Expert Eye flies late to win Breeders' Cup Mile for Europe

Expert Eye swallowed up ground late and, with a strong final kick, won one for the Europeans in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Mile at Churchill Downs.

Under jockey Frankie Dettori, the Juddmonte Farms charge scored at odds of 5-1 as he emerged from a pack of horses near the wire.

The 3-year-old Analyze It was battling West Coast shipper Catapult, and the race appeared to be between those two before they tired, yielding to Expert Eye.

"Frankie was great on him. He scared me, but he was brilliant on him," said Sir Michael Stoute, who trains the winner. "He knew what was under him, and he just got there in time. I thought he was a little too far back early on."

"He didn't break very good, but I managed to get on the good patch of ground," Dettori added. "...The kick off the bend, I had a mountain to climb."

Expert Eye, a 3-year-old son of Acclamation, still got up for a breakthrough first Grade 1 win. He has won at the Group 2 and 3 levels in Europe but was 0-for-4 at the top level entering Saturday.

Dettori sat mid-pack but in the clear up the back stretch as Analyze It and another Euro, Mustashry, set modest fractions of 24.68 and 49.85 seconds.

"I lost a bit of ground around the turn, but once he found his footing, he was away," Dettori said.

This race lacked its 5-1 morning line favorite, Polydream, who was a Friday vet scratch. Additionally, Hunt did not ship in from California. That allowed both Divisidero and Clemmie to draw into the overflow field of 14.

The former just missed a placing, decidedly fourth in a photo finish behind runner-up Catapult and Analyze It, who was third.

The expected top American runner, Oscar Performance, was expected to help set the pace but got away slow and never factored.

“He completely missed the break," said jockey Jose Ortiz. "He’s been breaking a step slow lately, but not as bad as today. Today, he almost stood there after the gate opened. Game over after that.”

Expert Eye's final time was 1:39.80.