operate ...

Pacific Classic The Pacific Classic Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually August or September at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. This Grade I race is open to horses, age three and up, which race one and one-quarter miles on the ...

and

Awesome Again Awesome Again (March 29, 1994December 15, 2020) was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and stallion. As a three-year-old, he won the Queen's Plate in Canada and the Jim Dandy Stakes in the United States. He was undefeated at age four ...

, a three-year-old who did not win his first race until June, was the most highly regarded contender after his record-setting win in 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 "Midsummer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds accor ...

Frosted Frosting or Frosted may refer to: * Frost, a thin layer of ice on a solid surface * Icing (food), the sweet glaze used in confectionery * FROSTING, a surveillance programme * Frosting (crime), a form of vehicle theft * Frosting (decorative arts) ...

, who qualified for both the Dirt Mile and Classic, took the more challenging option and was the most highly regarded east coast contender. The field for the

Distaff A distaff (, , also called a rock"Rock." ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989.) is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly use ...

was considered one of the most competitive in its history. The early favorite was

, the Champion two-year-old filly of 2015. Songbird had won all 11 of her starts by a combined lengths but had never faced older horses.

, the 2015 three-year-old champion filly, qualified for the Breeders' Cup by beating Beholder in two "Win and You're In" races, the Clement L. Hirsch and

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 American Champion Older Female H ...

. Beholder, a three-time

winner, came into the race off of a three-race losing streak, but was considered very dangerous. Other anticipated match ups included the Turf, where

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe () is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris over a distance ...

winner Found attempted to defend her 2015 win in the Turf against

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

, who had been dominant in the summer in North America on the Turf, and her stablemate and rival Highland Reel, who had finished second to Found in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Tepin attempted to defend her title in the Mile. All four races in the two-year-old division were considered wide open.

Results

A record Friday crowd of 45,673 showed up on November 4 to watch the first four Breeders' Cup races, with the match up between Songbird and Beholder in the Distaff being the main draw. The race did not disappoint, with the ''

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of rac ...

'' and ''

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'' calling it a "race for the ages", while ''

The Blood-Horse ''The Blood-Horse'' (also referred to simply as ''Blood-Horse'' and displayed on its nameplate in upright all-capital letters without hyphenation as BLOODHORSE) is a news magazine that originated in 1916 as a monthly bulletin of the Thoroughbred ...

'' described it as "dramatic and epic". Songbird took the early lead with Beholder stalking a few lengths behind then moving closer around the final turn. As they entered the stretch, Beholder trailed by about a length but was closing ground with each stride. Songbird fought back and the two reached the wire together – a photo finish determined that Beholder had won by "barely more than a whisker." Corona Del Inca was pulled up at the head of the stretch during the Distaff. Although she was able to walk into the nearby ambulance, her injuries proved extensive and she had to be

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from ; "good death") is the act of killing an animal humanely, most commonly with injectable drugs. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditions or diseases, lack of resources to con ...

On Saturday, the attendance was 72,811 – the highest single day attendance at the Breeders' Cup since it switched to a 2-day format in 2007. Common-pool wagering of $109 million for Saturday was up 3.2% compared to 2015, though short of the record of $119 million set in 2010. The Classic was run in similar fashion to the Distaff, with California Chrome setting the pace and Arrogate stalking him a few lengths behind. As they rounded the final turn, Arrogate moved into second, trailing by a length and a half. California Chrome maintained that margin until mid-stretch, then Arrogate started to close, eventually winning by half a length. Keen Ice was over 10 lengths back in third. "Deep down, I really wasn't sure if we could beat California Chrome, because I still have total respect for the horse", said Arrogate's trainer Bob Baffert. "Turning for home, I thought I was going to run second, but there's nothing wrong with that, because Chrome is a really good horse, and running second to him is no bad thing ... I never thought he would be able to catch Chrome." PhotoFinishInFMT

Other highlights included the Turf, in which Highland Reel went to an early lead and was able to open a large lead down the backstretch, then withstood a late run by Flintshire to win by lengths. In the Mile, longshot

Tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

prevailed by half a length over Tepin, who was attempting to defend her win in the 2015 renewal. The Filly & Mare Turf was won by Queen's Trust, who held off a late run by

Lady Eli Lady Eli (foaled February 2, 2012 in Kentucky) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Champion Female Turf Horse of 2017. She first came to national attention when she won the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She ...

by a nose. And in the Juvenile,

Classic Empire Classic Empire (foaled March 21, 2014) is a retired American Thoroughbred race horse who was named the American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse of 2016 after winning the Breeders' Futurity Stakes and Breeders' Cup Juvenile. After several setba ...

became the early favorite for the 2017 Kentucky Derby by prevailing over Not This Time by a neck. Mike Smith won the Shoemaker Award for leading jockey at the event. He won three races (the Dirt Mile on Tamarkuz, the Filly & Mare Sprint on Finest City and the Classic on Arrogate) and finished second in three others. Smith was the only jockey to win multiple Breeders' Cup races in 2016.

Friday, November 4

Oscar_Performance_BCJT2016.jpg, Oscar Performance, winner of the Juvenile Turf Tamarkuz.jpg, Tamarkuz, winner of the Dirt Mile New Money Honey.jpg, New Money Honey, winner of the Juvenile Fillies Turf Beholder after the win.jpg, Beholder, winner of the Distaff Source: Equibase

Saturday, November 5

Champagne_RoomBefore.jpg, Juvenile Fillies winner Champagne Room DettoriOnQueensTrust.jpg, Filly & Mare Turf winner Queen's Trust Drefong_before_the_BC_Sprint.jpg, Sprint winner Drefong Obviously-2016BCTurfSprint.jpg, Turf Sprint winner Obviously ClassicEmpire-2016BCJuvenile.jpg, Juvenile winner Classic Empire HighlandReel-2016BCTurf-2.jpg, Turf winner Highland Reel Finest_City-2016BDFMSprint.jpg, Filly & Mare Sprint winner Finest City Tourist_with_BC_Mile_blanket.jpg, Mile winner Tourist BCC2016-beforerace-3.jpg, Classic winner Arrogate Source: Equibase

References

{{Thoroughbred Racing on NBC

Breeders' Cup Santa Anita Park