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.
Giacomo is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2005 Kentucky Derby at 50–1 odds.
Michael Earl Smith is an American jockey who has been one of the leading riders in U.S. Thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003, and has won the most Breeders' Cup races of any jockey with 26 Breeders' Cup wins. Smith is also the third leading jockey of all time in earnings with over $336 million. In 2018, Smith rode Justify to the Triple Crown, becoming the oldest jockey to win the title at age 52.
Tiznow is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his wins in the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2000 and 2001, becoming the only horse to win this race twice. He was the 2000 American Horse of the Year and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2009.
WinStar Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing farm near Versailles, Kentucky, owned by Kenny Troutt. It won the 2010 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner and 2016 Outstanding Breeder. WinStar Farm owned 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, 2010 Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer, and 2016 Belmont Stakes winner Creator. Notable stallions that have stood at stud at Winstar Farm include two-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow, leading sire and broodmare sire Distorted Humor, and Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic winner American Pharoah's sire Pioneerof the Nile.
Raise a Native was an undefeated Thoroughbred racehorse that was named 1963 champion two-year-old colt in the Turf and Sport Digest poll and was the highest rated juvenile in the Experimental Free Handicap. He sired 74 stakes winners, including Majestic Prince and Alydar. In its 1988 obituary for the horse, The New York Times called him "the most influential sire of American Thoroughbred stallions over the last 20 years".
Lane's End Farm is a Thoroughbred horse breeding farm in Versailles, Kentucky established in 1979. The original land was part of Bosque Bonita Farm and was originally owned by Abraham Buford, a Confederate Army General. The land was later bought by horseman John H. Morris. Now owned and operated by the Farish family, Lane's End Farm has become one of the major breeding farms in North America.
Tiago was an American Thoroughbred Racehorse.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association Moment of the Year award, first awarded in 1999, celebrates or honors one moment that occurred during a given year that most thoroughly exemplifies the spirit and ethos of the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States.
Colonel John is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2008 Santa Anita Derby and Travers Stakes.
Kris S. was an American Thoroughbred race horse who is best known as a highly successful sire.
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.
The 2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 25th edition of the premier event of the North American Thoroughbred horse racing year. It took place on October 24 and 25 during the Oak Tree meeting 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 2008 Breeders' Cup results were influential in the Eclipse Award divisional championship voting.
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.
The 2009 Breeders' Cup World Championships were the 26th edition of thoroughbred racing's season ending premier event, and took place on November 6 and 7 during the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The event was telecast by ESPN. 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.
Life Is Sweet is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in early 2009 was thought to be a threat to her unbeaten stablemate, Zenyatta, after winning three straight stakes races. Though beaten by Zenyatta.
Martin J. Wygod is an American businessman and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder.
Vertigineux was an American Thoroughbred racemare. She is out of the stakes-winning Forlì mare For The Flag, by the outstanding sire Kris S. Her owner is Eric Kronfeld, who bought back Vertigineux for $120,000 after she failed to meet her reserve at the 1996 Keenland yearling sale. Her name means "breathtaking" or "dazzling" (speed) in French.
Beholder is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and multiple Eclipse Award winner. Her most memorable performance was defeating the champion filly Songbird by a nose in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. Her other notable wins include the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, the Breeders' Cup Distaff x 2, the Pacific Classic, and the Vanity Stakes. She is also the first horse since 1976 to win a Grade One race at age 2, 3, 4, and 5, and one of only two horses to have ever won three Breeders' Cup races.
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.
