Breeders' Cup Mile
Grade I race | |
Location | North America |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1984 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
Website | Official Breeders' Cup website |
Race information | |
Distance | One mile (8 furlongs) |
Surface | Turf |
Track | Left-handed |
Qualification | Three years old & up |
Weight | Weight for Age |
Purse | US$2,000,000 |
The Breeders' Cup Mile is a 1-mile (1.6 km) Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984. All Breeders' Cups to date have been held in the United States except for the 1996 event in Canada.
The purse was raised from $1.5 million US to $2 million in 2007.
Freddy Head has won this race twice as a jockey and three times as a trainer.
There is no official stakes record for the Breeders' Cup Mile as it is run on different racecourses each year, some of which are significantly faster than others. In 2012, Wise Dan set a then-course record at Santa Anita with his time of 1:31.78.[1] Although Tourist ran faster than this with a time of 1:31.71 in 2016, he just missed the current Santa Anita course record of 1:31.69.[2]
Automatic berths
Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup developed the Breeders' Cup Challenge, a series of races in each division that allotted automatic qualifying bids to winners of defined races. Each of the fourteen divisions has multiple qualifying races. Note though that one horse may win multiple challenge races, while other challenge winners will not be entered in the Breeders' Cup for a variety of reasons such as injury or travel considerations.
In the Mile division, runners are limited to 14 and there are up to eleven automatic berths. The 2022 "Win and You're In" races were:[3]
- the L'Ormarins Queen's Plate, a Group 1 race run in January Kenilworth Race Course in South Africa
- the Gran Premio Club Hipico Falabella, a Grade 1 race run in May at Club Hipico in Chile
- the Shoemaker Mile, a Grade 1 race run in May at Santa Anita Park in California
- the Yasuda Kinen, a Grade 1 race run in June at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan
- the Queen Anne Stakes, a Group 1 race run in June at Royal Ascot in England
- the Sussex Stakes, a Group 1 race run in July at Goodwood Racecourse in England
- the Fourstardave Handicap, a Grade 1 race run in August at Saratoga in upstate New York
- the Prix Jacques Le Marois, a Group I race run in August at Deauville Racecourse in France
- the Woodbine Mile, a Grade 1 race run in September at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada
- the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes, a Grade 1 race at Keeneland in Kentucky
- the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, a Group 1 race at Ascot in England
Records
Most wins:
- 3 – Goldikova (2008, 2009, 2010)
Most wins by a jockey:
- 3 – Olivier Peslier (2008, 2009, 2010)
- 3 – John R. Velazquez (1998, 2012, 2017)
Most wins by a trainer:
- 3 – Freddy Head (2008, 2009, 2010)
Most wins by an owner:
- 6 – Flaxman Holdings / Niarchos family (1987, 1988, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2014)
- 3 – Wertheimer et Frère (2008, 2009, 2010)
Winners
† Indicates filly/mare
See also
- Breeders' Cup Mile "top three finishers" and starters
- Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships
- American thoroughbred racing top attended events
References
- ^ "Wise Dan (horse)". American Classic Pedigrees. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ Voss, Natalie (5 November 2016). "Tourist Gets Revenge Against Late-Flying Tepin In Breeders' Cup Mile". Paulick Report. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "BC announces 2022 "Win and You're In' schedule". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 7 October 2022.