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, Canada.
The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for fillies and mares, three years old and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
Tonalist is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2014 Belmont Stakes, beating the favored California Chrome, who was attempting to win the Triple Crown. Tonalist won the Peter Pan Stakes in May 2014. He is the first horse since A.P. Indy in 1992 to win the Peter Pan/Belmont double. Later in the year he defeated older horses to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Todd Pletcher is an American thoroughbred horse trainer. He won the Eclipse Award eight times as Trainer of the Year, four of these in consecutive years. His horses Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) won the Kentucky Derby. He also won the Belmont Stakes with Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013), Tapwrit (2017) and Mo Donegal (2022). He also trained Malathaat who won the 2021 Kentucky Oaks.
Claude R. "Shug" McGaughey III is an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer.
Kiaran P. McLaughlin is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer best known for training 2006 Horse of the Year Invasor.
Timber Country was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and American Triple Crown Classic Race when he won the 1995 Preakness Stakes.
Pulpit was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Fountain of Youth Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes and came fourth in the 1997 Kentucky Derby. Injured after that race, he retired to stud at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky where he became a successful sire. His descendants include leading sire in North America Tapit and multiple American Classic winners such as Tonalist and California Chrome.
Dallas Stewart trains a string of thoroughbred horses in Kentucky from bases at Churchill Downs, Turfway Park, Keeneland Race Course, Fair Grounds Race Course, Arlington Park and Saratoga Race Course. Before venturing out on his own, he spent 12 years working under the tutelage of leading trainer D. Wayne Lukas. There, he oversaw such horses as Lady's Secret, Thunder Gulch, Serena's Song, Timber Country, Tabasco Cat, and many other Grade I winners.
Zenyatta is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic and Breeders' Cup Distaff and 19 of her 20 starts. She was the 2010 American Horse of the Year, and Champion Older Female in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2016.
Chad C. Brown is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer known for his expertise with turf horses and with fillies and mares. He has trained ten Eclipse Award winners including Stacelita, Big Blue Kitten, Lady Eli, Flintshire, and Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar. After receiving the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer of 2016, he won his first Triple Crown race with Cloud Computing in the 2017 Preakness Stakes. He also won the Eclipse Award in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Tapit is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won three of his six races, including the Wood Memorial Stakes, then a Grade I event. He was an immediate success after retiring to stud, becoming the leading freshman sire in North America of 2008 with Breeders' Cup winner Stardom Bound becoming his first Grade I winner. He was the leading sire in North America in 2014, setting an earnings record that he broke in 2015 and again in 2016. For the 2015 season, his stud fee was raised to $300,000, the highest in North America. In 2021, Essential Quality became his fourth Belmont Stakes winner, tying him for the all-time record of winners sired in this race with the great Lexington.
Gio Ponti is an American Thoroughbred race horse who was the Champion Turf Horse in 2009 and 2010, and finished second to Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeder's Cup Classic. He was sired by Tale of the Cat, a son of Storm Cat, out of the stakes-placed Alydar mare Chipeta Springs, making him half-brother to stakes-winner Fisher Pond.
Wise Dan is a champion American Hall of Fame and Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He is the first horse to win the same three Eclipse Awards in consecutive years, having been named American Horse of the Year, Champion Older Male and Champion Male Turf Horse in 2012 and 2013.
Wicked Strong is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He established himself as a contender for the 2014 Kentucky Derby with a win in the Wood Memorial Stakes. He finished fourth in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes before winning the Jim Dandy Stakes.
The 2014 Belmont Stakes was the 146th running of the Belmont Stakes. It was run on June 7, 2014, and was televised on NBC. California Chrome had a chance to complete the third leg of the Triple Crown after his victories in the 2014 Kentucky Derby and the 2014 Preakness Stakes. However, it was Tonalist who won the race. Commissioner placed second and Medal Count took third. California Chrome finished in a tie for fourth with Wicked Strong.
Liam's Map is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Unraced as a juvenile, he won three of his four races in 2014 without being tested against top-class opposition. As a four-year-old he emerged as one of the best horses in North America with win in the Woodward Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He was retired at the end of the season with a record of six wins and two places in eight starts.
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.
Drefong is a Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Champion Sprint Horse at age three after winning the King's Bishop Stakes and Breeders' Cup Sprint. He also won the Forego Stakes at age four.
The 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 26th running of the Breeders' Cup Classic, part of the 2009 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on November 7, 2009, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California with a purse of $5,000,000.
United States Grade I: 
