The Breeders’ Cup: All you need to know

What is the Breeders Cup?

The Breeders’ Cup is a year-end World Championships for horse racing in America, designed to provide answers to the ever-present question of ‘who’s the best?’. Horses from all over the world compete at the Breeders’ Cup, and qualify via either a points system (awarding value to a horse’s performance in Graded/Group races) or by winning a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race. Graded or Group races are the horse racing equivalent to football’s Premier League; they are the highest level of competition, with Group One races reserved for the best of the best.

The Breeders’ Cup 2023 will stage its races over Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th November at Santa Anita racecourse, though the hosting US racecourse changes each year.

The Breeders’ Cup was founded by John Gaines, a leading owner and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses, in 1984. Originally lasting just one day, the Breeders’ Cup expanded to two days in 2007 and now hosts fourteen races over its duration.

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Breeders’ Cup Classic

The Breeders’ Cup Classic is the most prestigious of all the Breeders’ Cup races, where the highest-rated horses (aged three and over) from across the world go head-to-head over one and a quarter miles on the dirt track. This year, it takes place on Saturday 4th, November at 10:40pm (GMT) and is worth $6,000,000. This year’s previous favourite Arcangelo, son of 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Arrogate, was retired earlier in the week and has since been replaced at the top of the market by the Bob Baffert trained Arabian Knight (11/4).

A famously unpredictable race due to the staggeringly high calibre of runners, the Breeders’ Cup Classic never fails to provide excitement and surprise. For example, the 1989 contest saw press-popular rivals Sunday Silence and Easy Goer locking horns for the last time in the final strides before the finish line after a surge of speed from Easy Goer, who rocketed up the track from fourth place to almost, but not quite, catch front-runner Sunday Silence.

Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf

The Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf race is a Grade One race for female thoroughbreds over one mile and 1.5 furlongs. The horses must be aged three and over with this year’s joint favourites, Inspiral and Warm Heart (5/2), aged four and three respectively. This year, it takes place on Saturday 4th, November at 7:10pm (GMT) on Santa Anita’s Turf track and is worth $2,000,000.

Breeders’ Cup Turf

The Breeders’ Cup Turf is for horses aged three and over who will run over one and a half miles on the Turf track. This year it’s on Saturday at 9:50pm (GMT). It’s a Grade One race worth $4,000,000. This year’s field is full of familiar names for fans of British and Irish racing with Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin at the top of the market (5/2), ahead of Juddmonte International winner Mostahdaf (3/1).

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf is a Grade One race for two-year-olds (juveniles) only. It’s one mile in distance on the turf track and is worth $1,000,000, a purse which Aidan O’Brien is yet again favourite to bag with River Tiber heading the betting (2/1). The race takes place on Friday, 3rd November, at 11:40pm (GMT).

Breeders’ Cup Sprint

The Breeders’ Cup Sprint is a Grade One race for horses aged three and over, which takes place on the dirt track over six furlongs. It’s timed for 12:00am (GMT) on Sunday, 5th November and is worth $2,000,000. Juddmonte’s Elite Power is the clear favourite (6/4), but Gunite provides an interesting option at 8/1 having defeated Elite Power by 1¾ lengths the last time they went head-to-head.

Breeders’ Cup Mile

The Breeders’ Cup Mile is a Grade One race for horses aged three and over who will run over one mile on the dirt track. It’s worth $2,000,000 and takes place on Saturday, 4th November, at 8:30pm (GMT). The Saeed bin Suroor trained Mawj is the favourite at 3/1 but is closely followed in the market by Songline (7/2), who is a two-time winner in Japan this year.

Horse Eligibility and Nominations

The thoroughbred is a breed of horse which has been genetically engineered since the 1600’s to be the ultimate in speed and endurance, and therefore the breeding industry is highly lucrative and regulated. The Breeders’ Cup is funded by the breeding industry with the nomination of stallions and foals.

All horses which are to run in the Breeders’ Cup 2023 must be nominated, but this process starts with their sires before they are born. North American stallions are nominated each year, and their progeny conceived in that year are, therefore, automatically eligible to be nominated to run in the Breeders’ Cup. Foals by non-nominated stallions are made eligible for nomination via a $400 fee paid by their breeder to the Breeders’ Cup.  This eligibility reaps rewards in the sales ring, with eligible foals by nominated stallions selling for six-times more (on average) than non-nominated foals. International stallions can also participate in this process but must pay the Breeders’ Cup a large percentage of their covering fee.

Racehorses without any nominations from their early years can gain entry into the Breeders’ Cup by running in a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race. The winners of these Challenges may then go on to run in the Breeders’ Cup. There are 82 of these races throughout the year.

Who has won the Breeders’ Cup Classic?

Breeders Cup Betting Odds

British and Irish-trained horses are very popular in the betting for the Breeders’ Cup 2023. Although the favourite for the Classic (Sat 10:40pm) is US-trained Arcangelo (3/1), Epsom based trainer Adam West’s stable star Live In The Dream heads up the betting in the Turf Sprint (Sat 11:25pm), priced at 4/1. Mick Appleby’s poster sprinter Big Evs is the favourite for the Juvenile Turf Sprint (Fri 9:00pm), priced at 3/1 and is his only runner over the two days. Aidan O’Brien has his fair share of well-fancied runners, the most notable of which being Epsom Derby winner Auguste Rodin who is favourite for the Breeders’ Cup Turf (Sat 9:50pm) at 5/2. He goes up against the pick of the British runners in John & Thady Gosden’s Mostahdaf (3/1). Newmarket also has representation from Simon & Ed Crisford as Carla’s Way heads the market for the Juvenile Fillies Turf (Fri 10:20pm) at 10/3, followed by Donnacha Aidan O’Brien’s Porta Fortuna (11/2).

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