Breeders’ Cup 2016 results: Keep up with all the Saturday races

It’s a beautiful day for horse racing in California as the races leading up to the 2016 Breeders’ Cup take place.

While the Breeders’ Cup is the race of the day without a doubt, plenty of smaller races throughout the day will feature some outstanding horses.

Below, we’ll keep track of the eight races that precede the Breeders’ Cup.

The opening race, the 14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies race, kicked the day off with an exciting underdog finish. The race found Champagne Room earning the win, Valadorna taking second, and American Gal finishing third. Daddys Lil Darling was fourth.

Champagne Room went into the starting gate at 33-1 odds after starting the the day at 20-1 in the morning line odds.

Heading into the opening race, Valadorna was the favorite, with a morning line of 5-1 odds, but climbed to 6-1 odds, while American Gal, who started at 6-1 in the morning line odds, was the 4-1 favorite when the race started.

The horses didn’t disappoint fans in the second race of the day, as Queen’s Trust ran to victory with a photo finish, followed closely by Lady Eli in second place and Avenge in third. Seventh Heaven was fourth in the turf race.

Queen’s Trust was no slouch in the odds department, coming into the race with 6-1 odds, which moved to 8-1 by the start of the race.

The morning line odds had Lady Eli as the favorite with 5-2 odds, which increased to 3-2 odds by the beginning of the race. Seventh Heaven came in with 3-1 odds, which climbed to 7-2 by the start of the 1 1/4-mile race. Avenge left the gates with 18-1 odds.

Drefong earned victory in a true showing of competitiveness, while Masochistic earned a second-place finish in the afternoon race, and Mind Your Biscuits finished in a tight third. A.P. Indian was fourth overall.

Headed into the race, Drefong was the favorite with 7-2 morning line odds, with Masochistic coming in as the second favorite with 2-1 odds, and A.P. Indian getting 4-1 odds from sportsbooks. Lord Nelson had 5-2 morning line odds but was scratched from the race.

Obviously came through at 6-1 odds, holding off a furious charge by Om on the outside, with a winning time of 1:11.33. Om finished second by a nose, with Pure Sensation in third.

In a possible 2017 Kentucky Derby preview, a pair of two-year-olds battled valiantly down the stretch. Classic Empire, at 0-2 odds, held off a hard-charging 5-2 favorite Not This Time with a winning time of 1:42.60.

Classic Empire is undefeated with jockey Julien Leparoux, who won his seventh Breeders’ Cup race.

Practical Joke finished third, 7 3/4 lengths behind.

Highland Reel built a huge lead out of the gate and this race was never close, with the 7-2 horse and jockey Seamus Heffernan running away with it in 2:23.00. The 1 1/2-mile race was Heffernan’s first Breeders’ Cup win.

Pre-race favorite Flintshire, at 9-5 odds, finished second, with Found, also at 7-2, finishing third.

Finest City came through at 8-1 odds to capture the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint, ridden by jockey Mike Smith. It was the 24th Breeders’ Cup win for Smith, the most ever, but the first such win for trainer Ian Kruljac.

“This is Ian’s first big horse, and his first time running in the Breeders’ Cup. He just started training a little over a year ago, and wow, we won the Breeders’ Cup,” Smith said on NBCSN after the race. “I’m just so proud to do it for Ian. He was so excited for this race today.”

Finest City finished with a final time of 1:22.37, with Wavell Avenue 3/4 lengths behind in second and Paulassilverlining in third, two lengths back.

Pre-race favorites Carina Mia (3-1), Haveyougoneaway (7-2) and Tara’s Tango (4-1) finished ninth, seventh and fourth, respectively.

Tourist, at 12-1 odds, held off one of the pre-race favorites Tepin, to win the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile, winning the race in 1:31.71. Midnight Storm finished in third place.

It was the fifth Breeders’ Cup win for jockey Joel Rosario.

Tepin was one of four horses at 7-2 odds, the co-favorites heading into the race, along with Alice Springs, Limato and Ironicus, the latter finishing fourth.

45-1 long shot What a View got off to a fast start, leading the first half of the race by a few lengths, but then faded in the second half, finishing back in the pack.

In a thrilling finish, Arrogate passed favorite California Chrome down the stretch to capture the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Arrogate, with fur-time Classic winner Mike Smith in the saddle, won his sixth straight race.

California Chrome, the 4-5 favorite on Saturday, suffered his first loss of 2016.