Blame blemishes Zenyatta’s perfect record to win thrilling Breeders’ Cup Classic

blame-win-breeders-cup-classicTrue to form, Zenyatta had a comfortable view of the arse-end of the field throughout most of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, trailing by as much as 20 lengths at one point. Then, as we’ve seen 19 times previously, the gritty girl poured it on in the final turn, galloping furiously on the outside, ending up neck and neck with frontrunner Blame. Sadly, for Zenyatta’s owners, most of the American media and a gaggle of Hollywood scriptwriters, she ran out of ground before the finish line, finishing a mere head behind Blame. Fly Down finished third.

In other news from Churchill Downs, Goldikova became the first three-peater in Breeders’ Cup history after winning the turf Mile for the third straight year. And finally, no jockeys have yet come to blows in front of the 77,000 fans in attendance, although we’ll wait until tonight’s police blotter is published before we can say for sure that we’re in the clear.