GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Putting a serious fright into the rest of the handicap division, Ghostzapper threw down the gauntlet the moment the gates sprung open in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday and dared his opponents to come and get him. None did -- or could – and the 4-year-old Bobby Frankel-trained colt blasted away from his pursuers in the stretch to win by three lengths in the fastest Classic ever.

In a thrilling performance that capped a surprise-packed day on the eight-race World Thoroughbred Championships card, Ghostzapper stamped himself as a strong candidate for Horse of the Year honors by dominating what many observers felt was the deepest field ever assembled for North America’s richest race.

The first Breeders’ Cup ever run in Texas drew a packed house of 53,717 fans to Lone Star Park for what they were hoping would be a historic battle. They got their wish, though many were undoubtedly surprised that it turned out to be a coronation rather than a confrontation.

Frankel was not among them.

“On the QT, I’ve told everybody he’s the best horse I’ve ever trained,” the five-time Eclipse award winner and Racing Hall of Fame member said afterward. “He has to come out and show it – that’s why I didn’t come out and publicly say it; I didn’t want to look like a fool, you know? But in my heart I really felt that in his last few races, he’s the best horse I’ve ever trained.”

That might strike some as hyperbole aimed at ensuring the son of Awesome Again earns the year-end title, especially given that the 63-year-old trainer has handled a veritable “Who’s Who” of horseflesh the past several decades.

Although Ghostzapper has made only 10 starts in his career, winning eight of them, Frankel said he never has seen a more versatile horse.

“He can sprint … and you can drop him back 15, 20 lengths back and he can win, or you can lay him right up on the pace and he can win," Frankel said. "He’s just a very, very, very good horse. Maybe he’ll be known as great.”

Owner-breeder Frank Stronach said he also has been amazed by his horse’s ability to do it all.

“I recommended to Bobby that we should blow him out in the Sprint and then run him back in the Classic,” the auto parts and racetrack magnate said with a grin. “He didn’t listen to me.”

If Ghostzapper’s talents weren’t readily apparent to the general public before Saturday, his foes certainly didn’t seem to want to challenge him in the Classic.

Breaking from the inside post under Javier Castellano, the 5-2 favorite grabbed the lead right out of the gate, as widely expected. Although Roses in May secured a position off his outside flank and the mare Azeri briefly made an inside move, neither showed any interest in looking the leader in the eye.

That allowed Ghostzapper to set comfortable fractions of :47 and 1:11.32 and left him with plenty of energy in reserve when his rivals came after him.

In the end, only Roses in May mounted a serious bid. The 4-year-old came at the pace-setter rounding the far turn, but couldn’t cut the margin beyond a half length.

Defending Classic champ Pleasantly Perfect also made a move rounding the turn, but he flattened out before he got within hailing distance.

Castellano finally asked his mount to give him his all with a quarter-mile to run, and Ghostzapper pulled away to open daylight on Roses in May. He crossed the wire three lengths to the good in 1:59.02, 14 hundredths of a second faster than the previous Classic record set by Skip Away in 1997.

Roses in May hung on gamely to save second, four lengths in front of Pleasantly Perfect. Azeri, the female horse, was a non-threatening fifth.

Frankel had been subjected to some second guessing in the days leading up to the race for sticking with Castellano, who had never ridden in a Breeders’ Cup race, instead of bringing in a more experienced rider. But the trainer said the 27-year-old Venezuelan journeyman fits his horse like a glove.

“I told the rider that if anybody wanted to try and go past you on the lead, let them go ahead and do it,” Frankel said. “I wanted him to ride this horse like he was on the best horse and he did. And he was.”

Frankel, who had just two wins with 62 Breeders’ Cup starters before the Classic, saddled the beaten favorite the past three years — Medaglia d’Oro in 2002-03 and Aptitude in 2001.

The winner paid $7, $4 and $3.60. Roses in May, ridden by John Velazquez, paid $8.20 and $5.20, and Pleasantly Perfect returned $3 to show.

Ghostzapper earned $2,080,000 and boosted his earnings to $2,996,120.

Although the Classic was the headline event of the Breeders’ Cup card, the seven other races helped make the series’ first visit to Texas a special one. Here’s how they unfolded, in the order in which they were run:

Distaff ($2 million)
With no Azeri to contend with, the 3-year-old filly Ashado ($6.00) showed she deserved the 2-1 favorite's label in the Breeders’ Cup opener, coasting under the wire a 1 1/4-length winner over Storm Flag Flying.

