Breeders' Cup By The Numbers

The Breeders’ Cup has now been run 27 times now. From the inaugural running at Hollywood Park in 1984 to the 2011 version next week (Nov. 4-5) at Churchill Downs, the Breeders’ Cup builds what all great sporting events have - history. And history means numbers. I don’t know if horse racing fans and bettors like numbers more than our baseball friends currently watching the World Series, but most of us thoroughbred fans like our numbers.

So we looked at the Breeders’ Cup and their history and came up with a few numbers that we thought may be of interest to you.

140,332,198 – The highest number of total dollars wagered on a single-day Breeders’ Cup event on Nov. 4, 2006 at Churchill Downs. Last year Churchill Downs handled the two-day record $173,857,697 for a Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 5-6.

10,246,800 – The record number of career dollars earned by a Breeders’ Cup starter. That was Curlin's bankroll going into the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. That Classic was won by Raven's Pass at 13-to-1 odds while Curlin finished fourth as the 4-to-5 odds-on favorite. (Editor's Note: Thanks to reader Eddie D. who corrected me on this number. I previously published Skip Away and his $9,616,360 as the record holder as per the Breeders' Cup website.)

470 – The total number of foreign based starters in the Breeders’ Cup in the first 27 years. The first Breeders’ Cup had 11 foreign-based starters, of which six were in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. 1) including winner Lashkari. Last year at Churchill Downs, 25 horses came from overseas with Dangerous Midge winning the Turf and Goldikova (photo right) taking her third consecutive Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. 1). The most ever Foreign-based horses to start in a Breeders’ Cup came to Santa Anita in 2009 when 34 horses not based in the United States ran, of which a record six won.

349 – The number of starters in the Breeders’ Cup Mile during the previous 27 years making it the most popular Breeders’ Cup race among horsemen. The Sprint is second with 339 starters and the Juvenile is third with 324.

77 – The age of trainer Philip G. Johnson when he set the record as the oldest trainer to win a Breeders’ Cup race when Valponi won the 2002 Classic.

56 – The age of jockey Bill Shoemaker when he set the record as the oldest jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup race. Shoemaker was 56 when he won the 1987 Classic with Ferdinand.

52 – The number of Breeders’ Cup races won by horses breaking from post position two or four – 26 each and leading all other post positions in that category. Post number one is third with 24 winners.

14 – The number of Breeders’ Cup races that have finished with the official winning margin being a nose. Difficult to say which was the most dramatic, but Personal Ensign putting in that stretch run in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (now Ladies Classic) on a dark on sloppy day at Churchill Downs to catch Winning Colors gets my vote. Ferdinand and Alysheba were so close at the wire of the 1987 Classic that their jockeys, Bill Shoemaker and Chris McCarron aboard respectively, both recalled asking each other who had won while galloping out just past the wire. What about Macho Uno holding off Point Given to win the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. For the record, Blame was a head in front of Zenyatta in the 2009 Classic. There are 17 Breeders’ Cup races with the official winning margin a head.


13-1/2 – The number of lengths that made up Inside Information’s record winning margin in the 1995 Distaff over Heavenly Prize. Second: Street Sense and his ten length victory over Circular Quay in the 2006 Juvenile with Pleasant Home having the third longest winning margin, defeating Society Selection in the 2005 Distaff.

13 – The number of Breeders’ Cup winners who have sired Breeders’ Cup winners. Awesome Again, winner of the 1998 Classic, leads the pack with four of his get winning Breeders’ Cup races. Awesome Again has sired Wilko, winner of the 2004 Juvenile; Ghostzapper (2004 Classic); Round Pond (2006 Distaff) and Ginger Punch (2007) Distaff.

3 – The number of mares that have produced two multiple Breeders’ Cup winners. Primal Force (by Blushing Groom) is the dam of Awesome Again (1998 Classic) and Macho Uno (2000 Juvenile). Sweet Catomine (2004 Juvenile Fillies) and Life is Sweet (2009 Distaff) are both out of the Kris S. mare Sweet Life; and the Kahyasi (IRE) mare Hasili (IRE) produced Banks Hill and Intercontinental, winners of the 2001 and 2005 Filly and Mare Turf.

1 – The number of horse who have won three Breeders’ Cup races. Goldikova returns this year to try for her four Breeders’ Cup Mile. Ouija Board won the Filly and Mare Turf in 2004 and 2006 and was second in that race in 2005 to 15-to-1 long shot Intercontinental.

