Breeders’ Cup Horse Race

Updated: 15.08.2025

For much of its history, the sport of Thoroughbred racing had numerous prestigious individual competitions. But it didn't have a single unifying spectacle that brought all of its luminaries together until the Breeders' Cup came along. For more than 30 years, the Breeders' Cup has served as the ultimate showdown for horses seeking a title. Only the very best in each class are there, and they are guaranteed to meet at the top, if only for one day.

Launched in 1984, the Breeders' Cup was intended to serve as horse racing's answer to other major closing events, such as football's Super Bowl and baseball's World Series. It debuted at a time when the sport seemed to be struggling with declining popularity and brand identity. At first, many people doubted the event's potential, but it quickly became a huge success, generating excitement among both the most avid horse racing fans and casual bettors.

For the first 25 years or so of its existence, the Breeders' Cup was a one-day event. It is now a two-day event. The hosts vary from year to year. There have been specific races that have come and gone (and sometimes come back) in its history.

Over the past 35 years, champions in many different equestrian disciplines have tested their mettle at the Breeders' Cup. But even more admirable is the way the Breeders' Cup spotlights many different types of horses beyond the 3-year-olds that get all the press during the Triple Crown. The races are for all ages, all genders, and are finely tuned to the 5 or 6 different types of horses we have today.

The History of the Breeders’ Cup

The 1970s was a boom time for horse racing. That boom was thanks to all-time greats like Secretariat, Spectacular Bid, and Affirmed. With no such superstar three-year-olds of the moment in the 1980s, and with other pastimes growing in popularity, horse racing needed a shot in the arm. The Breeders' Cup provided it.

John R. Gaines, known for his success in the pet food industry but also as a Thoroughbred owner and breeder, first conceived the idea for the event at a 1982 awards luncheon where he rubbed elbows with other industry titans. The first Breeders' Cup was held in 1984 at Hollywood Park in California. That inaugural event featured only seven Grade 1 championships, but the crowds and wagering that day were impressive.

If anything, the final test of the day, the Breeders' Cup Classic, which carried a staggering $3 million purse, was a nice way to close out the first chapter of a day that otherwise had its share of clunkers and threatened to become a misbegotten event that lacked the breeding to go the distance. Slew o' Gold, the favorite, along with Gate Dancer, this year's Preakness Stakes champion, and Wild Again, a 31-1 long shot, found themselves locked in a battle for the ages in a stretch run that seemed certain to give Horse of the Year honors to one of them.

How the Breeders are Involved

The Breeders' Cup was able to raise substantial amounts of money for the purses of its races because it involved the sport's breeders in its financing. Any breeder wishing to have a stallion nominated for the Cup had to pay an up-front fee, as well as a fee for each horse sired by the stallion. Only horses nominated in this way were eligible to run in the Cup races.

Host Tracks

At the inception of the Breeders' Cup, it was decided that this event would be held in various locations across the country, making it a truly national event. However, there are only a limited number of racetracks across the country that have the facilities to handle the large crowds and demands that come with hosting this event. Santa Anita Park in California has hosted the Breeders' Cup a record number of times (nine), but that number was tied when Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, hosted the event in 2018.

The Races

As mentioned above, certain events, such as the Breeders' Cup Marathon, were removed from the program. However, many new races have been added for a total of fourteen events over two days. While not all of these races are obviously run on the same type of surface, they are run under conditions that provide remarkable variation not only among the races, but even among the contingents entered in each race.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic

What that means is that in any given year, you could be looking at horses that just ran in the Triple Crown races next to more experienced horses. It is basically the best of the best at a challenging distance. Because of that, it always has the largest purse of any event, currently at $6 million, and it is always the last race on the second day's program.

The Breeders’ Cup Turf

One aspect of American Thoroughbred racing that may escape the notice of casual fans is that in addition to the races that are run on dirt, there are a number of races that are run on turf. The Breeders' Cup Turf spotlights the equine athletes who excel on the turf. This championship event, run at a mile and a half, is open to all horses three years of age and older and has a purse of $4 million.

Unlike dirt horses, which tend to be competitive at younger ages, turf horses tend to be competitive at older ages. Because the Breeders' Cup Turf is often populated by older, competitive horses, it presents a very real opportunity for those horses to win some big purses. Also, because the Breeders' Cup Turf is a grass race, it attracts a lot of European horses, as grass racing is very popular there.

