Rolf Lassgard and Helena Bergstrom in a scene from UNDER THE SUN. Sweden's 1999 best-foreign-film Oscar nominee.Reuters
In the spring, the Reddam racing team - featuring owner Paul Reddam, trainer Doug O'Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez - went on a magical mystery tour through thoroughbred racing circles with I'll Have Another, winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, two of the three jewels in racing's Triple Crown.
Many of the top contenders for next year's three-year-old season were on display Saturday, running as two-year-olds in the Grey Goose Breeder's Cup Juvenile - and guess what? The Reddam stable may have another contender for next year's Run for the Roses after all.
He's Had Enough went off at 20-1, the longest odds in the nine-horse field, but came within a head of running down Shanghai Bobby, the prohibitive favorite and ultimate winner on a gorgeous day for racing at Santa Anita Park. It was a strong ride for Gutierrez, who angled off the rail and found a gap between horses as they came down the stretch and almost overtook Shanghai Bobby at the wire.
Rosie Napravnik, riding Shanghai Bobby, became only the second woman after Julie Krone to ride to victory in the Breeders' Cup. But she got a big-time push from He's Had Enough, the Kentucky-bred two-year-old grey by Tapit out of Amelia.
O'Neill said his horse "ran dynamite," noting: "Right to the end, I was still thinking he was going to get there. He got beat by a nice horse."
"He ran very good," added Gutierrez, "but we did get shut off twice on each turn."
Capo Bastone was third while Dynamic Sky, trained by Woodbine's Mark Casse, finished sixth.
He's Had Enough, who paid $12.60 to place and $7.40 to shot, had a first, a sixth and an 11th in his first three races, but had previously not run on dirt. I'll Have Another was named for Reddam's affection for his wife's cookies, same as with He's Had Enough.
Shanghai Bobby has now won all five of his races and becomes the early favorite for next year's Kentucky Derby, although only Street Sense has managed that feat before - winning the Juvenile at the Breeders' Cup (in 2006, by a record 10 lengths) and then following up as a three-year-old win a victory at Churchill Downs. He's Had Enough will at least be in the Kentucky Derby conversation, if his improvement continues.
In an interview posted on BloodHorse.com, O'Neill was asked to compare He's Had Enough to I'll Have Another at the same stage of their careers: "He's probably a little bit more physically mature and probably a little less mentally mature. But he's equally as talented. We've very excited about him.
"He does things at the morning that make you say, 'Whoa! That's not normal 2-year-old stuff.'"
Second place was worth $360,000 out of the $2-million purse for He's Had Enough. Shanghai Bobby took home the winners' share of $1.08-million.
Napravnik was asked if Gutierrez and He'd Had Enough ever got past her at any point down the stretch.
"He was nose and nose with me," she said. "I was looking forward mostly because I knew they were coming and once Bobby saw them that he would kick into gear. He rebreaks so sharply."
Day 2 of the Breeders Cup is horse racing's richest day and the sports talk show host Jim Rome took home a share of the $1-million first prize when the horse he co-owns Mizdirection, won the Turf Sprint over Unbridled's Note. Mike Smith was aboard for Jungle Racing LLC to win his 17th Breeders' Cup race, a record.
The $3-million Breeders' Cup Turf went to Little Mike, owned by trainer Dale Romans. Cogito, owned by Reddam Racing, finished seventh in a 12-horse field.
In the featured event of the evening, the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic, Fort Larned - who went off at 9-1 - upset the heavily favored Game On Dude, edging Mucho Macho Man at the wire. Flat Out finished third, followed by Ron the Greek in fourth.
Game On Dude, runner-up last year to Drosselmeyer, finished a disappointing seventh and afterward trainer Bob Baffert called it "probably the worst race of his life."
The two horses with Canadian connections in the event, Pool Play, trained by Mark Casse, and Handsome Mike, owned by Reddam Racing, finished well back, eighth and ninth respectively.