The Breeders' Cup returns to Santa Anita for the first time since 2019. Here are three memorable moments from the iconic track.
High Chaparral (Timeform performance rating 130) and Johar (130) dead-heat
2003 Breeders' Cup Turf
The 2003 Breeders’ Cup Turf, which resulted in a dead-heat between Johar and High Chaparral with Falbrav a head back in third, was not only a magnificent spectacle and one of the most exciting races in recent memory, but also an exceptionally high-quality affair. The trio ran to a rating of 130 at Santa Anita, and no winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf this century has exceeded that benchmark.
High Chaparral and Falbrav, forming part of a strong European challenge along with the previous season's Arc runner-up Sulamani, had already been involved in a thrilling and controversial contest earlier in the campaign, fighting out the finish to the Irish Champion Stakes. Falbrav had looked unlucky at Leopardstown, persistently short of room inside the final couple of furlongs, but he had clear sailing at Santa Anita and was sent to the front over a furlong out. His stamina for a mile and a half was unproven, however, and High Chaparral, who was very much at home over the trip, gamely stuck to his task to edge ahead of his old rival close home. The eye was drawn, however, to the fast-finishing Johar, who flashed past the post alongside High Chaparral, leading to a long examination of the photo-finish and, eventually, a dead-heat being called.
It was to be the final start for the prolific High Chaparral, who won 10 of his 13 starts, including a Derby, Irish Derby and two Breeders' Cup Turfs. Falbrav would have one last hurrah, landing an eighth Group 1 in the Hong Kong Cup.
Goldikova (128)
2008 Breeders' Cup Mile
Gldikova arrived at Santa Anita in 2008 on the back of top-level victories in the Prix Rothschild and Prix du Moulin and took another step forward to complete a Group 1 hat-trick, deploying an explosive turn of foot to burst into the lead, readily fending off the previous season’s winner Kip Deville.
She would go on to establish herself as one of the most talented and successful mares of the modern era, winning a remarkable 14 races at the highest level, including twice more in the Breeders' Cup Mile. No other horse has won the same Breeders' Cup contest three years in succession.
Arrogate (139)
2016 Breeders' Cup Classic
The 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita brought together three of the highest-rated horses in North America in recent times, namely Kentucky Derby/Dubai World Cup hero California Chrome, wide-margin Metropolitan Handicap winner Frosted and the three-year-old Arrogate, who had produced a remarkable performance for one so inexperienced to win the Travers Stakes by 13 and a half lengths on his previous start.
In the event, however, the finish concerned only two as Arrogate and California Chrome drew well clear in the straight. The latter made the better start of the pair before Arrogate began to eat up the ground once levelling for home, putting his long stride to good use to run down a rival who had had the run of the race in front, getting on top in the shadows of the post.
That performance established Arrogate as the highest-rated horse in North America since Timeform started collating ratings for that jurisdiction (Flightline, 143, has since set a new benchmark). Arrogate went on enhance his reputation with wins in the following year’s Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup, in the process becoming the highest-earning racehorse in history at that time (since surpassed by Winx).
Admittedly, his fortunes took a turn for the worse in the second half of that campaign, failing to win again in three subsequent starts, but that did little to detract from his extraordinary three-year-old campaign and a memorable Classic battle.
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