Horse racing-Long-shot Talismanic wins Breeders' Cup Turf

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By Rory Carroll

DEL MAR, California, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Long-shot Talismanic charged ahead of its more celebrated competition to win the $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club racetrack on Saturday.

The 15-1 colt saved the best for last, accelerating down the stretch to defeat Beach Patrol (4-1) by half a length in the 1 1/2 mile (2.4 km) race on firm, fast turf.

Favorite Highland Reel (6-5) was unable to repeat after winning the Turf last year and finished third.

Jockey Mickael Barzalona surprised even himself by piloting the four-year-old Talismanic past the wire in 2:26.19, breaking the Breeders' Cup record of 2:27.35 set by Finnegans Wake in 2014.

"I can't believe it," Barzalona said. "I am thrilled to have won my first Breeders' Cup race. I expected the horse to run well, but I'm not sure I thought I would win."

The win marks the first Grade One victory for the white faced four-year-old colt, who is trained by Andre Fabre and owned by Godolphin Racing.

Godolphin chief executive Joe Osborne praised Fabre after Talismanic's impressive win.

"The man is a living legend," Osborne told reporters.

"He's got Breeders' Cups, Classics, Group 1s. He's just a master trainer and trained this horse perfectly," he said.

"It's just a great result for us by our stallion, and bred by us and everything. So it just ticks all the boxes."

The 7-2 morning line favorite Ulysses was scratched from the race on Saturday due to inflammation in the four-year-old colt's left front fetlock.

"I don't think it's a life-threatening issue whatsoever," on-course vet Scott Palmer said in a statement.

"It's just a bit of a concern and they wish to do the right thing by the horse and protect him, so they decided to withdraw from the competition."

The Irish-bred, British-trained thoroughbred is scheduled to return to England on Sunday. (Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Nick Mulvenney)