Anyone who watched the 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships in person or on TV will always remember the Longines Classic first. A truly grand finale, the last of 14 World Championship races was a display of racing brilliance, as undefeated Flightline closed out his career with an 8 ¼-length runaway win. His victory completed the arc of the two-day event at Keeneland Race Course in a manner befitting a champion, bringing a feeling of enormous satisfaction and, yes, even awe, to those affiliated with the horse and the throngs of fans supporting him.

The 2022 Breeders’ Cup did not lack for drama, however. In five of the races, the margin of victory was three-quarters of a length or less, and fan favorite Cody’s Wish had already given the on-track crowd at Keeneland, plus thousands of well-wishers watching at home, a jolt of high tension followed by celebration when he charged late to win the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile by a head earlier on Saturday’s card.

That was nothing compared with what happened four races later, however, when eight fillies and mares squared off in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

The 2022 Distaff shaped up as one of the most competitive in recent years as leading contenders in both the 3-year-old filly division and the older female division targeted the 1 1/8-mile race at Keeneland. Seven of the eight starters were Grade 1 winners, and given the quality of the field it was somewhat surprising that the race favorite – Alabama Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks winner Nest – carried low post time odds of 1.48-1. A daughter of Curlin, Nest had also finished second in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets and had won the Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland earlier in her 3-year-old season. Second betting choice Malathaat, another Curlin filly who was voted 2021 champion 3-year-old female, entered the Distaff off of a 5 ¼-length blowout win in the Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland just four weeks earlier. Both fillies were trained by seven-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher, who was elected into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2021.

As expected, Cotillion Stakes winner Society moved out to set the early pace in the Distaff, and she reeled off fractions of :23.09 and :47.29 for the first quarter- and half-mile that were moderate considering the elite level of competition. Entering the far turn, however, Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath, sent off at 14.25-1 odds based on fading recent form, moved up and then moved past Society in a bold bid for the lead. Both Nest and California-based Grade 1 winner Blue Stripe also loomed threats through the turn, while Malathaat swung four wide under John Velazquez and fellow 4-year-old Grade 1 winner Clairiere, with Joel Rosario riding, began her customary late charge.

Secret Oath led the field into the homestretch, and with an eighth of a mile remaining five contenders were in with a chance, as both Malathaat and Blue Stripe surged on the outside of Nest and Secret Oath and Clairiere rallied along the inside. The 3-year-olds both tired in the final yards, leaving 24.02-1 shot Blue Stripe, 6.13-1 Clairiere, and 2.88-1 Malathaat to settle matters.

Blue Stripe, in between rivals, maintained the slimmest of leads with time and distance running out, but at the very last second Malathaat drew even and then appeared to win the head bob.

The track photo confirmed it: Shadwell Stable’s Malathaat prevailed over Blue Stripe by a nose, with rail-skimming Clairiere another nose behind in third. But there were certainly some nervous moments during the wait.

“I could see it was going to be close,” Pletcher told BloodHorse. “Then, I got a little worried that I might have celebrated a little too much when they kept showing the replay and I thought it was going to be embarrassing if she didn't win this photo. I thought she had won, but I wasn't a million percent sure.”

The Distaff turned out to be Malathaat’s final race, and the 4-year-old retired to join Shadwell’s broodmare band with a career record of 10 wins, three seconds, and one third in 14 starts with more than $3.79 million in earnings. She received a second Eclipse Award in 2022, this time as champion older dirt female, and Pletcher was honored for the eighth time as outstanding trainer.