Commercial details & record
- Current purse
- $7,000,000 (2025 data)
- Sponsor
- Longines
- Weight scale
- 4-year-olds and up: 126 lb (57.2 kg). 3-year-olds (Northern Hemisphere): 122 lb (55 kg). 3-year-olds (Southern Hemisphere): 117 lb (53 kg). Fillies and mares: 3 lb (1.4 kg) allowance.
Race record
1:59.02
Set on 2004
Historical record
42 editions on record
- 2025Winner: Forever Young
Jockey: Ryusei Sakai(draft)
Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi(draft)
Venue: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club(draft)
PRIMER CABALLO JAPONÉS en ganar el Breeders' Cup Classic. Propiedad de Susumu Fujita (CEO de CyberAgent, casa matriz de Cygames — creadores de Umamusume: Pretty Derby). El videojuego mobile lanzó el mismo día del nacimiento de Forever Young en Japón.
- 2024Winner: Sierra Leone(draft)
Jockey: Flavien Prat(draft)
Trainer: Chad C. Brown(draft)
Venue: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club(draft)
Primera edición con premio elevado a 7 millones de dólares. Forever Young (JPN) corrió y finalizó tercero en photo finish.
- 2023Winner: White Abarrio(draft)
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.(draft)
Trainer: Richard E. Dutrow Jr.(draft)
Venue: Santa Anita Park(draft)
- 2022Winner: Flightline(draft)
Jockey: Flavien Prat(draft)
Trainer: John W. Sadler(draft)
Venue: Keeneland(draft)
MAYOR MARGEN DE VICTORIA en la historia del Classic: 8¼ cuerpos. Flightline retiró invicto 6/6. Considerada por muchos la mejor performance de un caballo de carrera de la era moderna.
- 2021Winner: Knicks Go(draft)
Jockey: Joel Rosario(draft)
Trainer: Brad H. Cox(draft)
Venue: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club(draft)
Knicks Go fue Horse of the Year. Propiedad de Korea Racing Authority — primer dueño coreano en ganar el Classic.
- 2020Winner: Authentic(draft)
Jockey: John R. Velazquez(draft)
Trainer: Bob Baffert(draft)
Venue: Keeneland(draft)
Tiempo revisado: 1:59.60 — récord de pista en Keeneland. Edición disputada sin público por COVID-19. Authentic fue Horse of the Year 2020.
- 2019Winner: Vino Rosso(draft)
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.(draft)
Trainer: Todd A. Pletcher(draft)
Venue: Santa Anita Park(draft)
Edición marcada por la muerte de Mongolian Groom, eutanasiado tras fractura de cannon bone inferior y pastern superior durante la carrera. Fue la 37.ª muerte de un caballo en Santa Anita Park desde diciembre de 2018.
- 2018Winner: Accelerate(draft)
Jockey: Joel Rosario(draft)
Trainer: John W. Sadler(draft)
Venue: Churchill Downs(draft)
- 2017Winner: Gun Runner(draft)
Jockey: Florent Geroux(draft)
Trainer: Steven M. Asmussen(draft)
Venue: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club(draft)
Primera Breeders' Cup en Del Mar.
- 2016Winner: Arrogate(draft)
Jockey: Mike E. Smith(draft)
Trainer: Bob Baffert(draft)
Venue: Santa Anita Park(draft)
Race history
The Breeders' Cup Classic is the G1 race that closes the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the annual championship of North American Thoroughbred racing. Run each year over 1¼ miles (2,012 m) on dirt, left-handed, open to three-year-olds and up under Weight for Age conditions. The venue rotates among U.S. tracks —since 2008 alternating between Santa Anita and Del Mar in California, and Churchill Downs and Keeneland in Kentucky—; the only edition held outside the United States was the 1996 running at Woodbine, Toronto, Canada.
The event was conceived in 1982 by John R. Gaines, Gaines Pet Food heir and prominent Thoroughbred breeder and owner, as a year-end championship intended to improve the image of American racing. The idea was met with initial skepticism but found vocal support from trainer John Nerud and others. The first edition was run in 1984 at Hollywood Park. The Classic has since been widely considered the year's premier U.S. race in terms of field quality, although the Kentucky Derby remains far more broadly known.
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The original purse of three million dollars rose to five million in 2006, six million in 2016, and seven million in 2024. The race was among the world's richest for years, though it has now been surpassed by the Saudi Cup, the Dubai World Cup and The Everest. After American Pharoah's 2015 Triple Crown sweep, the term "Grand Slam" took hold to describe the combination of Triple Crown plus Breeders' Cup Classic — a feat only American Pharoah has accomplished.
Historic moments include the inaugural 1984 win by Wild Again after a 10-minute stewards' inquiry that disqualified Gate Dancer; the 1993 upset of the century when French-trained Arcangues won at 133-1 (his $269.20 payout remains a Breeders' Cup record); Tiznow's back-to-back wins in 2000 and 2001 — the only horse to win the Classic twice; Cigar's 1995 victory on a muddy track; the climactic Sunday Silence vs Easy Goer duel in 1989; Zenyatta's 2009 win as the first and only female horse to win the Classic, arriving undefeated 13/13; Ghostzapper's race-record time in 2004 (1:59.02); Flightline's record 8¼-length margin in 2022; and the historic 2025 win of Forever Young, the first Japanese-trained horse ever to win the race.
Top records: most jockey wins is five, shared by Chris McCarron (1988, 1989, 1996, 2000, 2001) and Jerry Bailey (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2005); most trainer wins is four by Bob Baffert (2014, 2015, 2016, 2020); only repeat winner is Tiznow. The 2019 edition was marked by the on-track death of Mongolian Groom, euthanized after fractures during the race, the 37th horse to die at Santa Anita Park since December 2018.
Sources
Citations backing the data on this profile. Each row links to the original source.
- Whole profileBreeders' Cup — Sitio oficial — breederscup.com
- Whole profileWikipedia EN — Breeders' Cup (event series) — en.wikipedia.org
- Whole profileWikipedia EN — Breeders' Cup Classic (history + winners 1984-2025) — en.wikipedia.org
- NARRATIVA LARGAWikipedia EN — Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe — en.wikipedia.org
- NARRATIVA LARGADoc's Sports — Silver-Anniversary Breeders' Cup Feature New Wrinkles (2008) — docsports.com
- NARRATIVA LARGAWikipedia EN — Zenyatta — en.wikipedia.org
- NARRATIVA LARGAABC7 Los Angeles — 37th horse dies at Santa Anita Park after Breeders' Cup (2019-11-02) — abc7.com
- PREMIO ACTUALWikipedia EN — 2006 Breeders' Cup Classic — en.wikipedia.org