Breeders' Cup Classic - Largest Payout for a Single Race in the United States

The Breeders’ Cup Classic is the signature event of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. It is open to a maximum of 14 horses aged three-year-olds and up and, as of prior to the 2012 running, boasted a purse of $5 million, making it the second richest horse race in the world, behind only the Dubai World Cup. The race is only 28 years old, as old the Breeders’ Cup itself. The race was supposed to be the Super Bowl of horse racing, a rich race that would serve as the final major championship race and, it was hoped, decide on the track which horse would win Horse of the Year. That vision has, for the most part, proved true.

The Classic may only be 28 years old but, because of the annual quality of the field, it always attracts the best horses in training because of the large purse and the belief among trainers and owners that skipping the Classic will cause their horse to be penalized when it comes time for the end of the year Eclipse Award voting, a belief that is, for the most part (unless there are extenuating circumstances), true. The short history of the Classic is filled with drama and excitement. The first race, run back in 1984, saw a thrilling stretch drive and a three-way photo finish with the long shot Wild Again winning, with jockey Pat Day winning the first of what would turn out to be 4 Classics in his Hall-of-Fame career. The stakes record for the Classic is by 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper, who flew through the race in a phenomenal 1:59 â, but his decimal fraction was actually just a hair over 1:59 flat, at 1:59.02.

Of the 28 Breeders’ Cup Classics that have been run, two minutes has been broken six times, in contrast to the Kentucky Derby, in which two minutes has only officially broken twice (Sham finished only 2 ½ lengths behind Secretariat stakes record 1:59 â in the 1973 Derby, which means he also broke two minutes) in 137 annual races going all the way back to 1875. This indicates that Churchill Downs is not the fastest track in the world, and also demonstrates the difference between fields of only three-year-olds, like in the Derby, and fields of three-year-olds and up, as in the Classic.

Because the quality of the Classic is so high, there just aren’t that many repeat winners in any aspect of the race, whether it be horse, owner, or trainer. Only Tiznow has ever won the Classic twice, in 2000 and 2001. Stronach Stables is the only owner to win the Classic twice, while Charlie Whittingham and Jay Robbins are the only trainers to win the Classic twice. Jockeys, however, have scored multiple wins several times. Chris McCarron and Jerry Bailey have each won the Classic five times, the record for a jockey.

The 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic will be on Saturday, November 3, 2012. Tune in and catch a glimpse of exciting history!!!