Bayern Wires Breeders’ Cup Classic

Bayern Noses Out Breeders’ Cup Classic Rivals At The Wire

It’s been quite a year for the connections of Bayern. Ever since his victory in the grade II Woody Stevens – back in June – the colt has seen one victory after another, and each more spectacular than the prior.

With the exception of the grade I Travers Stakes, where he faded from first to last – back in August – Bayern has dominated three of his last four starts by a monstrous 20 1/2 lengths. He wired the grade I Haskell Invitational to own the field by a whopping 7 1/2 lengths and came back after his Travers defeat to lead another wire-to-wire victory in the grade II Pennsylvania Derby, held just last month at Parx Racetrack.

“He’s the kind of horse that likes to do his own thing. You can’t hold him back too much.” Bob Baffert said of the three-year-old colt, by Offlee Wild. “After the Travers we made a point to continue his training and just keep moving forward. We figured, and hoped, he would come back the next time out, and he sure did.”

In regards to the inquiry, Baffert stood patiently waiting for the stewards to reach a final decision. “It’s never a good thing when the stewards take this long, but it’s hard to control the start. Bayern ran such a courageous race today.” He also stated, “I told Martin that if he went to the lead out of the gate to just go with it and not look back. And that’s what he did.”

Baffert, who is based out of Santa Anita, was enthralled with the win, adding, “When they came down the stretch it was so close between them, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.” He recalled the race while watching the replay on the monitors in the press room. “Watching them run head to head I was saying, ‘please god, this has been so long in the making, don’t take it away from me. Not now.’ “

Martin Garcia was also nothing but smiles. When asked what the win meant to him, he raved, “I cannot express what it means to me or how much it will mean for my career as a jockey. It is very exciting.”

This was Baffert and Garcia’s first Breeders’ Cup Classic victory.

Payouts

Breeders’ Cup Classic – Final Order of finish

1. Bayern
2. Toast of New York
3. California Chrome
4. Shared Belief
5. Tonalist
6. Candy Boy
7. Cigar Street
8. Zivo
9. Imperative
10. Footbridge
11. V.E. Day
12. Prayer for Relief
13. Majestic Harbor
14. Moreno