Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile
Grade I race
Location United States
Inaugurated 2007
Race type Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Website Breeders' Cup official website
Race information
Distance One mile (8 furlongs)
Track Dirt, left-handed
Qualification Three-years-old & up
Weight Weight for Age
Purse US$1,000,000

The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is a 1-mile (1.6 km) Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, and is run on a dirt course (either natural dirt or a synthetic surface such as Polytrack). This contrasts with the similar Breeders' Cup Mile, run on grass. All Breeders' Cups to date have been conducted in the United States, with the exception of the 1996 event in Canada.

The race was run for the first time in 2007 during the first day of the expanded Breeders' Cup at that year's host track, Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. It became a Grade I event in 2009.[1]

Occasionally, various track configurations require minor changes in the distance of the race. The 2007 race at Monmouth Park was held at a distance of 1 mile 70 yards (1673 m) instead of the normal distance of 1-mile (1.6 km). The 2015 Breeders' Cup will be held at Keeneland, which does not have the ability to run one mile dirt races, and so the Dirt Mile is scheduled to be run out of the backstretch chute at a distance of 7 furlongs, 384 feet (1525 m).[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 the winners of defined races. Each of the fourteen divisions has between three and seven of these, "Win and You're In," qualifying races.

In the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Division the number of runners are limited to 14 and there are four automatic berths.
The "Win and You're In" races are:
1. the Triple Bend Handicap, a Grade 1 race at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Hollywood, California;[3]
2. the Pat O'Brien Stakes, a Grade 1 race at Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego, California;[3]
3. the Kelso Handicap, a Grade 1 race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.[3] and
4. the Clásico Copa de Oro, a Grade 2 race at Club Hípico de Santiago in Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile.[3]

Records

Most wins:

Most wins by a jockey:

Most wins by a trainer:

Most wins by an owner:

Winners of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile since inception

Year
Winner
Age
 Jockey
Trainer
Owner
Time
Purse
Grade
2014 Goldencents 4 Rafael Bejarano Leandro Mora W. C. Racing 1:35.19 $1,000,000 I
2013 Goldencents 3 Rafael Bejarano Doug O'Neill W. C. Racing et al. 1:35.12 $1,000,000 I
2012 Tapizar 4 Corey Nakatani Steven M. Asmussen Winchell Thoroughbreds 1:35.34 $1,000,000 I
2011 Caleb's Posse 3 Rajiv Maragh Donnie K. Von Hemel McNeil Stables/Cheyenne Stables 1:34.59 $1,000,000 I
2010 Dakota Phone 5 Joel Rosario Jerry Hollendorfer Todaro/Halo Farms/Carver/Hollendorfer 1:35.29 $1,000,000 I
2009 Furthest Land 4 Julien Leparoux Michael J. Maker Ken & Sarah Ramsey 1:35.50 $1,000,000 I
2008 Albertus Maximus 4 Garrett Gomez Vladimir Cerin Brandon & Marianne Chase 1:33.41 $1,000,000
2007 Corinthian 4 Kent Desormeaux James A. Jerkens Centennial Farms 1:39.06 $1,000,000

See also

References

  1. ↑ Six New Grade I Races for 2009 - bloodhorse.com
  2. ↑ Angst, Frank (June 24, 2014). "Keeneland a Breeders' Cup Homecoming". bloodhorse.com. The BloodHorse. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Breeders Cup Challenge