It was a race that was supposed to end the Horse of the Year debate, but in all likelihood, the 31st Breeders' Cup Classic fueled more controversy than it extinguished.
It wasn't who won that caused the furor. It was did he or didn't he?
Bayern was a highly reasonable winner of Saturday's $5 million showdown at Santa Anita, as reflected by his status on the tote board as the 6-1 fourth betting choice in a classy field of 14. He owned wins in the Haskell and Pennsylvania Derby and beat Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome in the Keystone State.
He once again beat third-place finisher California Chrome in the Classic and also dispatched his other main rivals for Horse of the Year honors and the 3-year-old crown: the undefeated Shared Belief, owned in part by sports radio talk icon Jim Rome, and Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist.
But did he? Did he do it?
Did he compromise the chances of rivals and gain an advantage when he veered in at the start and created a chain of bumps? Did the bumping allow him to hang on and win by a mere nose over 18-1 shot Toast of New York?
The stewards at Santa Anita said no and let the result stand.
Kaleem Shah, owner of Bayern, was fine with that.
"I could not believe there was an objection," he said. "I was talking with [trainer Bob Baffert] as we were walking down [to the winner's circle]. We were confident it would be nothing.
Jockey Mike Smith, dismayed over the first loss in Shared Belief's eight-race career, begged to disagree.
"I think it cost me the race," said Smith, the all-time winningest Breeders' Cup jockey. "I was never able to get comfortable after getting hit at the break. I kept getting bounced around all the way around the turn."
Much like the decision of an umpire or referee, once the films were watched and the stewards ruled no broken bones, no foul, the result goes into the history books -- be it right or wrong.
It atoned for Bayern's last-place finish in another major mile and a quarter test, the Travers at Saratoga, and in theory, should have made him the sport's newest hero. But did he?
Did he do it?
It remains to be seen if Eclipse Award voters will be as bitter when they cast their postseason ballots, as some backers of Shared Belief and other runners were on Saturday, after the turn of events at the break.
Horses are indeed powerful animals and hard to control when they surge out of a starting gate, which explains why stewards often forgive bumps at the break.
The question Saturday was whether it was just horses being horses or the kind of chaos that prevented others from beating Bayern.
Commenting during the NBC Sports telecast, retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey downplayed it and said, "It can be called incidental contact because this kind of stuff happens in 50 percent of all races."
Bailey's numbers might be inflated, yet his comments are no doubt true about the level of tolerance in claiming races at tracks across the country. Yet in a $5 million race, with Horse of the Year at stake, with the images broadcast in prime-time on national television in vivid High Definition, some might wonder if there should have been a different standard of adjudication.
What happened was, at the break, Bayern veered in from post seven and pushed Shared Belief, who was in post six, along with him. Shared Belief slammed into Moreno, who was in post four. While Bayern scampered off to grab the lead, Shared Belief and Moreno lost a few steps, then were trapped behind horses when the speedy Toast of New York, from post nine, California Chrome, from post 13, and Majestic Harbor, from post 14, led a string of outside starters who moved inside to save ground in the run to the first turn.
Head-on films appeared to show Toast of New York crossing inward so quickly that he beat Moreno to a spot on Bayern's flank, bumped Moreno, cost that gelding another stride and prevented Moreno from running with Bayern on the front end.
Seconds later, with nowhere to go, Smith yanked on Shared Belief's rein and slowed him down to get him out of a tight spot between horses.
"I lost all chance in the first sixteenth of a mile," said Smith, who finished fourth, beaten 3 ¾ lengths by the 5-2 favorite.
After that, the race was uneventful (in demolition derby terms), though some will argue the damage was already done.
Shared Belief lost ground and the X factor was that the problems which spilled over to Moreno may have made Bayern's task considerably easier. Moreno, a speedster, was supposed to run with the 3-year-old colt in the early stages and soften him up for closers, but as a result of the early mess, the 4-year-old gelding was never closer than fifth at any point of call and finished last.
"We lost our race at the break, when [Bayern] shot out of there and ran into everyone," said 2013 Eclipse Award-winning jockey Javier Castellano, who rode Moreno. "That pretty much took us out of the game."
Baffert, of course, saw it differently.
"I think [Toast of New York] probably came over and did more damage 100 yards out of the gate. But it's racing. It's racing luck," the Hall of Famer said after winning his first BC Classic in 13 tries. "[Bayern] got completely eliminated in the Preakness, so that happens. You can't control the start. It's nothing that was done. You don't like to see it. ... After watching the replay, [Toast of New York] bottled everybody up down there, so ..."
So now Eclipse Award voters will have to decide whether they want to focus on the beginning or the end of the race, as is a voter's choice.
In theory, Bayern deserves the title, but some might start nit-picking now. He does have four losses this year, including last and next-to-last finishes in the Travers and Preakness, respectively, against two Grade 1 wins. The respect for California Chrome, meanwhile, went up after his gutsy try off just one weak race (sixth in the Pennsylvania Derby) since June. Untapable, the dazzling 3-year-old filly ridden to victory by mom-to-be Rosie Napravnik in the BC Distaff on Friday, has just one loss this season, albeit it to Bayern in the Haskell. Shared Belief has an excuse for his lone loss of the year and career. Grass ace Main Sequence made it 4-for-4 this year, all in Grade 1 stakes, when he beat an international field on Saturday in the BC Turf. And of course, there's two-time reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan, whose perfect 2014 was ended shy of the Breeders' Cup by injury.
From that group, a Horse of the Year will emerge.
Bayern, for all intents and purposes, should be golden after beating so many good horses in the Classic.
But did he?
Did he do it?
In January, we'll see what the voters say.