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.
The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. It is the top ranked race for fillies and mares in North America, and often decides the title for champion three-year-old and / or champion older filly or mare.
Lemons Forever is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Grade 1 132nd Kentucky Oaks horse race on May 5, 2006. Her win was the biggest upset in the history of the Oaks.
Sky Beauty was a thoroughbred horse who won the 1993 Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. As of 2018, she was the last filly to win this title.
Azeri is an American Hall of Fame champion thoroughbred racehorse who was 2002 US Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female from 2002 to 2004.
Behaving Badly is a Thoroughbred racing mare foaled on April 5, 2001 in New York and a top sprinting distaffer. Sired by Pioneering, a Mr. Prospector son, out of Timeleighness, she was bred by Thomas and Lakin, and owned by Patti and Hal J. Earnhardt III.
Seeking The Gold was an American thoroughbred racehorse and a successful sire.
Serena’s Song is an American Thoroughbred race horse. She won 17 graded stakes races, including 11 Grade I, in three seasons for $3,286,388 in earnings.
Ginger Punch is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Owned and bred by operations belonging to automotive parts magnate Frank Stronach, she is out of the mare Nappelon and sired by the Canadian-bred Awesome Again, winner of his country's 1997 Queen's Plate and the 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic and who, as a sire, has produced four Breeders' Cup winners including the 2004 World Champion, Ghostzapper.
Medaglia d'Oro is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won several major stakes races including the 2002 Travers Stakes and the 2003 Whitney Handicap. He also finished second in the 2002 Belmont Stakes, the Breeders' Cup Classic in both 2002 and 2003, and the 2004 Dubai World Cup. Since retiring to stud, he has become an excellent stallion whose progeny include 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and two-time champion filly Songbird.
Zenyatta is a retired American champion Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of 19 consecutive races in a 20-race career. Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta was trained by John Shirreffs and guided by jockey Mike Smith for 17 of 20 starts. David Flores rode Zenyatta in her first three starts.
Spain is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who retired as the most financially successful mare in North American racing history in her time.
Got Koko was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, one of only three horses bred in the State of Texas to ever win a Grade 1 stakes. She was bred by Eileen H. Hartis who sold her for $30,000 at the 2000 Keeneland September yearling sale to trainer Bruce Headley who sold a twenty-five percent interest in the filly to Paul Leung for $25,000.
Fleet Indian was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. She was named American Champion Older Female Horse at the 2006 Eclipse Awards, an honor she is best known for.
Blame is a retired American champion Thoroughbred racehorse, a winner of nine races in 13 starts including the prestigious Breeders' Cup Classic.
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.
Take Charge Lady is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was one of the leading fillies of her generation in the United States, winning 11 of her 22 races between April 2001 and November 2003, earning over $2 million. She recorded Grade I victories in the Ashland Stakes and consecutive editions of the Spinster Stakes, and also won the Alcibiades Stakes, Silverbulletday Stakes, Fair Grounds Oaks, Dogwood Stakes and Arlington Matron Stakes.
Songbird is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was a two-time Eclipse Award winner. She won thirteen times, nine of them in Grade I races, and had career earnings of almost $4.7 million.
Stellar Wind is an American Thoroughbred racehorse, known for her Eclipse Award winning three-year-old season, and later for her rivalry with the champion mare Beholder. Bred in Virginia, she raced in Maryland as a juvenile, winning one minor race from two starts. As a three-year-old, racing mainly in California, she improved to become arguably the best filly of her generation. In the spring of 2015, she won the Santa Ysabel Stakes and the Santa Anita Oaks before finishing a troubled fourth in the Kentucky Oaks. On her return to California, she recorded further victories in the Summertime Oaks and the Torrey Pines Stakes, and then ended her season by finishing a strong second in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. She was voted American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 2015.
Goodbye Halo was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. A daughter of the noted sire Halo, she won 10 graded stakes races over a race career spanning from ages two to four. Following her racing career, she was sent to Japan for broodmare duty and most notably produced the sire King Halo.
