The 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic
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The 1998 Breeders’ Cup Classic
Winner: Awesome Again
The 1998 Breeders’ Cup World Championships took place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky on November 7th. It was the 15th edition of the premier North American horse racing event and featured a number of exciting races and finishes. One of the highlights of the card was the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
It was anyone’s guess as to who would come away with the win in the Classic, as it featured a star-studded field of top contenders whose combined career earnings to that point totaled nearly $30 million. 1997 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Skip Away and 1997 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Silver Charm were both seen as the heavy favorites entering the race, and the previous two Belmont Stakes (G1) winners, Touch Gold and Victory Gallop, were also entered into the race, but it was Canadian-bred Awesome Again who would emerge victorious from the field of 10.
Silver Charm led the pack to start the race and was in front of his competition through the deep stretch of the race. Swain was close on Silver Charm’s tail, but Awesome Again and jockey Pat Day made a move down the middle to wrestle away the top spot, and would end up winning by three quarters of one length. Awesome Again’s winning time was 2:0216, the sixth-slowest winning time to-date.
Jockey Pat Day earned his 10th career Breeders’ Cup win atop Awesome Again that day, while trainer Pat Byrne earned his third. The win capped off an unbeaten season for Awesome Again, who won six races in total, including five graded stakes win and two grade one wins (Whitney Handicap being the other).
Awesome Again paid $11.40, $4.60, and $3.00 across the board for his win. Silver Charm returned $3.80 to place and $3.00 to show. Swain paid $4.00 for his third-place showing. A 1-7-3 trifecta paid $247.00.