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Until a winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) delivers a Kentucky Derby (G1) victory, the 1 1/16-mile race (run at 1 1/8 miles in 2002, and at one mile in 1984, ‘85, and ‘87) will be regarded as a measure of two-year-old form-which it obviously is-rather than a reliable yardstick of classic potential.
The race has yet to yield a Derby or Belmont Stakes (G1) winner, and only one classic winner, 1995 Preakness Stakes (G1) victor Timber Country, has won the Juvenile. With regularity, however, the Derby winner and other classic winners have been in the beaten Juvenile field, implying that classic winners were either not sufficiently precocious to win the Juvenile or found its distance to be too short for their best efforts. |
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The first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile was won by Chief’s Crown, who finished second or third in all of the following year’s classics, won the Travers Stakes (G1) against three-year-olds, and took the Marlboro Cup Handicap (G1) against older horses. He had the three-year-old title and Horse of the Year honors in his sights until finishing fourth as the favorite in the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
Second to Chief’s Crown in the 1984 Juvenile was Tank’s Prospect, who won the following year’s Preakness. Tiring to finish third, beaten only 1 1/2 lengths, was Spend a Buck, the 1985 Derby winner who was voted champion three-year-old male and Horse of the Year.
The pattern would be repeated in subsequent editions of the Juvenile. Alysheba, third in 1986, won the following year’s Derby and Preakness and was voted three-year-old male champion. Bet Twice, who conquered him in the Belmont Stakes (G1), finished fourth in the ‘86 Juvenile. Pine Bluff was seventh in the 1991 Juvenile but won the Preakness the following year. Sea Hero, seventh in the 1992 Juvenile, won the following year’s Derby. Finishing third to Brocco in the 1993 Juvenile was Tabasco Cat, who would become a dual classic winner in ‘94 for D. Wayne Lukas, the leading trainer of Juvenile winners. Seven years later, Point Given came off a close second-place finish in the Juvenile to win the 2001 Preakness, Belmont, and Travers. Retired with an injury after the Travers, he was voted 2001 Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old male. Afleet Alex, second in the 2004 Juvenile, won the following year’s Preakness and Belmont.
Losing a close decision was the best sire of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Storm Cat, who just failed to last the one-mile distance of the Juvenile at Aqueduct in ‘85. Capote, winner of the ‘86 Juvenile, never won again but became a successful sire, getting ‘96 Juvenile winner Boston Harbor.
Perhaps the most memorable running of the Juvenile occurred at Churchill Downs in 1991, when French-trained Arazi broke from the outside post position, blew by the field on the final turn, and romped to a five-length victory. Voted two-year-old male champion off that one North American start, Arazi was hampered by knee problems early in his three-year-old season. He finished eighth as the favorite in the ‘92 Derby.
Another disappointment was Favorite Trick, who was voted ‘97 Horse of the Year after an overwhelming victory in the Juvenile. He finished eighth in the Derby. The following year’s Juvenile winner, Answer Lively, ran tenth in the 1999 Derby, and that year’s Juvenile victor, Anees, was 13th at Churchill Downs the following May. Macho Uno, the 2000 Juvenile winner, did not make it to the following year’s Derby, and ‘01 Juvenile winner Johannesburg ran eighth in the ‘02 Derby. Vindication, an easy winner at Arlington Park in 2002, did not start in the Derby. Action This Day, the 2003 Juvenile victor, finished sixth behind Smarty Jones in ‘04, and Wilko, the ‘04 Juvenile winner at Lone Star Park, came home sixth behind Giacomo in the ‘05 Derby. |
