Delight for Chad Brown as Sistercharlie denies Godolphin raider Wild Illusion

Charlie Appleby’s Breeders’ Cup record narrowly slipped to just 50 per cent when Wild Illusion was foiled by fellow Grade 1 treble-seeking Sistercharlie in an absorbing climax to the Filly & Mare Turf.

William Buick’s mount came there with a surging run down the middle of the Churchill Downs straight, and she looked to be doing enough when overhauling the front-running A Raving Beauty inside the final furlong.

However, John Velazquez came wider still aboard Sistercharlie to deny the Godolphin runner.

“She lost nothing in defeat,” said a magnanimous Appleby of his Nassau and Prix de l'Opera heroine.

“She's been a model of consistency all season. You can sometimes get a bit frustrated by losing on the line but she had a great trip round and came there to win. She just ran into one too good on the day.

"William said she did nothing wrong, just that when she quickened up she's flattened out a bit in the last couple of hundred yards. That gave the winner the opportunity to come at us. She's finished for now but will be back next year all being well.”

Second in last year’s Prix de Diane while in the care of Henri-Alex Pantall in France, Sistercharlie filled the same berth next time on her first start for Chad Brown in the Belmont Oaks.

Prior to Saturday, she won each of the three Grade 1s she had contested this year, and she is now four from four at the highest level in 2018 having taken the Diana Stakes and the Beverly D Stakes on her last two outings.

In defeating Wild Illusion in a dramatic finish, Brown was enhancing his status as the king of American turf racing.

'She has a lot of heart'

Following Newspaperofrecord’s emphatic triumph a day earlier, it was his 12th Breeders' Cup victory and his fourth in this $2 million contest, while it was a third for Velazquez.

“She has a lot of heart, a lot of ability and a fantastic turn of foot” Brown said.

“Things unfolded to plan, apart from [stablemate] Thais not breaking. She was in there to ensure a good pace but she missed the break and that changed things. A Raven Beauty [another stablemate] ended up on the lead and set an easier pace, and that suited her better than Sistercharlie. But Johnny [Velazquez] adjusted and gave her a nice run.

"She's all class this horse and she knows where the wire is. She showed her heart there in the last stages.”

The success also marked a return to the Breeders’ Cup winner’s enclosure at Churchill Downs for Peter Brant, whose D Wayne Lukas-trained Gulch won the Sprint under Angel Cordero. “I love the game and am so happy to be back here – I’m gonna enjoy it,” he said.

The Ballydoyle contenders Magic Wand and Athena kept on to finish fourth and fifth without ever seriously threatening, while Ezyira took sixth for Dermot Weld.

Velazquez, now the race's leading rider, said: "We broke well and got a good position. They kind of bunched up to get to the first turn and everyone started to crowd in because the pace wasn’t very fast.

"I liked where I was. She relaxed well and was moving nicely past the wire the first time. From there I just took my time with her.”

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