Vale of York pulled the rug out from under his more respected rivals in the Juvenile (Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com)

Godolphin's VALE OF YORK (Ire) (Invincible Spirit) surged in the final strides to edge Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike) by a head in Saturday's $1,818,000 Juvenile (G1), rewarding his backers with a massive upset at 30-1 odds. Runner-up in the Gran Criterium S. (Ity-G1) at Milan, Italy, the Saeed bin Suroor trainee broke poorly and was steadied sharply early, but recovered and established a perfect spot down the backstretch, closely stalking the pace along the rail in fourth. He encountered trouble when trapped along the inside in upper stretch, but the bay shifted paths to the outside and stormed home in the final eighth of a mile beneath Ahmed Ajtebi, who became the first Middle Eastern-born jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race.

Lookin at Lucky turned in a strong showing from the far outside post, losing ground on both turns, and the 2-1 favorite had every chance in deep stretch but could not outfinish the winner to his inside. Noble's Promise (Cuvee), who rallied boldly to the lead off the far turn and held a one-length advantage through a mile in 1:37 1/5, could not sustain his momentum and wound up a half-length back in third. Piscitelli (Victory Gallop), who established early splits in :24 1/5, :48 3/5 and 1:13, held fourth.

Ahmed Ajtebi gave Vale of York the perfect ride in the Juvenile (Jim Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com)

Off as 11th choice among 13 rivals, Vale of York paid $63.20, $24.40 and $12.40. Lookin at Lucky totaled $4.40 and $3 for his hard-luck second.

"He showed today what a good horse he is," trainer Bob Baffert said of the runner-up. "It's just frustrating to know you have much the best horse and to come up short like that. I didn't give him any chance at all at the half-mile pole. At least you know that you can look forward to the Derby."

"Today, my horse got banged around pretty hard a couple of times going into the first turn because there were a couple horses going into the turn on the inside that came out," jockey Garrett Gomez said of Lookin at Lucky's trip. "It turned him a little sideways, but he took all that. For a young horse to keep on doing what he did -- and when that horse came to him and he could fight with something, accelerate and show me that much more -- makes me really excited about next year."

Breeders' Futurity (G1) winner Noble's Promise (Cuvee), the 6-1 second choice, returned $4.60 after finishing a head better than the 50-1 Piscitelli. Next under the wire came Aikenite (Yes It's True), Beethoven (Ire) (Oratorio [Ire]), Radiohead (GB) (Johannesburg), William's Kitten (Kitten's Joy), Eskendereya (Giant's Causeway), Alfred Nobel (Ire) (Danehill Dancer), Pulsion (Include), Aspire (Tale of the Cat) and D' Funnybone (D'wildcat). The $1 exotics paid $167.40 (exacta), $1,181.10 (trifecta) and $23,929.90 (7-13-4-2 superfecta).