Favored Officer Caught Speeding and Pays the Price

ELMONT, N.Y. —  Favorites were falling everywhere in the 18th running of the Breeders’ Cup, but the one that bounced the hardest was Officer, undefeated in five starts before Saturday and at 7-10 the heaviest favorite in the eight million-dollar races.

In a questionable ride by Victor Espinoza, Officer ran the first six furlongs of the Juvenile in 1:11 despite a stiff headwind down the backstretch and finished fifth, beaten by 51/4 lengths, as Johannesburg, the undefeated colt from Ireland, won the 11/16-mile race by 11/4 lengths.

As Espinoza dismounted after the race, he was seen in an animated conversation with trainer Bob Baffert, who later said:

“Especially with the headwind, when I saw them cooking down the backside, I didn’t like that at all. He didn’t leave [the gate] well. He came back with paint on his shoulder from banging into the side of the gate. He was behind and then jumped into it from behind and got rolling. He jumped into a speed duel. I wish they would have cut him off, but the speed duel just cooked him. I don’t blame Victor. The horse was really keen. You need a lot of luck to win a Breeders’ Cup race, and it wasn’t our day.”

Officer had dominated U.S. rivals on both coasts, but he was no match for Johannesburg, who was ridden by Mick Kinane to his seventh consecutive victory. Johannesburg also won races in Ireland, England and France and will be Officer’s rival in the year-ending Eclipse awards voting for best 2-year-old male. Although the award is for the best juvenile in North America, a horse needs to run only one time here to be eligible.

In his first start on dirt, Johannesburg was clocked in 1:421/5 and paid $16.40. His trainer, Aidan O’Brien, said that the colt will be returned to Ireland, but running in next year’s Kentucky Derby is a possibility. A Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner has never won the Derby.

“Turning for home, I had no horse,” Espinoza said. “Normally, he just opens up. He just didn’t have it today. In my heart of hearts, I’m confident that he’s the best horse in the world.”

Here’s a look at the other Breeders’ Cup races:

TURF

Before the Turf, the next-to-last Breeders’ Cup run, the best finish by a favorite Saturday had been You’s fourth-place run in the Juvenile Fillies. But in the Turf, Fantastic Light gave Godolphin Racing its second win of the day with a 4three-quarter-length victory over Milan.

Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Fantastic Light atoned for a fifth-place finish in the Turf last year. “He’s a better horse,” Dettori said. “Like good wine, he’s gotten better with age.”

Fantastic Light ran 11/2 miles in 2:241/5, setting a Belmont course record. He paid $4.80 to win. Timboroa, who led for the first 11/4 miles, finished third.

Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said that Fantastic Light might run one more time, in the Japan Cup, before he’s sent to stud next year.

MILE

Because of a tendon injury and a cracked hoof, Val Royal doesn’t run often, but when he does, trainer Julio Canani has him cranked up. Saturday was one of those days and the 5-year-old French-bred, making only his 10th start, won by 13/4 lengths over Forbidden Apple with the mild favorite, Noverre at 4-1, finishing seventh.

Val Royal gave owner David Milch, who paid $1 million for him in 1999, and Canani their second Breeders’ Cup wins. Milch won the Juvenile with Gilded Time in 1992 and Canani’s first winner was also in the Mile, with Silic in 1999.

Val Royal’s time of 1:32 was a Breeders’ Cup record for the Mile. Ridden by Jose Valdivia Jr., Val Royal paid $12.20.

“Julio did an unbelievable job with this horse,” said Valdivia, who rode Val Royal to victory in the Oak Tree Mile on Oct. 7. “We were a little concerned about the horse coming back so soon, but I had a lot of confidence in him.”

Bach finished third, three-quarters of a length behind Forbidden Apple.

“I love that No. 12,” said Canani, who won from the same post position with Silic in 1999.

DISTAFF

A week ago, Unbridled Elaine was taken away from trainer David Vance and sent to the Churchill Downs barn of Dallas Stewart. Roger Devenport, the gray filly’s 80-year-old owner, had switched from Stewart to Vance earlier this year.

“I ran her off David’s training,” said Stewart, after Unbridled Elaine, at 12-1, had beaten last year’s Distaff winner, Spain, by a head.

Devenport, who has cancer, watched the race on television from the Keeneland track in Lexington, Ky. Under Pat Day, who was winning his 12th Breeders’ Cup race, Unbridled Elaine ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:491/5.

Flute, the even-money favorite, finished seventh.

SPRINT

Squirtle Squirt foiled Kona Gold’s bid for a second consecutive Sprint win and gave trainer Bobby Frankel his first Breeders’ Cup victory. Frankel had failed with 38 starters--two earlier Saturday--before his 3-year-old colt, ridden by Jerry Bailey, beat the filly Xtra Heat by a half-length in 1:08 2/5 for six furlongs.

Kona Gold finished seventh.

“He never really got into it,” jockey Alex Solis said of the 7-year-old gelding. “He broke all right, then he kept taking himself back. I was disappointed. I expected more.”

Originally trained by Joe Garcia, Squirtle Squirt was transferred to Frankel by owner David Lanzman late last year.

“I figured Bobby Frankel was the only man on the planet who wanted to win a Breeders’ Cup race more than I did,” Lanzman said. “Also, he had trained Squirtle Squirt’s sire, Marquetry, and I thought that would help with this horse.”

JUVENILE FILLIES

Idle since her third-place finish in the Del Mar Debutante on Aug. 26, Tempera beat Imperial Gesture by 11/2 lengths to give Eoin Harty, Godolphin Racing’s principal U.S. trainer, his first Breeders’ Cup win.

David Flores rode Tempera for his first Breeders’ Cup victory. She paid $25.80 for $2. You, the 9-10 favorite, was fourth. “She had no kick today,” jockey Edgar Prado said of You. “She just ran even the whole way.”

FILLY AND MARE TURF

Along with Frankel’s, another long losing streak ended when Juddmonte Farm’s Banks Hill, at 6-1, beat Spook Express by 51/2 lengths. Khalid Abdullah, the Saudi Arabian prince who runs Juddmonte, had been 0 for 30 in Breeders’ Cup races.

Banks Hill, trained by Andre Fabre and with Olivier Peslier riding, ran 11/4 miles in 2:00 1/5. England’s Legend, the 5-2 favorite, beat only one runner in the 12-horse field.