Cigar, was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Originally campaigned on turf tracks he showed useful but unremarkable form, but he emerged as an outstanding performer when switched to racing on dirt in 1995. In 1996, he became the first American racehorse racing against top-class competition to win 16 consecutive races since Triple Crown winner Citation did so between 1948 and 1950. Cigar retired as the leading money earner in Thoroughbred racing history and was later inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. After his retirement from racing he stood as a breeding stallion but proved to be infertile and was quickly retired from stud duties. He nevertheless enjoyed a long retirement at Kentucky Horse Park before dying at the age of 24.
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of 1 1⁄4 miles (2,000 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October or early November. All of the races to date have been held in the United States except for the 1996 edition held at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Easy Goer was an American Champion Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse known for earning American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors in 1988 and defeating 1989 American Horse of the Year Sunday Silence in the Belmont Stakes by eight lengths. Both horses were later voted into the American Hall of Fame. The victory deprived Sunday Silence of the Triple Crown. It was also the second-fastest Belmont in history, behind only the record performance of Secretariat in 1973. Easy Goer was the first two-year-old champion to win a Triple Crown race since Spectacular Bid in 1979. Easy Goer also ran the fastest mile on dirt by any three-year-old in the history of Thoroughbred racing with a time of 1:32 2/5, which was a second faster than Secretariat's stakes record, and one-fifth of a second off of the world record set by Dr. Fager in 1968.
John R. Velazquez is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. Born in Puerto Rico, where he began his career as a jockey, he came to the mainland US in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both years was given the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, rode his 5,000th winner in 2013, and became the leading money-earning jockey in the history of the sport in 2014.
Awesome Gem is a Thoroughbred racehorse. This son of Awesome Again was sold by Crupi's New Castle Farm to West Point Thoroughbreds for $150,000 in California at the 2005 Barretts March 2-year-old sale. His partnership includes Paul Blavin, Scott Ross of Scottsdale, AZ, Scott Cadwallader and Patrice Arundel of Vista, CA, and Rob Keen of Encinitas, California. The chestnut gelding has recently risen to become a major stakes contender on the main track in the Southern California racing circuit. Awesome Gem tends to stand out as a smaller and slimmer horse then many of his competitors.
The Marathon Stakes, formerly known as the Breeders' Cup Marathon, is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race. It is open to horses three years old and up, and contested on dirt at a distance of 1 3⁄4 miles. The race has a purse of US$200,000. The horses carry Set Weights with allowances.
Dale L. Romans is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, best known for winning the 2011 Preakness Stakes with Shackleford and the Breeders' Cup Turf with Little Mike. He also upset American Pharoah in the 2015 Travers Stakes with Keen Ice. He won the 2012 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer.
Southern Image is a millionaire American Thoroughbred racehorse and successful sire. He was bred in Florida by Arthur I. Appleton and although he raced under the green Blahut Stables silks he was majority owned by Allen, Josh, Angie and Renee Tepper of Tepper Racing. He finished racing with a record of 6-1-1 in 8 starts and earnings of $1,843,750. Southern Image was best known for his 2004 wins in the grade one Pimlico Special and the grade one Santa Anita Handicap which made him the third ever to win both prestigious races on separate coasts of the United States. The others were Farma Way and Seabiscuit. He also won the Florida/California Sunshine Millions Classic and the grade 1 Malibu Stakes.
Pavot was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. In a career that lasted from 1944 to 1946 he ran thirty-two times and won fourteen races. He was the leader of his generation in 1944 when he was named American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt. The following year he recorded his most important win in the Belmont Stakes.
Cloudy's Knight is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Out of Northern Dancer's granddaughter Cloudy Spot, he was sired by the 1980 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, Lord Avie. The horse has been successful racing on both synthetic dirt and turf.
Sandpit (1989–2003) was a Brazilian Champion Thoroughbred racehorse that also met with considerable success racing in the United States. In a career that lasted from 1992 until 1997, he ran forty times and won fourteen races.
Animal Kingdom is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 137th Kentucky Derby and the 2013 Dubai World Cup. His Derby win took place on May 7, 2011, before a record crowd of 164,858. After the Derby, Animal Kingdom finished second in the Preakness Stakes and sixth in the Belmont Stakes before his career was disrupted by injury. He returned to finish second in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Mile before winning the Dubai World Cup as a five-year-old in 2013. Animal Kingdom is the first Kentucky Derby winner to win a Grade 1 race at the age of five. He has won Grade 1 races on both dirt and synthetic surfaces.
Shackleford is a retired chestnut Thoroughbred race horse who is best known for winning the 2011 Preakness Stakes. He also finished second in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and won both the Metropolitan and Clark Handicaps in 2012.
Jackson Bend is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who finished third to Lookin At Lucky in the Grade I $1,100,000 Preakness Stakes a Classic U.S. Triple Crown race held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Bred by Jacks or Better Farm Inc. in Ocala, Florida, he was out of the mare Sexy Stockings, whose sire was Tabasco Cat, a dual-classic winner in 1994.
Eldaafer is a retired racehorse best known for his wins in the Fall Championship Stakes, Breeders' Cup Marathon, Brooklyn Handicap, and Greenwood Cup.
Tapizar is a retired racehorse who is best known for his wins in the San Fernando Stakes and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
Tamarkuz is a retired racehorse who won the 2016 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
Court Vision is a retired racehorse who was a five time Grade I winner including the Breeders' Cup Mile. Upon retirement to stud in 2012, he first stood in Ontario, then was moved to Kentucky for 2016 then Louisiana for 2017.
The 2018 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 35th edition of the premier event of the North American thoroughbred horse racing year. The 14 races, all but one of which were Grade I, took place on November 2 and 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The races were telecast by NBCSN on Friday and early Saturday, and by NBC later on Saturday. The Breeders' Cup is generally regarded as the end of the North American racing season, although a few Grade I events take place in later November and December. The event typically determines champions in many of the Eclipse Award divisions, although it was missing the likely Horse of the Year, Triple Crown champion Justify, who was retired in July.
