It was a day of horse racing that out of nowhere turned into something from the "Oprah Winfrey" archives.

The opening act of the Breeders' Cup on Friday produced four races and two stellar wins by outstanding horses linked to the sport's "bad boy" elements.

Odds-on favorite Goldencents ($3.40) gallantly dug down after setting blistering fractions and captured the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile for a second straight year, prevailing by 1¼ lengths over Tapiture and jockey Rosie Napravnik. The win was officially credited to trainer Leandro Mora, who is actually the assistant trainer for Doug O'Neill. Best known as the trainer of 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I'll Have Another, O'Neill was barred from saddling horses in this year's Breeders' Cup because of a pending suspension in New York for a Class 2 medication violation.

Then in the day's final Breeders' Cup event, another favorite, the brilliant 3-year-old filly Untapable ($5.20), showed the heart of a champion. She posted her sixth win in seven starts this year by overcoming an outside post and winning the $2 million BC Distaff by 1¼ lengths under Napravnik in the filly's first try against older horses.

Standing in the winner's circle after that race was her trainer, Steve Asmussen. Earlier in the year, Asmussen was at the center of controversial hidden video by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that alleged he and his staff were guilty of animal abuse.

Asmussen has not been penalized or charged with a violation by a racing board, but his presence, and O'Neill's in spirit, had to rankle the sport's purists and agitate its critics ... until a person standing next to Asmussen ventured in and out of unknown territory in the annals of racing and sports television.

Napravnik, fresh from winning the Distaff, announced to her mother, Cindy, and a national viewing audience that she is pregnant and would be retiring for an indefinite period at the end of the weekend.

"I told you I was going to give you good television," she said to NBCSN announcer Laffit Pincay III.

Steve who?

Doug who?

With that stunning announcement and a hug with her mother, Napravnik gave horse racing the kind of smile-provoking moment it has needed for years.

The sport may very well revolve around the beauty and innocence of the animals, and some elements of mankind can be counted a way to detract from that, but to not be amazed and emotionally touched by the scene is to be something shy of human. Here was a woman, in a male-dominated sport, not only winning one of the year's most important races, but winning over the heart of America afterward.

Perhaps if the day was April 1 there might have been skeptical snickers about being fooled.

But on Oct. 31, Halloween, it was no trick, just a treat.

"You know what?" said the 26-year-old Napravnik, who is married to trainer Joe Sharp. "I've been planning the retirement since I found out that I was pregnant. I'm about seven weeks pregnant. I would have waited; my plan was to wait until after the weekend, and I don't know if I had won on another horse if I would have said anything. This filly has just been very special to me, and it's a very special way to go out, so I just couldn't resist because they asked me how much it meant to me."

Napravnik, one of the sport's all-time best female jockeys, said the child is due in June, and that her career was not necessarily at an end.

"My retirement is indefinite. A comeback is something I may consider in a few years but for now the 110 percent that I have put into racing for the past 10 years will be focused on being a mom and supporting my husband in his new and thriving career as a trainer!" she said in a message to turf writers. "Joe and I are absolutely overjoyed by the news of our first child together, due in June! Although I will certainly miss being in the saddle, I am extremely excited to become a mom."

Napravnik has four rides scheduled for Saturday, though none is better than 10-1 on the morning line (Top Decile in the Juvenile Fillies, Emollient in the Filly and Mare Turf, Mico Margarita in the Sprint, and Tourist in the Turf), and even with Hollywood in the background it's unlikely that she will make a return trip to the winner's circle.

Then again, even if she did, it wouldn't be the same. The jolt would be missing. In a matter of seconds, she turned the rest of the winner's circle interview into an afterthought.

Yeah, Untapable has won six of seven races this year. Yeah, she tied a bow on a 3-year-old filly title that was clinched before the Distaff. Yeah, she has an outside shot at Horse of the Year. Yeah, owner Ron Winchell and Asmussen have every reason in the world to be passionately proud of their champion. Yeah, Untapable will be back to race next year. Yeah, Horse of the Year will be on the line Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Yeah, but, did you hear? Rosie's having a baby.

That, to some, was the real news to come out of Day 1 of the Breeders' Cup, and compared to what could be said about a couple of other people linked to big wins, that's not bad for racing. Not bad at all.