(Reuters) -Japan’s Forever Young held off a formidable field to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar Racetrack in Southern California on Saturday.
The bay colt went off at 7/2 odds after finishing third last year and settled into the pack midway through the 1-1/4 mile race before pulling away around the final turn.
He held off favourite Fierceness down the final straight and a late challenge from last year’s winner Sierra Leone to cross the line first.
The $7-million race was widely considered among the most competitive in recent memory, even after the favourite, Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, was scratched due to illness.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
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