Under a confident ride by Velazquez, the daughter of Saint Ballado tracked pace-setter Tamweel from the rail through testing opening fractions of :22.93 and :46.70, moved out for room at the top of the stretch and drew off to a comfortable victory.

The track, rated “good” at the start of the 1 1/8 mile race for fillies and mares, was upgraded to “fast” after Ashado shaved more than a second off the track record by stopping the clock in 1:48.26.

The victory by Ashado, owned by Starlight Stables and Paul Saylor, sealed end-of-year honors as top 3-year-old filly and gave trainer Todd Pletcher his first Breeders’ Cup victory in 13 tries. It was Velazquez’s fifth victory from 40 mounts.

“That was a special one,” Pletcher said after ending an 0-for-12 Breeders’ Cup losing streak. “You’re always anxious to get that first one out of the way.”

Juvenile Fillies ($1 million)
Favored Sweet Catomine stamped herself as a star of the present and the future by overcoming trouble to post a 3 ¾-length victory over Balletto.

The winner ($6.60) raced in midpack in the early going, but began to close in on the leaders rounding the far turn only to be forced to check behind horses. Jockey Corey Nakatani stayed calm and steered her through an opening as the field straightened for home and the daughter of Storm Cat quickly wore down leader Sis City to win going away. Balletto and an unlucky Runway Model finished second and third, respectively.

The running time of 1:41.65 was the second-fastest in the 18 runnings of the Juvenile Fillies race contested at 1 1/16 miles and the fastest ever around two turns. (Tempera stopped the clock in 1:41.49 in 2001 when negotiating one bend at Belmont Park.)

The win was the first for longtime California owners and breeders Mr. and Mrs. Martin Wygod, the third from just 10 starters for the canny Canani, and the sixth for Nakatani.

Sis City, co-owned by New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, was fourth.

Mile ($1.5 million)
Singletary, a 4-year-old colt named after former Chicago Bears linebacker Mike Singletary, looked more like Walter Payton as he accelerated through an opening in the upper stretch and held on to cross the goal line a half length in front of erratic Irish invader Antonius Pius

Ending the parade of favorites, the 16-1 shot almost caused ebullient owners Billy Koch and company, who race as Little Red Feather Racing, to bounce off the second-story balcony from which they watched the race.

“We’re here to put the fun back in racing,” a still celebrating Koch said later.

Racing on a turf course rated as “yielding,” Singletary and jockey David Flores tracked the leaders through moderate fractions of :48.65 and 1:12.71 before pouncing at the top of the stretch.

The son of Sultry Song opened a one-length lead in midstretch before Antonius Pius came a charging. The 3-year-old son of Danzig would have made it close if he hadn’t ducked behind the leader. Defending Mile champion Six Perfections charged down the middle of the track late to finish third, another 1 ½ lengths behind Antonius Pius.

The victory, which probably won’t be enough to earn Singletary the turf Eclipse, gave young trainer Don Chatlos, a Chicago transplant, a victory with his first Breeders’ Cup starter. It was the third Breeders’ Cup victory for jockey David Flores.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Chatlos said. “Here I am, just a poor kid from the South Side of Chicago where there aren’t any horses, on top of the world!”

Sprint ($1 million)
Showing either a new ability to stalk or an inability to keep up with the lightning fast early splits set by Abbodanza, Speightstown ($9.40) came from off the pace for the first time in his career to win the Sprint by 1 ¼ lengths over the fast-closing Kela.

Giving trainer Pletcher and Velezquez their second victories of the day, Speightstown tracked Abbondanza from the rail through splits of :21.23 and :43.47, falling two lengths behind the pace-setter before beginning his rally.

As Abbondanza began to tire at the upper stretch, Speightstown, a 6-year-old owned by Eugene and Laura Melnyk, slipped through a hole on the inside and pulled away from the other tiring front-runners. Kela rallied strongly from the back of the pack but too late to mount a serious challenge to Speightstown, who crossed the wire in 1:08.11. Finishing third was My Cousin Matt.

The victory thrusts Speightstown back into contention for the Eclipse Award for top sprinter. His main competition will come from Pico Central, who beat him in the Vosburgh Stakes but skipped the Breeders’ Cup rather than pay a hefty supplemental fee to run in the Breeders’ Cup.

