Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

ELMONT, N.Y. - Artie Schiller, the defeated favorite last year, made sure someone else had the sour taste in his mouth this time by defeating heavy favorite Leroidesanimaux by three-quarters of a length in the $2,025,000 Breeders’ Cup Mile on Saturday, ending Leroidesanimaux’ eight-race winning streak.

Artie Schiller, a 4-year-old son of El Prado, raced midpack early on the inside, then dived through a hole between horses and gamely charged past the 6-5 favorite.

The second choice in the betting returned $13.20 on a $2 bet.

The colt owned by Mrs. Thomas J. Walsh and Timber Bay Farm gave trainer James Jerkens his first Breeders’ Cup victory in just his second start. Jerkens is the son of Allen Jerkens, a Hall of Fame trainer known as the “giant killer’ for engineering high-profile upsets of such horses as Kelso, Secretariat and Forego, and apparently the trait has been passed along.

Slide show   The Breeders' Cup See images from the 2005 World Thoroughbreds Championships at Belmont Park.

“The race happened the way you dream about it,” the 46-year-old junior giant killer said.

The victory also was the second on the day for jockey Garrett Gomez. Gomez picked up the mount after regular rider Richard Migliore was injured in a freak paddock accident and was unable to ride.

“As soon as I got out at the top of the lane, he did the rest,” Gomez said.

Bobby Frankel, trainer of Leroidesanimaux, said after the race that he had to put “aluminum pads,” which are typically used to protect a bruised foot, on the favorite.

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“It was the shoes and the outside post that got him beat today,” he said.

Funfair, a 6-year-old gelding, fractured a rear leg in the early stages of the race and was vanned off the track after the race. Veterinarian Wayne McIlwraith described the injury as “catastrophic” and said afterward that the horse had a “poor prognosis.”