DIRT MILE (GRADE 1)

THE decision taken by connections of Liam’s Map not to take on American Pharoah paid off handsomely when the grey four-year-old ran out a comfortable winner of the Dirt Mile.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Todd Pletcher’s charge. Sent off the 1/2 favourite, he was prevented from taking up his usual front-running role and took a tug in the hands of rider Javier Castellano. With a wall of horses in front of him approaching the home turn, Liam’s Map had to be switched to the outside but once he got some space he soon stamped his class all over the race and won by a cosy two and a half lengths.

Taking second spot was Lea, who added some solidity to the form as he finished third in the Dubai World Cup this year and was second in the Woodbine Mile. Aidan O’Brien’s Royal Ascot handicap winner War Envoy (33/1) was never competitive and finished last of the 11 runners.

Pletcher said of his eighth Breeders’ Cup winner: “What was so impressive is that he recovered a couple times. He got steadied about the five-eighths pole and didn’t have anywhere to go. But every time Javier had to tap on the breaks a little bit you could see Liam’s Map jump back into the bridle. He seemed to have brilliant speed and the ability to carry it over a distance of ground. He has the high cruising speed. The thing he did today was he overcame adversity, so he took it to another level today.”

Liam’s Map, by Unbridled’s Song, has now been retired and will stand at Lane’s End Farm. The horse is named after Liam Collins, an American soldier who served in Afghanistan and later worked with West Point Thoroughbreds in establishing an anti-terrorism centre. Collins was so grateful for the support he presented the West Point people with a ‘silky map’ of Afghanistan which each soldier carried with them in case of emergency.