Filly & Mare Turf ($1 million)
Europe’s best 3-year-old filly gave the overseas contingent its first win of the day by rolling to a 1 ½-length victory over Film Maker in the 1 3/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares.

The 4-5 favorite had been under consideration for the $2 million Turf, where she would have faced older males, but owner Edward Richard William Stanley, better known as the 19th Earl of Derby, and trainer Edward Dunlop opted for this softer spot instead.

Despite encountering a “yielding” track she didn’t seem to relish, Ouija Board ($3.80) made the decision a winning one.

The daughter of Cape Cross chased slow early fractions of 1:18.50 and 1:42.36 set by Moscow Burning while skimming the rail in midpack before shifting out entering the lane. She made short work of the pace-setter, but Film Maker, who had been stalking the leader, charged home well to make the winner work for her victory. Wonder Again closed stoutly to be third, a neck behind the runner-up.

Attesting to the condition of the course, the final time was 2:18.25, five seconds off the track record.

The win was a first in a Breeders’ Cup race for both Dunlop and Lord Derby, a merchant banker in London.

It also added a keen footnote to the proceedings, as it reminded history-minded fans that horses might well be running in Bunburies today if his ancestor, the 12^th earl of Derby, hadn’t won a coin toss with Sir Charles Burbury to determine which name would be used to describe classic races for 3-year-olds.

Juvenile ($1.5 million)
In the most thrilling finish of the day, European long shot Wilko beat the Americans at their own game, reeling in Afleet Alex and Sun King in the final furlong to defeat the former by three-quarters of a length.

Trained by English trainer Jeremy Noseda, Wilko ($58.60) broke alertly under jockey Frankie Dettori to chase long shot pace-setter Twice Unbridled rounding the first turn, then relaxed nicely and held his position as Edgar Prado aboard Sun King and Jeremy Rose on Afleet Alex tried to put away the leader rounding the turn.

Dettori said that wasn’t by design.

“I got outpaced to the quarter pole, but they stopped so I pulled him out straightaway. And then … I was just speechless,” he said.

But as the trio dug in for what looked to be a thrilling battle to the wire, Dettori angled the resurgent Wilko to the outside and began cutting into their lead.

The son of Awesome Again, making his first start on the dirt, caught Afleet Alex with less than a sixteenth of a mile to go and then hung on desperately for the victory.

Noseda said Wilko, who is owned by Susan Roy and J. Paul Reddam, will be transferred to trainer Craig Dollase for a 3-year-old campaign in the United States.

The victory was the fourth in a Breeders’ Cup for Dettori and the gave Noseda a winner with his first starter.

The two favorites in the Juvenile, Roman Ruler (2-1) and Proud Accolade (2.6-1) were non–factors in the race, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.

The running time of 1:42.09 flattered Juvenile Fillies winner Sweet Catomine, as it was almost a half second slower than she recorded in the earlier race.

Turf ($2 million)
The soft turf continued to play havoc with bettors’ expectations as 27-1 long shot Better Talk Now looped the field and withstood a steward’s inquiry to defeat highly regarded Kitten’s Joy and Powerscourt in a weirdly run 1 ½ mile marathon.

Better Talk Now ($57.80) had to withstand a steward’s inquiry, after ducking in and brushing with Kitten’s Joy in the midst of his surprising charge through the stretch.

The race was oddly run from the moment the gates were sprung, as Star Over The Bay opened an five-length lead on the other seven horses through moderate-looking fractions of 1:13.96 and 1:40.14.

But the tiring nature of the track exhibited itself rounding the far turn, as Powerscourt, making an early move under jockey Jamie Spencer, swept past the front runner, as Kitten’s Joy, the 7-10 favorite, and Magistretti gave chase.

But just when it appeared that Powerscourt would give the Europeans their third victory on the day, Better Talk Now came rolling up on the outside.

He ducked in as he straightened for the run to the wire, appearing to bother Kitten’s Joy and putting Magistretti in tight. But jockey Ramon Dominguez quickly got the 5-year-old son of Talkin Man back in gear and he soon got the measure of a tiring Powerscourt.

At the finish, it was Better Talk Now by 1 ¾  over a rallying Kitten’s Joy, with Powerscourt another 2 ¼ lengths back in third. The victory was the eighth from 20 lifetime starts on the turf for Better Talk Now, who also won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Handicap this summer on a “yielding” Saratoga turf course.

Running time was 2:29.70, more than 1 ½ seconds off the track record.

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