Horse Racing

Game Winner takes Breeders Cup Juvenile — Game Winner’s latest triumph included bumps along the way. The colt shook them off before shaking the field to remain perfect and make his case as the year’s best 2-year-old. Game Winner overcame an early bump to surge down the stretch, then pulled away from long shot Knicks Go after another nudge to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 21⁄4 lengths Friday at Churchill Downs. That gave trainer Bob Baffert an early Kentucky Derby favorite just five months after winning his second Triple Crown with Justify. “This is a huge win for me,” said Baffert, who second-guessed himself during Game Winner’s rough start before his pupil recovered. “Any other horse, he would’ve been done. That’s how good a horse he is.” Game Winner’s victory provided some irony for Baffert, who did not race Justify as a 2-year-old but struck gold last spring when the colt went on to become racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner. An ankle issue forced Justify to retire unbeaten in July, leaving Saturday’s marquee Breeders’ Cup Classic without the sport’s most notable horse. Going forward, Game Winner’s name is in the mix as the next possible star.

— From wire reports