Solid Cast Chase Super Derby History From A New Date And Time

For years, the Super Derby (gr. II) had the perfect spot on the calendar. It was the last major Derby of the year. It was traditionally run four weeks after the grade 1 Travers Stakes in Saratoga and five weeks or so before the Breeders’ Cup at the site de l'année.

Although the first Super Derby was run five years before the inaugural Breeders’ Cup, by the time Gate Dancer used the 1984 Super Derby victory to prep for his eventual third-place in the first Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Super Derby had already achieved grade 1 status. Two of the first four winners of Louisiana Downs’ marquee race were champion Temperence Hill (photo above right) and Kentucky Derby winner Sunny’s Halo. In later years, horses such as Alysheba (1987), Sunday Silence (’89), Unbridled (’90) and Tiznow in 2000 had the Super Derby on their championship resumes.

But those were the days when the Super Derby was grade 1 with a $1,000,000 purse. Since 2002 the race has been grade 2 and through the years the purse has dropped to $500,000 and the distance shortened by a furlong to 1-1/8 miles.

A few years ago, the folks at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania boosted the purse of their Pennsylvania Derby (gr. 2) to $1 million, prompting officials at Louisiana Downs to surrender the once cherished spot on the calendars of 3-year-old thoroughbreds.

So Super Derby XXXII will be run Saturday instead of two weeks from now. The results, however, have been a bit unexpected as the 2011 renewal has attracted a large and competitive field of nine. Although it is not expected that the winner will be among the favorites in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, a Super Derby victory may still convince respective owners and trainers the necessity of a trip to Churchill Downs for the Breeders’ Cup.

From there, anything can happen.

In fact, Unbridled lost to Home at Last in the 1990 Super Derby, then bounced back to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic and be named champion 3-year-old colt or gelding that year. Concern was also second in the Super Derby, finishing just a nose behind Soul of the Matter in 1994. Concern would also bounce back to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but the class championship that year went to Holy Bull.

Blame, second to Regal Ransom in the 2009 Super Derby, will forever be the answer to the trivia question: “Who is the only horse to defeat Zenyatta” having done so in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic. More importantly, Blame was named champion older horse after that historical win in the Classic 13 months after his Super Derby appearance.

Although Alysheba won his Super Derby in 1987, it also took him a year to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Finishing second to Alysheba in the 1988 Classic was Seeking the Gold, winner of the Super Derby that year.

In 1989, Sunday Silence became the first horse to win the Super Derby and Breeder’ Cup Classic in the same year. The almost black colt trained by Hall of Famer Charlie Whittingham was later honored as champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year.

Like Sunday Silence, Tiznow would also win the Super Derby, Breeders’ Cup Classic, a divisional championship and Horse of the Year at age three. Also like Alysheba and Blame before, Tiznow would win the Breeders’ Cup Classic as a 4-year-old. But unlike Alysheba, Tiznow and Blame missed on Horse of the Year at age four. Point Given was named 2001 Horse of the Year over Tiznow and Blame lost his 2010 golden Eclipse to Zenyatta.

The elephant in the blog now is: Can anybody in the 2011 Super Derby become a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and perhaps a future champion?

One of the biggest assets this group of Super Derby starters has working for them are all other 3-year-old thoroughbreds in North America this year. There are no select few that seem head and shoulders above the rest of this division. Recent Travers Stakes (gr. I) winner Stay Thirsty appears to be the leader in the division despite that he has only one grade I win this season - the Travers two weeks ago.

Before the Travers, Stay Thirsty had victories in the grade 2 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct in March and the Jim Dandy, also grade 2, at the beginning of the Saratoga meeting this year. Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Animal Kingdom is on the sidelines. Preakness winner Shackleford is winless in three starts since. Belmont winner Ruler On Ice has also failed to win since his big victory in June leg of the Triple Crown. Resorts Casino Haskell Invitational (gr. I) winner Coil floundered in the Travers.

Super Derby starters such as the Bob Baffert-trained Prayer for Relief (photo left), the 9-5 morning line favorite, are just not so far behind the divisional leaders so as to consider them out of reach. The Prayer for Relief has won all three of his races this year including the grade 3 Iowa and grade 2 West Virginia derbies in his last two races.



Alternation is the only other Super Derby starter this year with a graded stakes win on record having won the Peter Pan (gr. II) at Belmont Park in May before finishing fourth behind Stay Thirsty in the Jim Dandy.

