Timeform reflect on some of the great Breeders' Cup performances

Breeders’ Cup Classic

Three performances in the Breeders' Cup Classic this century tower above all others. The first was posted in 2004 by Ghostzapper, who turned a race featuring most of the top dirt horses in America into a procession, earning a Timeform rating of 137 in the process. That lofty level was passed in 2015, however, as American Pharoah, the Triple Crown winner, bounced backed from a shock defeat in the Travers Stakes to run out a hugely impressive winner, achieving a career-best rating of 138.

Despite the high-profile withdrawal of Beholder, the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland was still a strong one, with Effinex being the only contender in the eight-runner field not to have previously won at Grade 1 level. However, it’s fair to say that all eyes were on Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, who dictated even (but still sound) fractions before widening on demand in the straight to score by six and a half lengths on what would be his final start before retiring to stud. His rating equalled that of Timeform's previous highest-rated US-trained horse, Cigar, before the pair of them were surpassed by Arrogate the following year.

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 when winning the Travers Stakes by 13 and a half lengths on his previous start.

The finish concerned only two, however, as Arrogate and California Chrome drew well clear in the straight. California Chrome had the advantage but Arrogate began to eat up the ground once levelling for home, putting his long stride to good use to run down his top-class rival, getting on top in the shadows of the post.

That performance, which earned a figure of 139, established Arrogate as the highest-rated horse in North America since Timeform started collating ratings for that jurisdiction, and he went on enhance his reputation with wins in the following year’s Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup. His fortunes took a turn for the worse in the second half of that campaign, failing to win on his final three starts, but that did little to detract from his extraordinary three-year-old campaign.

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 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.

The only other occasion this century that the winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf has achieved a rating of 130 was in 2008, when Conduit secured the first of two successive victories in the race. Conduit had been beaten off a mark of just 79 on his handicap debut at Sandown earlier in the season, but he arrived at Santa Anita on a steep upward curve, culminating in a decisive victory in the St Leger on his previous start.

Conduit, with stamina assured, proved well suited by the strong pace in the Breeders' Cup Turf and powered a length and a half clear down the straight in the style of a top-class racehorse. He would enhance his reputation by winning the King George and Breeders' Cup Turf the following season.

Breeders’ Cup Mile

The 2002 Breeders' Cup Mile is remembered as much for who failed to win as for who did prevail, but it should not be overlooked that Domedriver ran to a Timeform rating of 128 in beating Rock of Gibraltar, achieving the joint-highest figure in the race this century.

Rock of Gibraltar had become the first horse to win seven Group 1s in succession when landing the Prix du Moulin, and he was an odds-on favourite to extend the winning sequence to eight in the Breeders' Cup Mile. He found himself at a disadvantage at Arlington, however, as he was held up in a race that was not run a strong gallop, and he was then hampered on the turn for home by his stricken stablemate Landseer. He stayed on powerfully up the home straight, passing a host of rivals, but was unable to overhaul French raider Domedriver, who had displayed a sharp turn of foot to hit the front and kept on to win by a length.

The excellent record of the French in the Breeders' Cup Mile was further enhanced by the exploits of the remarkable Goldikova, who won the race three years in a row between 2008 and 2010. She 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.