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Saint Liam caps off his championship year with a length victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic. He had previously racked up wins in the Donn, Stephen Foster, and Woodward.

Saint Liam was a moderate performer for the first 12 starts of his career, the first eight of which came while he was trained by Tony Reinstedler. He was good enough to finish second in the Iowa Derby as a 3-year-old and the New Orleans Handicap at 4, but he first gained national prominence in the fall of 2004, when he fought gallantly against the subsequent Horse of the Year, Ghostzapper, in the Woodward Stakes.

From that point on, Saint Liam was recognized as one of the nation's best horses. Much was expected of him as 2005 dawned, though when he made his first start of the year, in Gulfstream Park's Donn Handicap, he was only the second choice to Roses in May, who had finished second to Ghostzapper in the previous year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

Saint Liam, giving an indication of what was to come, handily defeated Roses in May by 3 3/4 lengths in the Donn. Roses in May, in his next start, won the Dubai World Cup, and Eddington, who was third in the Donn, later won the Gulfstream Park Handicap and Pimlico Special. The Donn proved to be a key race.

Saint Liam made his next start in the Santa Anita Handicap, but his brittle, shelly feet were ill suited to that track. He finished sixth behind Rock Hard Ten.

Richard Dutrow Jr., who now trained Saint Liam, and Mark Reid, the bloodstock agent who managed Saint Liam's career for owners William and Suzanne Warren, decided to regroup. They mapped out a campaign that they believed would ideally prepare Saint Liam for the Breeders' Cup. First up was Churchill Downs's Stephen Foster Handicap, in which Saint Liam was saddled by Bobby Frankel because Dutrow was on suspension for a medication violation. He won by 2 3/4 lengths.

Saint Liam returned to New York for Saratoga's Whitney Handicap, where he came up a neck short of catching Commentator while nine lengths clear of the third horse. After that race, Warren decided to replace regular rider Edgar Prado with Jerry Bailey.

Saint Liam avenged his loss to Commentator when they had a rematch in the Woodward Stakes. Dutrow entered two lesser horses who hounded Commentator, and then Saint Liam breezed past them all for an easy two-length victory.

Dutrow wanted to run in the Woodward in order to have a seven-week gap leading up to the Breeders' Cup. The week of the race, after Saint Liam's final workout, Dutrow was practically giddy.

"I'm all in, babe. I'm all in," he said.

Saint Liam had an outside draw in the Classic, but he overcame that and 12 rivals to win by one length.

Saint Liam was an overwhelming choice for champion older male among voters from Daily Racing Form, the National Turf Writers Association, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, whose bloc includes racing secretaries and members of Equibase. Saint Liam received 250 votes to 5 for Ghostzapper, the Metropolitan Handicap winner, 3 for Rock Hard Ten, and 1 for Roses in May.

He also won comfortably for Horse of the Year, though by not nearly as wide a margin. Saint Liam's yearlong campaign was adjudged superior to that of 3-year-old male champion Afleet Alex, who won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes but did not race again after winning the Belmont. Saint Liam received 194 votes for Horse of the Year to 56 for Afleet Alex. Others receiving a single first-place vote apiece for Horse of the Year were Ghostzapper, sprint champion Lost in the Fog, Rock Hard Ten, and Roses in May.

Saint Liam, by Saint Ballado out of the Quiet American mare Quiet Dance, was bred by Edward P. Evans. He was retired after the Classic and begins stud duty this spring at Lane's End Farm.