The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt.  Each fall, a different North American track plays host to the Breeders' Cup Championship in a unique and special way. One year finds it at Churchill Downs with its rich trove of history, another at stately Belmont Park, the next at panoramic Santa Anita in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Major tracks compete aggressively for the right to stage the championship program and each year's selection is eagerly awaited.

Distance : 1 mile (1984-1985, 1987); 1 1/16-miles (1986, 1988-2001, 2003 to present); 1 1/8 miles (2002).

One of the event's most exciting elements is the intense rivalry between North American and European contenders. In almost every race, national pride is on the line. Owners and trainers from England, Ireland, France, Japan, and Germany now circle the Breeders' Cup Championship on their calendars and plan their horses' schedules accordingly.

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." [1]

Timber Country went on to become the first Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner to win a U.S. Triple Crown race for three-year-olds when he won the 1995 Preakness Stakes. The 2006 winner, Street Sense, became the first to capture the Kentucky Derby.

The Breeders' Cup has been firmly established as Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious event. Nothing can rival its millions in prize money or its international cast of talent. No other day of racing can match the Breeders' Cup Championship for non-stop excitement.

Breeders' Cup Links