The 1997 Breeders’ Cup

The 14th Breeders’ Cup turned out to be extremely predictable as favorites won 5 of the 7 races, including two from trainer Patrick Byrne, who won the Juvenile Fillies with Countess Diana and the Juvenile with Favorite Trick. The team of trainer Jenine Sahadi and rider Corey Nakatani combined to again win the Sprint, this time with the 7-year-old gelding Elmhurst. Foreign horses won the turf races, beginning with Spinning World from France in the Mile and Chief Bearhart from Canada in the Turf. The Classic was all Skip Away, a 4-year-old colt trained by Sonny Hine and ridden by Mike Smith, who dominated the 1 ¼ race to win by six lengths, the largest Classic-winning margin to date. In a close vote, Favorite Trick was later named Horse of the Year.