The Breeders’ Cup Sprint

As Thoroughbreds progress in their careers, they typically settle into one of two racing styles. They can be distance horses, which means they consistently race at distances over a mile that include two turns. Or they can be sprinters, which means they race at distances under a mile that include only one turn.

The Breeders' Cup Sprint is a celebration of two of the oldest groups of horses. It has a purse of $2 million and is run at six furlongs (three-quarters of a mile). Again, three-year-olds and up are eligible. This is a particularly exciting race because the horses tend to go all out and hit top speed all the way.

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

Thoroughbred racing is a competition of the highest order and the oldest. The best two-year-olds compete in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The Juvenile is 1 1/16 miles long and carries a purse of $2 million. It's a simple enough affair, considering the order of perfection that racing demands.

It will be interesting to see which of the two-year-olds can handle the distance, as most young horses start out in sprints before moving on to longer races. The Juvenile winner often becomes the early favorite for the following year's Kentucky Derby, America's most famous horse race, which is run for three-year-olds. However, a Juvenile winner didn't win the Derby until 2006, when Street Sense accomplished the feat.

The Breeders’ Cup Distaff

The Distaff gives female Thoroughbreds a chance to shine. Although fillies and mares can compete in male-dominated events such as the Classic, the Turf, or the Sprint, they are mostly segregated into races specifically for them. The Distaff is the best of these races; it is even run at the "illustrious" distance of 1 1/8 miles, and the purse currently stands at a handsome $2 million.

Other Breeders’ Cup Races

Top Performers

Over the years, the Breeders' Cup has featured many excellent runners, and these horses have used the races to mark their territory in the game of Thoroughbred racing. What's interesting about the event - unlike, say, the Triple Crown - is that horses can compete year after year. Because of this, some of the most iconic horses in Breeders' Cup history are those that have returned to the event to relive and then surpass their previous performances.

Perhaps that is why Tiznow can be considered the greatest of all Breeders' Cup champions. After all, he is the only horse to win the Breeders' Cup Classic twice, and he accomplished this remarkable feat in consecutive years, 2000 and 2001.

But he may have been outdone by the filly Zenyatta, who not only won the 2008 Distaff, but followed it up with an equally triumphant performance that earned her the 2009 Classic title. Zenyatta now has the distinction of earning the most Breeders' Cup money of any horse, $4.6 million.

Goldikova is the only horse to win the same Breeders' Cup race three times. She won the Mile three years in a row from 2008 to 2010. Beholder also won three Breeders' Cup races. However, she did it in two different classes. She won the Juvenile Fillies as a two-year-old in 2012 and followed that up with the Distaff the following year. Three years later she returned to win the Distaff again.

Another unique facet of the Breeders' Cup is that American Pharoah accomplished the seemingly impossible. He became the first horse to win the Triple Crown (consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes) in 37 years when he accomplished the feat in 2015. Since the Breeders' Cup had been around since 1984, this meant that the same year was the first time a horse could win both. 1. Triple Crown; and. 2. Breeders' Cup; in the same season. American Pharoah did it, winning the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic before retiring.

How to Bet on the Breeders’ Cup

As mentioned above, the Breeders' Cup is held at different tracks each year, which means it could be held at any of the Triple Crown venues. And at some point, the Cup is likely to be held at a track near you. Here are several ways, some legal and some not, that you can bet on the event.

You can participate in the Breeders' Cup by going to any location that is either a racetrack or an off-track betting facility. These places take bets on the races and also broadcast the signal to those who are elsewhere and want to watch the spectacle. If you're one of those people for whom the Breeders' Cup is a stay-at-home affair, don't worry. There are plenty of ways to participate from the comfort of your own... elbow. There are plenty of websites dedicated to the Breeders' Cup. One such site is TwinSpires.com, which not only covers the Breeders' Cup, but does so in a top-notch fashion.

As far as betting on the Breeders' Cup is concerned, there are numerous special bets that complement the basic straight and exotic types of wagers you would normally find. Two key bets - (what's left of) the Breeders' Cup as a whole and the Day 2 portion of it - offer prospective bettors wide opportunities to make that bet, as well as the aforementioned chances to win back a tremendous haul by betting them.

Breeders’ Cup