The 2015 Breeders' Cup Challenge series provided winners of the designated races an automatic "Win and You're In" Berth in the 2015 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 2015 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 32nd edition of the thoroughbred horse racing season-ending premier event held on October 30 and 31 at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky. The race series, held for the first time at Keeneland, required a significant amount of preparation to transform the small, historic track into a venue capable of handling large crowds, comprising 13 championship races held over a two-day period.
In 2015, eight new races were added to the series: the Gran Premio Criadores, Fleur de Lis Handicap, Sussex Stakes, Sword Dancer Invitational, Spinaway, Princess Rooney Handicap, Smile Sprint Handicap, and T. Von Zastrow Stutenpreis. Eighteen races in the series were telecast by NBC. [1]
The Baden Racing Stuten-Preis is a Group 3 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Baden-Baden over a distance of 2,400 metres, and it is scheduled to take place each year in August or September.
For 2015, 39 entrants in the Breeders’ Cup qualified via the Challenge series with six winning their respective divisions: [2]
- American Pharoah, who qualified for the Classic by winning the Haskell
- Stephanie's Kitten, who won the Flower Bowl to qualify for the Filly & Mare Turf
- Nyquist, winner of the FrontRunner and Juvenile
- Songbird, winner of the Chandelier and Juvenile Fillies
- Runhappy, who qualified for the Sprint by winning the Phoenix Stakes
- Catch a Glimpse, who won the Natalma to qualify for the Juvenile Fillies Turf
American Pharoah is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first horse to win the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing. He won the 2015 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and 2015 Champion three-year-old. He was bred and owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Stables, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor Espinoza. He now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
Stephanie's Kitten is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning two Breeders' Cup races. As a two-year-old in 2011 she won the Grade I Alcibiades Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She won the Edgewood Stakes and the Lake Placid Stakes in 2012 and went on to win the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes and the Just A Game Stakes in 2013. As a five-year-old in 2014 she won the Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes and finished second in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. In 2015 she won the Hillsborough Stakes and a second Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes before ending her career with victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Nyquist is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 2016 Kentucky Derby. He also won the 2015 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, becoming only the second horse to complete the Juvenile-Derby double. He became the eighth undefeated winner of the Kentucky Derby, and the first since Big Brown in 2008. He received the 2015 Eclipse Award for Champion Two-Year-Old.
Several prominent winners of the challenge series races did not start in the 2015 Breeders' Cup due to injury or illness. Most notably, Beholder, who had won three challenge series races, was scratched from the Classic after she developed a fever then bled following a routine workout. [3] Rock Fall, who was a favorite for the Sprint after qualifying in the Vosburgh, was injured during a routine workout and was euthanized. [4]
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 2015 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. [5] [6] [7]
