Breeders' Cup: Goodnight Olive wins again in Filly & Mare Sprint

Goodnight Olive wrapped up her racing career with a second straight win in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.

With Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, Goodnight Olive jumped to the lead from the inside post then fell back to fourth as Eda and Society moved into the lead through the backstretch.

Goodnight Olive, the even-money favorite, moved up on the outside along the turn to take the lead from society as Eda fell back. Goodnight Olive pulled away in the stretch as Yuugiri moved up to finish second by 2 3/4 lengths. Three Witches finished third by another 1 1/4 lengths.

Fractions for the seven-furlong race on a fast track were 22.29 and 44.86 seconds with a final time of 1:22.97.

"She broke good and got behind Society, which I was really happy to see because we knew she was the second choice in the race and really fit on paper," trainer Chad Brown said. "If we could find her, she was going to take us at least to the quarter-pole. And I said to Irad, it’s likely that other horses will be tired around you at that point and when she got outside of her, she was able to put the race to bed. Rarely does 'Plan A' go into effect and actually finish all the way through. That was our plan, and Irad executed it perfectly."

Going off at even money, Goodnight Olive paid $4.20, $3.00 and $2.40, with the $2 exacta paying $71.20.

The 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, who now will be retired, likely wrapped up another Eclipse award as champion female sprinter. She came into the race with a record this year of 4: 2-1-1. Her wins came in the Madison (G1) in April and the Bed o’ Roses (G2) in June. In her last start, she was second to Echo Zulu in the Ballerina (G1).