British-trained Kalanisi, ridden by Irishman Johnny Murtagh, got the Europeans off the mark in the 17th running of the 1 and 1/2 mile Breeders` Cup Turf today.
Kalanisi, trained in Newmarket by Sir Michael Stoute, started from the rail and stayed off the early pace set by Aly`s Ally before leading a wave of runners to the wire.
The Aga Khan-owned four-year-old, successful in the Champion Stakes last month, was winning for the third time in six races this season and sixth overall. The winner`s share of 1,289,600 dollars pushed his lifetime total to over two million dollars.
It was the second Breeders` Cup win for Murtagh, who also scored with Ridgewood Pearl in the Mile in 1995, and capped a terrific season for the reformed alcoholic who has also won the English and Irish Derbies and Prix de l`Arc de Triomphe on the Aga Khan`s Sinndar.
Stoute said he had no doubt Kalanisi could go the distance.
'He`s a very, very tough horse, a very good horse,' Stoute said. 'He hasn`t got the credit he deserves.
'The whole team did a great job getting him ready for today. We weren`t as close as we`d like to have been, but when he pulled out, he really made up the ground.'
Longshot Quiet Resolve, ridden by Shane Sellers, was second and nine-year-old gelding John`s Call was third.
The Turf has proved a lucrative hunting ground for the Europeans in the past with Kalanisi joining the likes of Daylami and Pilsudski, trained like Kalanisi by Stoute.
Overall, seven of the 17 winners of the Turf have been bred outside the United States.
In the Champion last month Kalanisi beat home French champion Montjeu, who was never at the races for his final race here, finishing in the rear under Michael Kinane.