Awesome Bet, winner of the $103,000 Barbaro Stakes at Delaware Park; and Trubs, winner of the $100,000 Prelude Stakes – the major local prep for the Super Derby – are just stakes winners today. The only stakes won by Super Derby starter Populist Politics, has been against other Louisiana-breds. They might be long shots to be get any championship notoriety this year, but all certainly have the potential to develop into something that can attract national attention at some point in their racing future.

Nine starters highlighted by the above mentioned favorites, make this a very deep and competitive Super Derby, especially considering this version is two weeks earlier than past. The quality and quantity of this vanguard must be a refreshing result to those in Louisiana Downs management who decided to move the Super Derby and today they look pretty smart.

But the Super Derby is a race with traditions and history steeped with Triple Crown race winners, Breeders’ Cup Classic winners and champions – both of the divisional and Horse of the Year varieties. It is also a race that has seen its graded status and purses drop while competition from derbies in Pennsylvania and Indiana rise. And now its lost its place on the calendar too.

Just don’t be surprised if the winner of this race is heard from down the line. Whether in 2011 or beyond, Super Derby graduates have a way of carving their way into more prestigious winners’ circles elseware.

Quality Road Hoping For History and Time Karma For Breeders' Cup Classic

Quality Road won the grade 1 Woodward Stakes Saturday in a gallop. A perfect preparation for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. 1) at Chuchill Downs Nov. 6 according to trainer Todd Pletcher.

“I think if he gets the 1 ¼ miles he can do it with the time in between,” Pletcher said in NYRA press notes. “For me statistically, we’ve always done well with that kind of time frame, so we’d like to come into the biggest and most important race with what we do best. Our horses tend to run their best races with that kind of spacing between them.”

But does that time frame do well statistically in the history of those that have won the Woodward and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year?

For the record, six horses have won both the Woodward Stakes at Breeders’ Cup Classic. However, two of those Woodward/Classic double winners were not able to pull it off in the same year. Skip Away won the 1998 Woodward after winning the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Classic and Cigar followed a similar path winning the 2007 Classic and 2008 Woodward.

Relative to Quality Road trying to jump from the Woodward winner’s circle to winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year, four are among that group: Alysheba (1988), Cigar (’95), Ghostzapper (2004) and St. Liam (’05).

However, both Alysheba and Cigar made starts between their Woodward wins and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Alysheba won the grade 1 Meadowlands Cup at 1-1/4 miles in 1:58.80 to become the only horse in the modern era at that time to break the 2-minute barrier at 10 furlongs three times in the same year. Alysheba, jockey Chris McCarron and trainer Jack Van Berg then solidified the Horse of the Year golden trophy with a Breeders’ Cup Classic win over Seeking the Gold on a dark and rainy early evening at Churchill Downs.

In 1995, Cigar had just defeated Best Pal, Tinner’s Way, Concern and Urgent Request in the Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. 1) in southern California before trainer Bill Mott returned him to New York for the Woodward in preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Cigar was looking for his eighth win in eight starts for the year and his 10th consecutive career win. He would win the Woodward, the Jockey Club Gold and the Breeders’ Cup Classic to extend his winning streak to 12.

The only two horses to have won the Breeders’ Cup Classic directly out of the Woodward were Ghostzapper in 2004 and St. Liam the next year.

Interestingly, St. Liam had an eerily similar year in 2005 to Quality Road’s 2010 campaign. Both won the Donn Handicap (gr. 1) at Gulfstream Park. Both then won grade 1 stakes before finishing second in the Whitney Handicap (gr. 1) at Saratoga. Quality Road was runner-up to Blame while St. Liam was second to Commentator in the Whitney. In 2005 St. Liam went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park. The question remains for Quality Road.

Looking at Quality Road’s year, however, seems to add credence to the strategy of taking 63 days between the Woodward and the Classic. The son of Elusive Quality seems to enjoy time between races. It was 113 days between his win in the Donn and the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. It was then 67 days before his loss by a head to Blame while carrying five additional pounds in the Whitney. If anything, 63 days may even a bit short in terms of vacation time between races.

“I think there was a lot more in the tank based on the way he came back [after the Woodward]; he was hardly even blowing,” Pletcher said.

