The 2013 Breeders' Cup Challenge series provided winners of the designated races with an automatic "Win and You're In" Berth in the 2013 Breeders' Cup. Races were chosen by the Breeders' Cup organization and included key prep races in the various Breeders' Cup divisions from around the world.
The 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 30th edition of the premier event of the North American thoroughbred horse racing year. It took place on November 1 and November 2 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The Breeders' Cup is generally regarded as the end of the North America racing season, although a few Grade I events take place in later November and December. The 2013 Breeders' Cup results were highly influential in the Eclipse Award divisional championship voting.
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. All sites have been in the United States, except in 1996, when the races were at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.
For 2013, nine races were added to the series: the Triple Bend Handicap, Bing Crosby, Yorkshire Oaks, Lowther Stakes, Pat O’Brien, Juvenile Trial, Pocahontas, Iroquois and Canadian Stakes. A number of races that had previously been part of the series were dropped, including the Metropolitan Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, Delaware Handicap, Pretty Polly, Greenwood Cup, San Diego, Turf Monster, Hopeful, Del Mar Futurity, Gallant Bloom, Fillies Mile, Beresford, Middle Park (since its Breeders' Cup race, the Juvenile Sprint, had been eliminated), Canadian International and E.P. Taylor Stakes. [1]
Thirty-six horses entered in the Breeders' Cup races qualified via the challenge series, including four of the winners. These were: [2] [3]
- Mucho Macho Man, who qualified for the Classic by winning the Awesome Again Stakes
- Beholder, who won the Zenyatta Stakes to qualify for the Distaff
- Dank, who earned her berth in the Filly & Mare Turf by winning the Beverly D. Stakes
- Wise Dan, who won the Woodbine Mile to qualify for the Mile
Mucho Macho Man is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse notable as the winner of the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic. He was foaled in Florida and named after the Village People song "Macho Man". His breeders were Carole and John Rio of Florida, who owned his dam. His foalhood nickname was "Lazarus" because he appeared lifeless at birth, but spontaneously revived. He grew to be a very large horse, standing over 17 hands high. Throughout most of his racing career, Mucho Macho Man was primarily owned by Dean and Patti Reeves of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing of Suwanee, Georgia. They purchased a majority interest in him after his first race in 2010, and in 2012 became his sole owners. In February 2014, Frank Stronach purchased an undisclosed share in the horse on behalf of his Adena Springs Farms, owner of Mucho Macho Man's sire, Macho Uno. The stallion now lives at Adena Springs and began to stand at stud in the 2015 breeding season.
The Awesome Again Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1982 during the Oak Tree Racing Association at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
Beholder is an American Thoroughbred race horse and multiple Eclipse Award winner. She was purchased as a yearling by B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm. She had an early reputation for being difficult to handle, but trainer Richard Mandella worked extensively with the fractious young horse, gradually developing her from a temperamental front-runner into a seasoned veteran who could be placed in strategic positions.
The winners of the 2013 Breeders' Cup Challenge series races are shown below. The last column shows whether the horse was subsequently entered in the Breeders' Cup, and if so, whether they achieved a top three finish. [4] [5] [6] [7]
The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, South Africa and South America, in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year.
