40th Breeders' Cup World Championships

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com "The Breeders' Cup. Going in, so many races looked ultra-competitive, and the results bore out with exciting stretch runs and thrilling finishes. When I'm on horseback, I don't get to see the stretch run, so all I have is Larry Collmus's race call, which, in so many of the races, had me guessing about who the winner would be until they literally hit the wire. In...

Total all-sources, global common-pool handle for the Nov. 3-4 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita was $176,281,989, the lowest number since 2020, the same year live Breeders' Cup races at Keeneland had no reported attendance due to COVID-19. At the same time, attendance of 109,624 for the two-day event in 2023 was the highest of the past five years. Breeders' Cup Limited released the numbers late Saturday evening. "Racing fans here and from around the world were treated to two days of the very best of our sport, including...

In 2022, Hill 'n' Dale's super sire Curlin got a record-setting three winners on Saturday's Breeders' Cup card. In 2023, the remarkable sire equaled that as Juddmonte homebred Idiomatic (Curlin--Lockdown, by First Defence) gave her sire a hard-fought victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff sandwiched between the encore wins by Cody's Wish in the GI Dirt Mile earlier on the card and Elite Power later in the GI Sprint. Idiomatic, who has had a stellar year with eight wins from nine starts, has almost certainly sewn up the Eclipse...

What a way to kick off Saturday's Breeders' Cup action as the sport's favorite fairy tale got its happily-ever-after ending. Cody's Wish (Curlin--Dance Card, by Tapit) made it back-to-back GI Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile wins in a dramatic running of the first World Championships race on the card Saturday. Cody's Wish had captured the heart of the racing world last year as the story of his incredibly special connection with Cody Dorman, a boy suffering from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, emerged and grew. There were few dry eyes among...

Godolphin's Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), who was slated to start in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff on Saturday at Santa Anita, will scratch from the race and return to Kentucky due to not being 100%, said trainer Brendan Walsh, in a release from the Breeders' Cup Notes Team midday Friday. Walsh confirmed that she would prepare for her 4-year-old campaign. "After traveling, she got a little bit colicky and we had to treat her the next day," said Walsh. "She's looked great on the track, but that's just her....

The Breeders' Cup 40 project began as a special tribute looking back at 40 individual winners in the 40 days leading up to the 40th anniversary of racing's championship day, but it grew into more than that. Of course, it's beyond wonderful to reawaken the excitement of those championship wins and revisit these amazing horses today through brand-new photos. We thought we would simply catch up with these Breeders' Cup horses through some gorgeous images, but it really ended up as a celebration of how these living champions have impacted...

Thousands upon thousands--likely hundreds of thousands--of words have been written about the legendary Zenyatta, who captured the heart and soul of racing during her time on the racetrack and remains just as beloved today, 13 years after her retirement. Winter Quarter Farm's Don Robinson, who foaled her, was kind enough to share his memories of her formative years with TDN. "Zenyatta was the ultimate," said Robinson. "I can't say enough superlatives about her. I could speak endlessly about her. "The real satisfaction is I delivered her mother, too. I had...

The sport's first Triple Crown winner since 1978, American Pharoah famously went through Fasig-Tipton's Select Saratoga Yearling Sale in 2013 only to be bought back by his breeder to race as a homebred. He spent eight months at Taylor Made Farm before the sale; Mark Taylor, who has had his hands on a lot of nice horses, distinctly remembers him. "It's kind of a microcosm of this industry: when you think you have it figured out, you don't have it figured out. He was born at Vinery, then went to...

Edited Press Release The Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park will be conducted according to industry-leading safety and integrity protocols to ensure the wellbeing of all human and equine athletes. As previously announced, Breeders' Cup introduced an enhanced pre-screening protocol in the lead-up to this year's World Championships, upholding its ongoing commitment to putting safety first. This year also marks the first time the Breeders' Cup World Championships will run under the full jurisdiction of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), including the Anti-Doping and Medication Control...

A homebred for Gary Seidler and Peter Vegso, Unrivaled Belle's Breeders' Cup win came at the expense of the following year's Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, who finished third. The two mares would eventually share common ownership, both being purchased by Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm, and live together at Timber Town before Havre de Grace's passing earlier this year. The crown jewel among Unrivaled Belle's foals to date is two-time champion Unique Bella. Unrivaled Belle has a 2-year-old full-sister to Unique Bella named Tap My Belle, as...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup When Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum passed away early in 2021 after decades of prominence in Thoroughbred racing and breeding, it was unclear in the sport what would happen to his vast bloodstock and farm holdings. Racing needn't have worried. His daughter, Sheikha Hissa, catapulted into the public eye as the head of Shadwell right at the same time the racing stable was seeing a resurgence. The bedrock laid over decades of success by Sheikh Hamdan was the perfect foundation for stunning...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup John Henry famously didn't make it to the Breeders' Cup. Da Hoss famously did, after a two-year layoff with a mere allowance prep. In this industry, where geldings at the elite levels are the exception and not the norm, those geldings tend to become beloved fan favorites. Perhaps it's because they often have longer race careers than their compatriots whose breeding careers must be considered. Right up there in the lexicon of the special 31 geldings to have won a Breeders' Cup are...