Breeders Cup

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships - run annually in North America since 1984 - has developed into the biggest horse racing event on the global calendar. It was run in a single day between 1984 and 2006, but since then has been held over two days.

The Breeders’ Cup generally moves to a different venue each year, and apart from 1996, when it took place at Woodbine in Toronto, it has always been held in the United States.

As an event the Breeders’ Cup provides terrific theatre, giving European runners the opportunity to test themselves against the cream of the American thoroughbred crop.

Santa Anita set the two-day attendance record for the event in 2016 with more than 118,000 spectators filing through the gates.

The 2018 event at Churchill Downs in Kentucky featured 14 Grade 1 events with massive prize money of $28million on offer.

The highlight of the event is always the closing Breeders’ Cup Classic, run over 10 furlongs on dirt and with total prize money of $6million on offer in 2019.

In 2019 the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will take place on Friday November 1 and Saturday November 2 at Santa Anita Park in California. There is a total prize pool of $30million.

Finding winners in the Breeders’ Cup is no easy task, with the meeting coming at the end of a long hard season in Europe and North America. Will European horses - normally plying their trade on turf - be able to translate their ability to a dirt surface?

And will European raiders again dominate in the turf races, so often their greatest chances of claiming Stateside glory?

Here at The Winners Enclosure, we study every single runner and look to profile them all in our race guides, which you will be able to access in the days leading up to the 2019 Breeders’ Cup.

Our tips and selections are all researched and backed up by our experienced team of betting tipsters. They can be found on our main daily racing tips page.

There isn’t a specific dress code for Santa Anita Park, which hosts the 2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

However racegoers are expected to dress appropriately in the Club House areas. This includes Turf Terrace, Suites at Santa Anita, the Chandelier Room and the Eddie Logan Suite.

It is worth checking for any specific Breeders’ Cup dress code requirements before attending the event.

Betting on the Breeders’ Cup gives punters a number of dilemmas to consider. As already mentioned they need to assess a number of unknowns - for example many of the European raiders have never run in North America before or run on a dirt surface before.

From a track perspective stamina is another question mark - American tracks tend to be much tighter than their European equivalents so horses can often stay a little further when they head Stateside.

The odds on offer provide another head scratcher for punters, as they need to decide whether to take the prices on offer from UK bookmakers or the US returns via the local Pari Mutuel pool. Historically punters could net massive gains by opting for US returns on under-appreciated European raiders. This resulted in some enormous winners in the past - notably French horse Arcangues at 133-1 in the Classic in 1993.

Not surprisingly with the massive prize money on offer, the Breeders’ Cup attracts some of the finest equine talent around every year.

The roll of honour at the event reads like a who’s who of racing superstars while the Breeders’ Cup has produced some of the greatest performances and battles ever.

Arazi’s incredible surge to glory in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile still provokes goose bumps while the mighty mare Zenyatta came from way off the pace to an astonishing Breeders’ Cup Classic success in 2009.

Probably the greatest European raider of all time is the French mare Goldikova, who claimed three brilliant Breeders’ Cup Mile victories between 2008 and 2010.

The Breeders’ Cup Turf is often taken by European raiders, while the Breeders’ Cup Classic is the holy grail for trainers everywhere. It remains one of few prizes still to elude all-conquering Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien.

To date the only UK-trained horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic is Raven’s Pass, who scorched to glory for trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori at Santa Anita in 2008.

The most successful trainer in the Breeders’ Cup Classic is the mighty American handler Bob Baffert, who claimed the race three consecutive times between 2014 and 2016 with Bayern, US Triple Crown hero American Pharoah and subsequent Dubai World Cup winner Arrogate.

The great D. Wayne Lukas holds the record for the most number of Breeders’ Cup wins by a trainer with 20, while Mike Smith is the leading jockey with 26 successes in total.

The most recent Breeders’ Cup took place at Churchill Downs in Kentucky in November 2018. The winners were as follows:

Friday November 2, 2018

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: Bulletin

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Newspaperofrecord (IRE)

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies: Jaywalk

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf: Line of Duty (IRE)

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile: Game Winner

Saturday November 3, 2018

Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Shamrock Rose

Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint: Stormy Liberal

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile: City of Light

Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf: Sistercharlie (IRE)

Breeders’ Cup Sprint: Roy H

Breeders’ Cup Mile: Expert Eye (GB)

Breeders’ Cup Distaff: Monomoy Girl

Breeders’ Cup Turf: Enable (GB)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Accelerate

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships features a glittering schedule of 14 Grade 1 races run over two days. In 2019, they are as follows:

Friday November 1, 2019

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf: Run over 1mile for two-year-olds on turf with $1million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile: Run over 1 mile and half a furlong for two year-olds on dirt with $2million in total prize money,

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies: Run over 1 mile and half a furlong for two-year-old fillies on dirt with $2million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf: Run over 1 mile for two-year-old fillies on turf with $1million in total prize money.

Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: Run over 5.5 furlongs for two-year-olds on turf with $1million in total prize money.

Saturday November 2, 2019

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile: Run over 1 mile for three-year-olds and upwards on dirt with $1million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint: Run over 7 furlongs for three-year-old fillies and upwards on dirt with $1million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint: Run over 5.5 furlongs for three-year-olds and upwards on turf with $1million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Sprint: Run over 6 furlongs for three-year-olds and upwards on dirt with $2million total in prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Mile: Run over 1 mile for 3-year-olds and upwards on dirt with $2million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Distaff: Run over 1 mile and 3 furlongs for three-year-old fillies and upwards on dirt with $2million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf: Run over 1 mile and 3 furlongs for three-year-old fillies and upwards on turf with $2million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Turf: Run over 1 mile and 4 furlongs for three-year-olds and upwards on turf with $4million in total prize money.

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Run over 1 mile and 2 furlongs for three-year-olds and upwards on dirt with $6million in total prize money.