LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -Garrett Gomez thought he had it. Probably. Maybe.

Seconds after crossing the finish line aboard Blame in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday night at Churchill Downs, Gomez turned to his right and looked at fellow jockey Mike Smith, who was galloping out next to him aboard unbeaten mare Zenyatta.

Smith had a question.

``He asked me if I won, and I said, 'I think so,''' Gomez said.

Forgive Gomez for not being sure. Blame isn't the first horse to push horse racing's biggest star to the limit only to be eclipsed in the final yards, and Gomez knew it.

So he waited, finally exhaling when he saw the No. 5 representing Blame flash on the top of the tote board.

Any other track, any other day and Gomez is pulling for Smith and the charismatic 6-year-old that has given the sagging sport a much-needed public-relations boost.

Not on Saturday.

While empathizing with Smith's teary anguish after Zenyatta's bid to finish her remarkable career a perfect 20-0 came up a head short, Gomez wasn't exactly apologetic for playing spoiler.

``I'm glad to be the one to upset him,'' Gomez said.

So was trainer Al Stall Jr. He'd envisioned the Classic dozens of times in his head. And he knew what was coming when Blame pushed to the lead in the middle of the stretch.

Right on cue Zenyatta came, drawing closer one ground-swallowing stride at a time. Stall, however, noticed his cerebral 4-year-old wasn't all out. Not yet.

``I had a sneaking suspicion that he was waiting a little bit like he does,'' Stall said. ``It got hairy there at the end, but I'm sure he could have gone another eighth (of a mile) or whatever had to be done.''

Blame did it with style and grit. And while the debate is just beginning on where Zenyatta ranks among the sport's all-time greats, the discussion of who's been the best horse on the planet this year appears to be over.

``Blame won it,'' said Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farms, Blame's co-breeder. ``I mean, she's a great horse, Zenyatta is. But she had her shot to get by and she didn't do it.''

Then again, nobody else in one of the deepest Classic fields in recent memory did either.

Trainer Bob Baffert thought Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky had it when the horses turned for the finish line. Instead, he faded to fourth.

``He got tired in the end,'' Baffert said. ``We were just too far back.''

At least Lookin At Lucky made a bid. Woodward winner Quality Road drew the rail and went off as the fourth choice but finished last in the 12-horse field.

In the end, only Blame could do what more than 120 horses failed to accomplish over the last three years: beat the big girl who had arguably become the sport's most transcendent champion since Secretariat.

``She's awesome,'' Hancock said. ``She's been great for racing. ... I'm sorry that we had to beat her because she is something special. We had to give it all we had.''

Stall called Zenyatta ``beatable'' in the days before the race, and his horse backed it up with the kind of dynamic performance that will be talked about for ages.

Stall thinks he saw Blame ``kick on her just a little bit'' as they raced for the line.

``He was just waiting for another fight,'' he said.

There won't be one. Blame is heading off to a stallion career at Claiborne Farm, former home of legends Secretariat and Easy Goer.

Zenyatta will likely join him in retirement, her singular career 2 feet short of being spotless. Blame will be the only horse that knows what it's like to beat her. Gomez hopes people remember it as a race that his horse won, not one that Zenyatta lost.

``I wish she would have went 20 for 20 at the expense of someone else and not us,'' Gomez said. ``I'm very proud to say we beat her.''