Europeans shine at Breeders' Cup

British-trained Raven's Pass won the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday in California, upsetting hot favourite Curlin and crowning a stellar day for European raiders, who won a record five of the nine races on the card. Raven's Pass, a three-year-old...

British-trained Raven's Pass won the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday in California, upsetting hot favourite Curlin and crowning a stellar day for European raiders, who won a record five of the nine races on the card.

Raven's Pass, a three-year-old chestnut ridden by Frankie Dettori, outmuscled his rivals in the Santa Anita stretch to win by one-and-three-quarter lengths over Irish raider Henrythenavigator.

Four-year-old Curlin finished fourth as the 4-5 favourite failed in his bid to win the $5 million Classic for the second consecutive year.

Raven's Pass is trained by John Gosden, who teamed up with Dettori earlier on the card on Donativum to win the $1 million Juvenile Turf. Both are owned by Princess Haya of Jordan, wife of Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai.

There were some brilliant performances on the card, the finale of a two-day 14-race Breeders' Cup event that featured $25.5 million in purses.

In addition to Europe's five successes, top US jockey Garrett Gomez, who entered the day as the nation's leading money winner this year with more than $18.4m, notched three victories.

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