Longshots come up winners

By BETH HARRIS Associated Press - 11/7/2009


ARCADIA, Calif. — Life Is Sweet led a parade of longshots to the winner's circle at the Breeders' Cup on Friday, with the stablemate of Zenyatta scoring a 2 1/2-length victory in the $2 million Ladies' Classic.

Garrett Gomez guided Life Is Sweet from last to first during their stretch run on the far outside at Santa Anita.

The 4-year-old filly shares the barn of defending champion Zenyatta, who skipped the race to run in Saturday's $5 million Classic for the first time against the boys. She will put her 13-0 winning streak on the line in the 1 1/4-mile race, the richest in North America.

Both are trained by John Shirreffs for different owners.

Life Is Sweet ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.58 and paid $18.20, $8 and $5 at 8-1 odds. She was the fourth longshot to win in the six Breeders' Cup races.

Mushka returned $12.80 and $6.40, while Music Note was another length back in third and paid $3.20 to show. Careless Jewel, the 9-5 wagering favorite, romped to the early lead before fading to last.

American horses won four of the six races, with jockey Julien Leparoux riding two winners.

It was the second consecutive Breeders' Cup to be run on Santa Anita's synthetic Pro-Ride surface, which kept stellar filly Rachel Alexandra away. She was 8 for 8 this year, including three wins over male horses, one of them in the Preakness. But her owner Jess Jackson doesn't like synthetics, so he shut down the Horse of the Year favorite.

Man of Iron opened the card with a thrilling nose victory over 9-year-old gelding Cloudy's Knight in the $500,000 Marathon, the day's only race featuring males.

Man of Iron covered 1 3/4 miles in 2:54.11 under John Murtagh, giving Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien his fourth career Breeders' Cup win. The 3-year-old paid $14.80 to win in his U.S. debut.




Email to a Friend
Main Menu