That is a tank that will have to be primed against the likes of possibly Blame, Zenyatta and Looking at Lucky in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Super Derby Not Super But Sometimes Surpising

This Saturday seven 3-year-olds will be racing at Louisiana Downs in the $750,000 Super Derby. Despite it's aspirational name, grade 2 status and large purse, the marquee event for the Bossier City track has long struggled to find a place among the elite Summer races for 3-year-olds such as the Jim Dandy, Travers and Haskell Invitational. And it is seldom mentioned among the key races trainers consider when preparing their sophomores for the Breeders' Cup Classic some two months later.

But every once in a while a perceived second-stringer, lesser known late bloomer, or a supposed spent Triple Crown contender wins the Super Derby on their way to bigger and better things.

The trend began 1984 when Jack Van Berg brought Gate Dancer (photo) to Louisiana Downs. After starting the year in California, Gate Dancer finished third in the Arkansas Derby behind the filly Althea, who went into the Derby as the favorite. In Kentucky, Gate Dancer finished a tiring fourth behind Swale, but was placed fifth for interference down the stretch. A trait that along with his bright white hooded earmuffs, would become his trademark.

At times, Gate Dancer seemed more fond of running over his competition than outrunning them. In perhaps the best Super Derby ever run, the great Bill Shoemaker had West Coast star Precisionist apparently cruising through blistering fractions of :46-2/5 for the half, a mile in 1:35 and alone on the lead the entire time. Meanwhile, Gate Dancer and Laffit Pincay lanquished as far as 20 lengths back down the backside. At the top of the stretch, Precisionist was still four lengths ahead of Big Pistol in second while Gate Dancer was still eight lengths behind in fifth but now moving. As Precisionist moved away from the field, Gate Dancer had by now done the same, but looked destined for second. Although he was making up ground on Precisionist, Pincay looked more like a chuck wagon pilot than a jockey as it appeared Gate Dancer was looking more for someone to run into than catch Precisionist. At the wire Gate Dancer was in front by a nose and had sliced more than two seconds off of the track record. But in his final strides, he seemingly made a point to veer harmlessly toward Precisionist. It was harmless in that he did not interfere with Precisionist, but close enough to get smacked across the chest by Shoemaker's whip.

Gate Dancer went on to finish second in the now famous inaurgural Breeders' Cup Classic won by Wild Again, but was placed third behind Slew o' Gold for interference - again running over another good 3-year-old.

Van Berg also used the Super Derby to rejuvenate Alysheba, who had lost in the Belmont, Haskell and Travers after taking the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Alysheba won the Super Derby, then finished second to Ferdinand in the Breeders' Cup Classic by a scant nose. A year later Seeking the Gold used his Super Derby victory to prepare for a close second behind Alysheba in the Classic.

In 1989, Louisiana Downs officials raised the purse of the Super Derby to $2 million in an effort to feature the rematch if both Sunday Silence and Easy Goer ran. Sunday Silence went to Bossier City and won the $1 million Super Derby while Easy Goer stayed in New York to win the then 1-1/2 mile Jockey Club Gold Cup. They both met next in another stirring stretch in the Breeders' Cup Classic with Sunday Silence holding off another furious challenge from Easy Goer to win and take a 3-1 edge in the rivalry.

In 1990, Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled had finished second in the Preakness behind Summer Squall and finished fourth in the Belmont won by Go and Go. He reversed the trend a bit when he only managed to finish second in the Super Derby behind Home at Last, then win in the Breeders' Cup Classic in his next start.

Ten years later, trainer Jay Robbins brought a relatively obsure Tiznow to Louisiana off of two second-place finishes in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park and the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. He took the Super Derby then went on to suprise a stellar field that included European Champion Giant's Causeway, Belmont winner Lemon Drop Kid and Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.

Since the Super Derby was changed from a 1-1/4 mile race to 1-1/8 miles in 2002, the race has been less impactful on the Breeders' Cup, but it has still had some very nice winners including Essence of Dubai in 2002, Ten Most Wanted a year later.

This year's Super Derby would have certainly been helped if hometown hero Summer Bird were running, but Soul Warrior and Regal Ransom certainly make the race a credibe one. Soul Warrior defeated Mine That Bird in the West Virginia Derby in his last start and is trained by national leader Steve Asmussen and ridden by John Velazquez.

Regal Ransom won the grade 2, $2 million UAE Derby March before finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby. Although he has not started since the Derby, Regal Ransom is owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by Saeed bin Suroor, the team that won the Super Derby with Essence of Dubai.

This year's Super Derby field will do little to change the grade 2 status to a grade 1 once again, but it has a good chance to resume it's place as a race with some surprises.