Note: Until the end of the year I will be counting down my top favorite moments from this year.
California Chrome.... out for the year, Shared Belief... injured, Toast of New York... injured, Bayern... having a terrible year. Those where the top 4 finishers from last year's Breeders' Cup Classic and none of them where in the most important West Coast race for Older Males in the early Summer. Instead, the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (formally known as the Hollywood Gold Cup) featured the previous year's Clark winner Hoppertunity, Woodward winner Moreno (who had defeated Shared Belief in his last race), Majestic City who had faced some nice horses, and Californian winner Catch a Flight.
Even without the star power though, the race was a thriller as it came down to Hoppertunity and the 3rd place finisher of the Californian Hard Aces. In the end the latter by Hard Spun would get his first G1 win. Catch a Flight was third.
Hard Aces finish off the board in the Pacific Classic, Awesome Again and Breeders' Cup Classic. Hoppertunity would finish 2nd in his Clark defense to Classic runner up Effinex.
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