ARCADIA, California (AFP) - Pounced, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, won the one million-dollar Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.
Dettori guided Pounced through a gap in the final straight, surging past pacesetter Bridgetown to win the one mile race for two-year-old colts and geldings.
"He fought really hard for me," said Dettori, who delighted the California crowd with his flying dismount.
"I was worried about getting clear, but the gap was big enough for me to go through and my horse was very brave."
Bridgetown, trained by Kenneth McPeek and ridden by Robert Landry, was second and Interactif, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, was third.
It was Gosden's second straight victory in the Juvenile Turf, after a triumph with Donativum here last year to go with his 2008 Classic triumph with Raven's Pass.
"It?s fantastic to win this race for the second straight year and to do it at Santa Anita, my second home," said Gosden, who trained here from 1979-1988.
Landry said his mount simply had no answer when Dettori pounced.
"When I asked at the top of the lane, he dropped his head and really dug in," Landry said. "That other horse just ran past him."
The Jeremy Noseda-trained Awesome Act was fourth in the 12-horse field.
The one-mile race for two-year-old colts and geldings was the first of Saturday's eight Breeders' Cup races.
The entire two-day, 14-race, 25.5 million-dollar extravaganza was to be capped by the five million-dollar Classic.
