More on the '84...

"I have never been on a horse that tried any harder than Wild Again," Day said.

"I tried to keep him (Gate Dancer) from lugging in while still trying to win the race," Pincay recalled.

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/31156379.html

Three owners were so confident in their horse that they paid an unheard-of supplementary fee of $360,000 to make Wild Again eligible.

"All that dough to run a 30-1 shot," one of the owners of Slew O' Gold, Mickey Taylor, said with admiration before the race. "Now that's what I call being dead game."
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-...eders-cup-race
First place was worth $1.35 million, which didn't seem like a very good return, considering the money Wild Again's ownership had risked.

"Don't worry about us, pal," said Ron Volkman, one of the owners. "We more than made up for it at the windows."

Wild Again paid $64.60 to win, still a record for the Classic.

Pat Day, riding Wild Again--his first of six Breeders' Cup winners--followed orders from trainer Vincent Timphony, which included not hitting the colt because he might shy from the stick.

Said Day: "As we turned for home, Slew O' Gold ranged up on the outside of me, and my horse was tiring significantly at that point. I thought that was as far as we were going to go.

"But as Slew came to me, he never got by me. My little horse just refused to give up. He dug down with such a gutsy last quarter of a mile that it gives me goose bumps just to talk about it. I could hear him grunting every jump, just straining. It was almost as though he knew that those people had put up all that money to give him the chance."


Pat Day recalls...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anKQH...eature=related

Precisionist was there, too (another of my favorites). He would return to win the BC Sprint in 1985, and finish 2nd in the 1986 Classic.

I tend to agree from a collection of horses profile.

I so badly wanted to see Skip Away repeat that year.

the 1985 classic was indeed a classic.......that was a solid field, gate dancer was one inlucky horse. you cannot run any better and not win.

Freefourinternet's '04 BC Classic performance was very reminiscent of that of RNS in 1996.

With ATR broadcasting "the best of" this morning, and the first show being the post-2009 Breeders' Cup show . . . I'm transported back in time and reminded of just how damned excited I was in the wake of Zenyatta's victory. No matter what's happened since, anyone who loves the sport has to have been on a high after that Saturday.

Amen...............a look at the head-on will show that Wild Again came out as much as GD came in. His previous escapades worked against him with a pathetic call by the Stewards.

that was the year before. proud truth ran down gate right on the wire......it was a great field. can remember who was on gate dancer but maybe the move was a bit premature.

McCarron rode him.