There was indeed a storybook ending in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday evening at Churchill Downs. Just not the one everyone wanted.

When Blame kept his head down on the wire to hand Zenyatta her first defeat, the Churchill grandstand, which had been rocking as the big mare made her trademark rally, fell silent. A few moments later, the place began buzzing with adulation for Zenyatta, who in fact enhanced her legacy with her gallant try. Virtually unheralded as he was draped in flowers and walked back to the barn was Blame, who capped a solid 2010 campaign that also included wins in the Stephen Foster, Whitney and Schaefer, and a second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

The Classic win was the culmination of an exacting plan laid out a full year ago by trainer Al Stall, Jr. Events seldom come to pass as you hope they will in horse racing, which makes Blame's win all the sweeter for Stall.

Blame races as a homebred for the legendary Claiborne Farm, which celebrates its centennial this year. The Hancock family's farm, in Paris, Kentucky, is the place of conception of 20 Kentucky Derby winners, 24 Preakness winners, 20 Belmont winners and six Triple Crown champions; it is the final resting place of Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Gallant Fox, as well as the sires of four Triple Crown winners.

Although countless champions have raced in the Claiborne gold, Blame, who is also owned in part by Adele Dilschneider, is the first Breeders' Cup Classic winner for the farm. After enhancing Claiborne's history on the track, Blame now has some big shoes to fill in the next stage of his career. He joins Claiborne's stud roster for 2011 and will take up residence in the former stall of his grandfather, Seeking The Gold, in the same barn where greats such as Bold Ruler, Mr. Prospector, Unbridled, Round Table, Nasrullah, Easy Goer and Secretariat have impacted the breed.

When we visited Claiborne on Thursday afternoon, two days before the Classic, it was quite obvious to us how much pride the staff at the stallion barn took in Blame, and how much they were looking forward to Saturday's race. Our guide beamed when leading out Blame's sire Arch, inviting us to pat the stallion while he recounted some of his exploits.

Yes, Zenyatta lost the Classic, and broke a lot of hearts in the process. But a stellar horse also won the race. Congratulations to Blame and his people on a job well done.