Anyone who watched the 2022 World Breeders’ Cup Championships in person or on TV will always remember the Longines Classic first. A truly grand finale, the last of 14 World Cup races was a display of racing brilliance as unbeaten Flightline ended his career with an 8 ¼ length victory. His victory completed the arc of the two-day event at Keeneland Race Course in a manner befitting a champion, bringing a sense of immense satisfaction and, yes, even awe, to those associated with the horse and the crowd of fans who supported him.
However, the 2022 Breeders’ Cup did not lack drama. In five of the races the margin of victory was three-quarters of a length or less, and fan favorite Cody’s Wish had already given the crowd at the Keeneland track, plus thousands of well-wishers watching at home, a jolt of high tension, followed by celebration as he charged late earlier on Saturday’s card to win the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile by a margin.
However, that was nothing compared to what happened four races later, when eight fillies and mares faced off in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The 2022 Distaff featured one of the most competitive in recent years as leading contenders in both the 3-year-old filly and older female divisions targeted the 1 1/8 mile race at Keeneland. Seven of the eight starters were Grade 1 winners, and given the quality of the field it was somewhat surprising that the race favorite – Alabama Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks winner Nest – had low after-time odds of 1.48-1. Nest, a daughter of Curlin, had also finished second in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets and had won the Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland earlier in her three-year-old season. Second betting pick Malathaat, another Curlin filly voted 2021 3-year-old female champion, went to the Distaff after a 5 ¼ length victory in the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland just four weeks earlier. Both fillies were trained by seven-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher, who was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame in 2021 in Saratoga Springs, NY.
As expected, Cotillion Stakes winner Society set out to set the early pace in the Distaff, and she achieved fractions of :23.09 and :47.29 for the first quarter and half miles, which was moderate considering the elite level of competition. Going into the far turn, Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath, dismissed at odds of 14.25-1 on fading recent form, advanced and then edged past Society in a bold bid for the lead. Both Nest and California-based Grade 1 winner Blue Stripe also loomed threats around the turn, while Malathaat swung wide under John Velazquez and fellow 4-year-old Grade 1 winner Clairiere, with Joel Rosario riding, began her usual late attack.
Secret Oath led the field into the homestretch, and with an eighth of a mile to go, five contenders had a chance, as both Malathaat and Blue Stripe charged to the outside of Nest and Secret Oath and Clairiere rallied along the inside. The three-year-olds both tired in the final meters, leaving 24.02-1 shot Blue Stripe, 6.13-1 Clairiere and 2.88-1 Malathaat to settle matters.
Blue Stripe, among the rivals, maintained the narrowest lead as time and distance ran out, but at the very last second Malathaat drew level and then looked to win the main bob.
The track photo confirmed it: Shadwell Stable’s Malathaat had the upper hand over Blue Stripe by a nose, while Clairiere was still a nose behind in third. But there were definitely some nervous moments during the wait.
“I could tell it was going to be close,” Pletcher said Blood horse. “Then I got a little worried that I might have celebrated a little too much when they kept showing the replay, and I thought it would be embarrassing if she didn’t win this picture. I thought she had won, but I wasn’t 100 percent sure.”
The Distaff proved to be Malathaat’s final race, and the four-year-old retired to join Shadwell’s broodmare band with a career record of 10 wins, three seconds and a third in 14 starts with more than $3.79 million in earnings. In 2022 she received a second Eclipse Award, this time as champion of older dirty bitches, and Pletcher was honored for the eighth time as outstanding trainer.
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