Taking the lead at the top of the stretch, Saint Liam held off the challenge of Flower Alley and gave Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey his fifth win in the Classic and 15th victory in the Breeders' Cup.
Sent off as the 2-1 favorite in a field of 13, Saint Liam bided his time behind leaders Sun King and Suave until the field reached the far turn. And that's when Bailey sent the 5-year-old son of Saint Ballado four-wide to take command, winning by a length.
With previously unbeatens Lost in the Fog losing in the $1 million Sprint and First Samurai losing in the $1.6 million Juvenile, Saint Liam appears to have the inside track for Horse of the Year. His top competition would be Preakness and Belmont winner Afleet Alex, who has not raced in nearly five months and missed the Classic.
Saint Liam, a hometown favorite who trained for this race at nearby Aqueduct, gave trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., his second win on the day. Earlier, his sprinter Silver Train upset Lost in the Fog.
Saint Liam broke from post No. 13 and covered the 1 1/4-mile Classic in 2:01.49, becoming the second straight favorite to win the centerpiece of the eight-race, $15 million-plus Breeders' Cup, which drew a crowd of 54,289. Ghostzapper won it last year and was voted Horse of the Year.
Family and friends of the owners, wearing Saint Liam baseball caps, swamped Bailey in the winner's circle and the rider was also congratulated by New York Yankees manager Joe Torre.
The 48-year-old Bailey, who failed to win aboard three earlier favorites Saturday, came up big at the right time. The jockey has been considering retirement and this could be his last Breeders' Cup race.
Flower Alley, the Travers winner trained by Todd Pletcher, ran a strong race in his second try against older horses. Pletcher failed to win despite saddling eight horses in six Breeders' Cup races.
Perfect Drift was third, followed by Super Frolic, Suave, Choctaw Nation, Starcraft, Sir Shackleton, Sun King, Borrego, Oratorio, Jack Sullivan and A Bit O' Gold. Perfect Drift, in his fourth Breeders' Cup, had his best finish.
A first- or second-place finish by Ashado and the 4-year-old filly would have topped Azeri to become the leading money earner among fillies and mares. Azeri earned $4,079,820; Ashado finished with $3,931,440.
Silver Train, ridden by Edgar Prado, won the six-furlong Sprint by a head after surviving an objection by jockey Garrett Gomez, who was aboard runner-up Taste of Paradise.
Lost in the Fog, the 3-5 favorite to extend his winning streak to 11, moved into the lead briefly around the far turn but just didn't have it in the final eighth mile.
It was a disappointing result for Lost in the Fog, who had been so brilliant in rolling to a perfect record, winning by an average of nearly seven lengths and traveling cross-country six times to perform at seven tracks in eight races this year.
But his return to Belmont _ he won the Riva Ridge here on June 11 _ was a bust. And 85-year-old owner Harry Aleo and 57-year-old trainer Greg Gilchrist will return to Northern California without the victory they hoped would clinch top 3-year-old and Horse of the Year honors.
In the Distaff, the Shug McGaughey-trained Pleasant Home beat Society Selection by 9 1/4 lengths and returned $63.50 for the win, the highest payoff ever in the 1 1/8-mile Distaff. Winning time for the race was 1:48.34.
Earlier, Stevie Wonderboy put owner and TV impresario Merv Griffin on the road to the Kentucky Derby when the 2-year-old colt won the $1.6 million Juvenile, beating Henny Hughes by 1 1/4 lengths with First Samurai third.
The colt named for singer Stevie Wonder stormed into the lead down the stretch and won for the fourth time in five starts while handing First Samurai his first defeat in five starts.
The win likely clinched the 2-year-old male championship for Stevie Wonderboy, but the colt will have a jinx to overcome on the first Saturday in May: No Juvenile winner has won the Derby the following year since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984. An exuberant Griffin predicted his colt would end the jinx.
The win was most rewarding for Gomez, who was out of riding for nearly two years because of drug and alcohol problems. He even went to jail for 40 days for possession of narcotics in 2003, and spent six months in rehab.
"This is icing on the cake," said Gomez, who also won aboard Artie Schiller in the Mile. "I couldn't ask for anything more. I feel like crying right now ... I wondered if I'd ever ride again. To be in this position, I can't explain it."
Folklore gave trainer D. Wayne Lukas his fifth win in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies with a 1 1/4-length victory over Wild Fit. Prado ended an 0-for-41 record in Breeders' Cup races before wining the Sprint.
Folklore, who paid $6.70, likely clinched the 2-year-old filly championship. Lukas now boasts 18 Breeders' Cup winners _ the most of any trainer.
Shirroco made his first win of the year a big one, taking the $2.28 million Turf by 1 3/4 lengths over Ace. The 4-year-old colt bred in Germany took the lead after pacesetter Shake the Bank dropped back around the final turn in the 1 1/4-mile race.
Shakespeare finished 12th in losing for the first time after five straight wins. Shirroco paid $19.60 to win, and jockey Christophe Soumillon won his first Breeders' Cup race.
Intercontinental led gate-to-wire and beat Ouija Board by 1 1/4 lengths, giving jockey Rafael Bejarano his first Breeders' Cup win. Ouija Board, bothered by a stress fracture most of the year, was unable to repeat in the race she won last year.
Artie Schiller, the badly beaten favorite last year, came back and won the Mile this time. The 4-year-old colt, with Gomez subbing for injured rider Richard Migliore, won for the third time in seven starts and earned $1,053,000. Artie Schiller paid $13.20.
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