Three Day Event - By Susie Raisher

$6,400,000.

How many can one shell out that kind of money and consider it a bargain? It’s hard to say, but thanks to the exploits of Three Day Event, Marie Matthews is certainly one of them.

A regally bred daughter of Event of the Year and Miss Alleged, expectations were certainly high for the flashy chestnut as she neared her first race. Her half brother, Tilt A Whirl, had already established a name for himself at the top of his generation, and all eyes were focused on Three Day Event, waiting to see if she could do the same. She didn’t disappoint, winning first time out in impressive fashion. Her two-year-old season was brief, but she added a third in the Frizette Stakes before closing out the year with an impressive victory in the Hollywood Starlet.

Many other years, “Three Day”’s victories in the Fantasy, Kentucky Oaks, and Mother Goose would have made her a strong candidate for Champion Three-Year-Old Filly. Further placings in the Santa Anita Oaks, Affirmed Handicap, and Breeders’ Cup Distaff would have only strengthened her cause. However, born into the same crop as the outstanding Shepickedupadance, Matthews’ big filly had yet to have her chance to truly shine.

With the confidence needed to take on the boys bolstered by her runner-up effort to the outstanding Yokoa Cat the prior summer, Three Day Event’s four-year-old debut came in the Gulfstream Breeders’ Cup Handicap. She added hand wraps and a shadow roll for the event, and had never looked better. The facile win was evidence of things to come – a tour de force of a year that would mark her as one of the greats.

She shipped across the country to trounce a nice field in the Santa Margarita Handicap… and then took on the world. In the sands of Dubai, the elegant filly scored in the world’s richest race – the Dubai World Cup. From an expensive and promising baby, in three short years she had turned herself into the dominant horse in the world.

Not wanting to squeeze the lemon dry, Matthews took her time in bringing Three Day back to the races after her desert adventure. She returned in the summer to take the Pacific Classic before prepping for the Breeders’ Cup Classic with an electrifying win in the Woodward.

The tension in the air was palpable as the field loaded for the Classic. Already being hailed as one of the all-time greats, Three Day Even was entering the gate with a chance to solidify her place in history and lock up Horse of the Year.

But it was far from easy.

Jon Xett’s longshot three-year-old, Derby Dancer, shocked everyone when he took on the filly in the stretch. And then he shocked them again, his small form leaning on the champ as his rider fervently tried to right him. Then it happened. The crowd gasped as Three Day Event was forced to check, and the battling duo flashed under the wire with Derby Dancer ahead by a long neck.

While no one was surprised at the decision, the crowd erupted in cheers when the colt was disqualified to second, giving their champion her Classic crown. Marie Matthews was ecstatic and overwhelming with praise for the filly she’d campaigned through two outstanding years and one immortal campaign. “This is the most amazing moment of my life. The Classic, now I've won it twice, and this filly is so great, no one can beat her.”

Three Day Event had closed her career never having been off the board, for a lifetime record of 11-2-2 in fifteen starts. And that $6,400,000? She became one of the very few to earn back her seven-figure purchase price, and then some, on the track. Her $7,350,000 leaves her twelfth on the all-time money earners lists, and second among fillies and mares behind only her fellow immortal, Solstice.

Following the Breeders’ Cup, Matthews credited the mare for having given her the ride of her life, and she send her home to “be a happy mother.” And a happy mother she became. Among her foals were Defiant Nature, Parade, and Three Ring Circus. They did her proud.