Breeders' Cup Juvenile
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The current purse is $2,000,000, making it the most valuable race for two-year-olds in North America. It is normally run at a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles.
Grade I race | |
Location | North America |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1984 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
Website | www |
Race information | |
Distance | 1 1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs) |
Surface | Dirt |
Track | left-handed |
Qualification | Two-year-old Colts and geldings |
Weight | Assigned |
Purse | US$2,000,000 |
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is typically the first time that the best colts from the various racing circuits across North America (in New York, Kentucky and California in particular) meet up with each other. The winner often earns the Eclipse Award for Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse, and becomes one of the early favorites for the next year's Kentucky Derby.[1]
In 2006, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) wrote in Part 2 of their special series titled Spiraling To The Breeders' Cup that "Arazi turned in what many still consider to be the single-most spectacular performance in Breeders' Cup history."
Timber Country was the first Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner to win an American Triple Crown race when he went on to win the 1995 Preakness Stakes. The 2006 winner, Street Sense, became the first to capture the Kentucky Derby.[1] In 2016, Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby as well.
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 thirteen divisions has between two and twelve of these "Win and You're In" qualifying races.
In the Breeders' Cup Juvenile division, the number of runners is limited to 14 with up to four automatic berths. 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.
The 2019 "Win and You're In" races are:[2]
- the Iroquois Stakes, a Grade 3 race run in September at Churchill Downs in Kentucky
- the FrontRunner Stakes, a Grade 1 race run in October at Santa Anita Park in California
- the Champagne Stakes, a Grade 1 race run in October at Belmont Park in New York
- the Breeders' Futurity, a Grade 1 race at Keeneland in Kentucky
Records
Most wins by a jockey:
- 3 – Laffit Pincay Jr. (1985, 1986, 1988)
- 3 – Jerry Bailey (1996, 1998, 2000)
Most wins by a trainer:
- 5 – D. Wayne Lukas (1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1996)
Most wins by an owner:
- 2 – Eugene V. Klein (1987, 1988)
- 2 – Overbrook Farm (with partners in 1994, 1996)
- 2 – Michael Tabor & Susan Magnier (2001, with partners in 2012)
- 2 – Gary and Mary West (2013, 2018)
Winners of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time | Dist. | Purse | Grade |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Essential Quality | Luis Saez | Brad Cox | Godolphin Stables | 1:42.09 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2019 | Storm the Court | Flavien Prat | Peter Eurton | Exline-Border Racing LLC et al. | 1:44.93 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2018 | Game Winner | Joel Rosario | Bob Baffert | Gary and Mary West | 1:43.67 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2017 | Good Magic | José L. Ortiz | Chad C. Brown | e Five Racing / Stonestreet Stables | 1:43.34 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2016 | Classic Empire | Julien Leparoux | Mark Casse | John C. Oxley | 1:42.60 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2015 | Nyquist | Mario Gutierrez | Doug O'Neill | Reddam Racing | 1:43.79 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2014 | Texas Red | Kent Desormeaux | Keith Desormeaux | Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmar et al. | 1:41.91 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2013 | New Year's Day | Martin Garcia | Bob Baffert | Gary and Mary West | 1:43.52 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2012 | Shanghai Bobby | Rosie Napravnik | Todd Pletcher | Starlight Racing/Magnier/Tabor/Smith | 1:44.58 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2011 | Hansen | Ramon Domínguez | Michael Maker | Kendall Hansen, MD/Sky Chai Racing | 1:44.44 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2010 | Uncle Mo | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher | Repole Stable | 1:42.60 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2009 | Vale of York | Ahmed Ajtebi | Saeed bin Suroor | Godolphin | 1:43.48 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2008 | Midshipman | Garrett Gomez | Bob Baffert | Darley Stable | 1:40.94 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2007 | War Pass | Cornelio Velásquez | Nick Zito | Robert V. LaPenta | 1:42.76 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2006 | Street Sense | Calvin Borel | Carl Nafzger | James B. Tafel | 1:42.59 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $2,000,000 | I |
2005 | Stevie Wonderboy | Garrett Gomez | Doug O'Neill | Merv Griffin Ranch Company | 1:41.64 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,500,000 | I |
2004 | Wilko | Frankie Dettori | Jeremy Noseda | J. Paul Reddam | 1:42.09 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,500,000 | I |
2003 | Action This Day | David R. Flores | Richard Mandella | B. Wayne Hughes | 1:43.62 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,500,000 | I |
2002 | Vindication | Mike E. Smith | Bob Baffert | Padua Stables | 1:49.61 | 1 1⁄8 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
2001 | Johannesburg | Michael Kinane | Aidan O'Brien | Michael Tabor & Susan Magnier | 1:42.27 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
2000 | Macho Uno | Jerry Bailey | Joseph Orseno | Stronach Stables | 1:42.05 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1999 | Anees | Gary Stevens | Alex Hassinger Jr. | The Thoroughbred Corp. | 1:42.29 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1998 | Answer Lively | Jerry Bailey | Bobby C. Barnett | John A. Franks | 1:44.00 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1997 | Favorite Trick | Pat Day | Patrick B. Byrne | Joseph LaCombe Stable | 1:41.47 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1996 | Boston Harbor | Jerry Bailey | D. Wayne Lukas | Overbrook Farm | 1:43.40 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1995 | Unbridled's Song | Mike E. Smith | James T. Ryerson | Paraneck Stable | 1:41.60 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1994 | Timber Country | Pat Day | D. Wayne Lukas | Overbrook/Gainsway/Lewis | 1:44.55 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1993 | Brocco | Gary Stevens | Randy Winick | Albert R. Broccoli | 1:42.99 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1992 | Gilded Time | Chris McCarron | Darrell Vienna | Milch, Silverman & Silverman | 1:43.43 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1991 | Arazi | Pat Valenzuela | François Boutin | Allen E. Paulson | 1:44.78 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1990 | Fly So Free | José A. Santos | Scotty Schulhofer | Tommy Valando | 1:43.40 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1989 | Rhythm | Craig Perret | C. R. McGaughey III | Ogden Mills Phipps | 1:43.60 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1988 | Is It True | Laffit Pincay Jr. | D. Wayne Lukas | Eugene V. Klein | 1:46.60 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1987 | Success Express | José A. Santos | D. Wayne Lukas | Eugene V. Klein | 1:35.20 | 1 mile | $1,000,000 | I |
1986 | Capote | Laffit Pincay Jr. | D. Wayne Lukas | Beal, French Jr. & E. V. Klein | 1:43.80 | 1 1⁄16 miles | $1,000,000 | I |
1985 | Tasso | Laffit Pincay Jr. | Neil Drysdale | Gerald Robins | 1:36.20 | 1 mile | $1,000,000 | I |
1984 | Chief's Crown | Don MacBeth | Roger Laurin | Star Crown Stable | 1:36.20 | 1 mile | $1,000,000 | I |
See also
References
- "The Breeders' Cup Juvenile". www.twinspires.com. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- "Breeders' Cup Announces Challenge Series Schedule". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 23 June 2019.