Furthest Land In BC Dirt Mile Shocker

ARCADIA, Calif., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Furthest Land, the furthest thing from many bettors' minds, rallied in the final yards to post a huge upset in Saturday's $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Ready's Echo was second under the wire and Midshipman, last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, finished third. The heavy favorite, Mastercraftsman, bobbled at the start and never fully recovered, struggling to finish fourth.

With Julien Leparoux handling the reins, Furthest Land saved ground into the stretch and then moved between rivals to take the lead nearing the wire. He held on to win by 3/4 of a length, finishing the 1 mile on the all-weather surface in 1:35.50.

Sent off at odds of 21-1, Furthest Land paid $44.60 to win.

A 4-year-old Smart Strike gelding, Furthest Land wandered the Midwest this summer, running in Indiana, Minnesota and Kentucky on his way to the Breeders' Cup. The Michael Maker trainee, claimed for $35,000 at Belmont Park just over a year ago, won his last start -- the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

Mastercraftsman, long considered as a contender in the $5 million Classic, had run well in top company in England and Ireland this year. He seemed to have the ground break from under his feet shortly after the start Saturday, could not gain position and did not run well.

Midshipman, making only his second start since last year's Juvenile for the Godolphin Stable, led the field to the sixteenth pole and was still running well at the end.