Breeder's Cup Classic 2011

You knew it was going to be that kind of a day. The heavily hyped favorites, from Union Rags in the Juvenile to Goldikova in the Mile Turf, missed the mark. So when it came time for the Classic, I kept looking for a horse no one seemed to be looking at.

To be honest, I looked right past Drosselmeyer. I was concentrating on the New Zealand horse, So You Think, who was coming off the turf and wearing blinkers for the first time. Sentimentally, I wanted Havre de Grace to win one for Rick Porter, even as I thought she was not quite as good as the boys in this instance. And how could you not love the Scooter story? 70 year old trainer with his first Grade 1 winner in Flat Out.

Anyway, Chantal Sutherland, trying to make history as the first female to win the Breeder's cup Classic, almost did that on Game On Dude. She almost took that horse, who broke out of the gate like a jack rabbit, wire to wire.

But there, in the middle of the track, about half way down the stretch, came somebody thundering on the outside. Even as as I asked "who's on the outside?" I knew that horse would win. But not until he crossed the wire did I realize it was Drosselmeyer!

Much will be made of the exes, Mike Smith and Chantal, battling it out with Smith winning. And much will be made of Smith getting redemption for losing last year's classic on Zenyatta, but I think the moral of the story just may be that the heavily hyped favorites don't seem to win.

So don't rule out Union Rags in the Derby just yet. It is probably a blessing not to be the favorite and in all honesty, that horse may need blinkers to keep him from lugging out down the stretch. And certainly don't rule out Hansen who beat him by a nostril. It just will probably be won by a horse we have yet to had from!