Authentic win in Breeders Cup Classic at Keeneland
WORLD class racing shined for two days under beautiful blue skies at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky USA, but none so bright as that of Authentic in the Longines Breeders Cup Classic.
The Grade 1, one and a quarter-mile race was led wire-to-wire by Authentic with renowned John Velazquez aboard, turning in his first ever BC Classic win on the winner of the 146th Kentucky Derby trained by Bob Baffert and part-owned by the MyRaceHorse crowd-finding app.
Velazquez on Authentic turned in a time nearly a full second faster than the great thoroughbred racing Grand Slam winner American Pharaoh in 2015.
“I have been chasing this race for quite a while,” said John Velazquez just after he finished his record-breaking race, led by Authentic from start to finish. “I had an opportunity to win it and for him to do it for me, it’s incredible. To have an opportunity to ride a horse like this is a gift from God.”
The 37th Breeders Cup World Championships was a great day for Europe, Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien turning in a trifecta in the Grade 1 FanDuel Breeders Cup Mile with Order of Australia followed by Circus Maximus and Lope Y Fernandez. O’Brien’s Magical with Ryan Moore aboard placed second in the Grade 1 Longines Breeders Cup Turf Classic to fellow Irish trainer Dermot Weld’s Tarnawa and Colin Keane.
