1988 Breeders' Cup Classic

Alysheba beats Seeking the Gold under the wire to win the 1988 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

[@laurenurban3942]

Alysheba was a beast at 4. They took the blinkers off him and he became a beast.

[@chrispafrieddreams9118]

Thanks you tube recommendations, for trying to make me cry at 5 in the morning. I have a framed photo of just one horse, guess who..

[@kevinevans5921]

Breezes Cup so many great Classics in those early years!

[@NalaRichenbach]

So many pretenders later on at Santa Anita.

[@nickyd.4695]

Lot of talent in this field but the most talented prevailed.

[@marciosouzamendonca8912]

Super Alysheba, son of the huge Champ Alydar.

[@edwardsmith1328]

waquoit is a warrior in this race the pride of Suffolk Downs

[@mikfeds]

My grandfather Guido was Waquoits trainer. He truly was the pride of Suffolk Downs. Such great memories!

[@tjstrong3607]

race was full of studs & it was getting dark--a total classic,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[@StFidjnr]

dubbed the midnight classic

[@elneneray6679]

What a champ!

[@david1044]

Helluva field. You barely get 3 horses today worth anything, even in the Classic.

[@Bassman968]

Seeking the Gold looked like a winner with 70 yards to go, but Alysheba was as game a horse as I ever saw...if he was already in 4th gear, he put it in 5th as he ran away.

[@roasted420]

Did you hear the roar of the crowd when Durkin noted his moving up before the turn?? Love this horse.

[@samuelperezgarcia]

I thought that was Dave Johnson.

[@sSeSs808]

Dave Johnson's signature call is " and down the stretch they come"!

[@thomasdittemer8648]

Too bad we couldn't see Alysheba run against Secretariat in Kentucky Dpwns mile and a 1/4 on a fast track... I think Alysheba would have taken the race. Alysheba has a great closer run. Enough about Secretariat, Alysheba was a better horse. I know I'll catch a lot of flak about my statement, but I stand by the better horse. I'm not afraid to speak my mind about this.

[@thomasdittemer8648]

Sorry, everybody. I meant to say Churchill Downs, not Kentucky Downs.

[@duckshaker]

@@thomasdittemer8648 I realize that there are track variants so it is difficult to compare times from one day to another. That said, here are the facts: Secretariat's Derby time: 1:59 2/5 Alysheba's: 2:03 4/5 That equates to more than 20 lengths difference. Was the track somehow dull in 1987? If you know please explain.

[@mrgoodbytes4709]

seeking the gold gave the world dubai millennium, who proved well

[@marklewen9384]

Maybe the best field in BC Classic history (along with 98)of horses coming into the race on top of their game...

[@kristinastrickland9969]

Those horse could run

[@StFidjnr]

Alysheba did it's best Personal Ensign impression win a race on a muddy surface which the horse didn't like

[@markpiekaczpiekacz912]

Me and my dad own 5000.00 I was there Al was al big ass 🐎.

[@thomasdittemer8648]

He couldn't run in the mud, he showed them. Alysheba was an exceptional horse, period. No bragging necessary. Dream on, Secretariat.

[@NalaRichenbach]

LOL!

[@AuthenticMage]

Interesting looking at the fractions, they were slower than today for that level of competition, particularly with the speed duel up front

[@jasonm921]

Track was a mess

[@josephfederico5165]

Excellent field and equally great performances by all the horses except Forty Niner who looked slightly off his regular running style.

[@richardblaine1130]

Switching from pincay to krone hurt that horse. Stephen's changed when pincay wouldn't go over the picket line during the jockeys strike

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

Who turned the lights out?

[@penelopelopez8296]

It was a hell of a race. Alysheba was much better at 4……Seeking the Gold most any other year.

[@philipprebble7089]

To bad he was a gelding but then again if he wasn't he wouldn't have been the winner he was . One of my all time favorites . That group of horses in this race was one of the most competitive generation I've ever seen .

[@chrisp.9172]

Are you crazy? You think they would held a Kentucky derby winner by Alydar?...

[@user-bq4in7xt7g]

​@@chrisp.9172Not a gelding,but a strange,not so distinguished stud career I can't remember what happened with or to him

[@chrisp.9172]

@@user-bq4in7xt7g Maybe he was one of those "unable to complete" so to speak. It's to bad, because he was a beautifully conformed horse. I have one picture of a horse and it's of Alysheba in post parade. He's got his neck bowed, but he's walking perfectly straight, looking straight ahead, beautiful horse! ❤🙏🇺🇸

[@NalaRichenbach]

And, people say Flightline was great. Would love to see Flightline run on this track against this field.

[@question_it_701]

On a fast or good track, Flightline would likely mop this entire field. Only had 6 races, but times, margins and fractions and the way he won, tells us Flightline is one of top 2 dirt horses of all time at 8F-10F. Flightline never ran at age 3. At age 5, had he raced, maybe he woulda faded. No one knows. But at age 4, in 5 race series vs Secretariat, from 7-10 furlongs, I think Flightline wins 3 or 4 of the race.