By Ed Bowen

The 1996 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), the first Breeders’ Cup held in Canada, was billed as reigning Horse of the Year Cigar’s farewell to racing. But an almost-white 5-year-old with the unlikely name of Alphabet Soup surprised all in attendance at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto―and nationwide audiences in the United States and Canada―with some grit and determination of his own.

Owned by Ridder Thoroughbred Stable, Pennsylvania-bred Alphabet Soup, a son of 1985 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Cozzene, was twice rejected in the sales ring. Slow to mature, he didn’t win his first stakes race until 1995 when he was a 4-year-old. Steadily improving, though, under the patient handling of West Coast trainer David Hofmans, Alphabet Soup made seven starts in 1996, all of them in graded stakes races, and only twice did he not finish first or second.

Those performances seemed diminished, however, in the $4 million Classic as he would face Cigar, the defending Classic champion and odds-on favorite; Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Louis Quatorze; Dare and Go, who ended Cigar’s 16-race win streak by beating him in the Pacific Classic (G1); Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Editor’s Note, and Travers Stakes (G1) winner Will’s Way, among the 13 starters.

Breaking sharply from post 12 at just a shade under odds of 20-1, Alphabet Soup, under jockey Chris McCarron, stayed prominent in fourth place through the early going as Atticus quickly seized the lead, producing fractions of :22.80, :46.40 and 1:10.80 with Louis Quatorze, and 101-1 longshot Mt. Sassafras in closest pursuit.

Atticus was the first to yield as Mt. Sassafras took over. That one held the advantage to the eighth pole, where he was joined to his outside by Louis Quatorze, Alphabet Soup, and Cigar. Alphabet Soup hit the front at the sixteenth pole and valiantly held off furious late bids from Louis Quatorze by a nose to his inside, with Cigar a head back in third.

“I was very confident in this horse’s fight,” McCarron said of Alphabet Soup. “You never know when you have gotten to the bottom of this horse.”

Afterwards, Hofmans said he told McCarron before the race, “Chris, if you’re close at the eighth pole, this little grey horse will give you everything he has. He’ll go right after anybody.”

For Alphabet Soup, the victory was his 10th and last career win. He completed the 1 1/4-mile Classic in a track record 2:01 over a fast track.

Although he failed to defend his title, Cigar was still named Horse of the Year for a second consecutive season. But on that Classic October day in 1996, Alphabet Soup finished first with a capital A.