The 2017 Breeders' Cup kicked off Friday with the first four World Championship races as part of the two-day event at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in California.Day 1 action in one of the year's marquee horse racing competitions included the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Dirt Mile, Juvenile Turf and the Distaff. There are nine more championship races on tap Saturday, headlined by the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic.Let's check out the results from Friday's slate. All of the prize money information is courtesy of the event's official website and the payouts are via Del Mar's results page.Juvenile Fillies Turf ($1 million purse)Rushing Fall surged as the field turned for home and held off a late rally from September, who overcame a nightmare trip to contend, in the Breeders' Cup opener.Long shots Juliet Capulet and Moon Dash set a solid early pace but couldn't maintain it, which created a wide-open race around the final turn. Jockey Javier Castellano got Rushing Fall to break at the perfect time and the short homestretch on the Del Mar turf left no time for September to complete the comeback.NBCSN highlighted the race's final moments:Best Performance claimed second place while post-time favorite Happily got stuck in traffic and could never find a running lane to make a serious move.Finish Post Horse (Win; Place; Show)111Rushing Fall ($8.00; $4.60; $3.40)21Best Performance (n/a; $11.80; $7.80)310September (n/a; n/a; $4.80) Dirt Mile ($1 million)Battle of Midway emerged victorious after an extended homestretch duel with Sharp Azteca, who narrowly failed to complete a wire-to-wire triumph in the Dirt Mile.Sharp Azteca raced out to an early lead and wasn't challenged overly hard with favorite Mor Spirit showcasing a lack of burst before fading from contention around the halfway mark. Accelerate, one of the other top betting choices, also failed to make an impact.Del Mar Racetrack spotlighted the two-horse battle over the final furlongs:Awesome Slew rounded out the top-three finishers, but ended up several lengths off the pace.Finish Post Horse (Win; Place; Show)19Battle of Midway ($30.40; $11.40; $6.60)23Sharp Azteca (n/a; $4.80; $4.00)35Awesome Slew (n/a; n/a; $7.00)Juvenile Turf ($1 million)Mendelssohn broke free from a crowded pack and created enough separation to hold on amid a flurry of late chargers to win the Juvenile Turf.None of the top contenders showed much interest in grabbing the early lead, which allowed the likes of Sands of Mali and Flameaway to set a reasonable pace. As they dropped from contention, it became a mad dash among the rest of the field, and Mendelssohn's acceleration off the turn proved decisive.At The Races showcased the finish beginning with the sea of horses making the final turn:Untamed Domain and Voting Control also made late moves to finish in the money.Finish Post Horse (Win; Place; Show)11Mendelssohn ($11.60; $8.40; $5.60)22Untamed Domain (n/a; $11.00; $7.00)38Voting Control (n/a; n/a; $6.20) Distaff ($2 million)Forever Unbridled, who finished third in the Distaff last year, survived a heavyweight battle that also featured Stellar Wind, Paradise Woods, Abel Tasman and Elate to find the winners' circle this time around.It looked like each of those contenders had an opportunity to pull away at different points in the race, which is more typical of the world championships than the day's first three races, which were heavily stretch dependent. And it made for an entertaining finish to the opening day in California.The Breeders' Cup passed along a track-level view of the finish:All told, the Distaff provided a glimpse of what to expect throughout Saturday's loaded schedule with numerous top-tier horses battling for the title and a hefty purse.Finish Post Horse (Win; Place; Show)16Forever Unbridled ($9.40; $5.00; $3.40)24Abel Tasman (n/a; $5.40; $3.60)37Paradise Woods (n/a; n/a; $3.80)
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