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 in the United States 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.
Josie Carroll is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse trainer, who in 2006 became the first woman trainer to win the Queen's Plate, the oldest thoroughbred horse race in Canada and Canada's most prestigious race. She also won the Queen's Plate in 2011 and 2020, the Prince of Wales Stakes in 2016 and 2020, and the Breeder's Stakes in 2014 and 2020.
The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year. The Challenge series began in 2007 with 24 "Win and You're In" races from 2 countries. By 2014, the series had grown to 71 races across 13 countries. During that period, 24 winners of Breeders' Cup races had qualified via the challenge series.
Classy 'n Smart was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm, she won five of nine career starts, including two legs of what would later be known as the Canadian Triple Tiara. Although she was voted the 1984 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, her primary legacy is as a champion broodmare.
Tapitsfly is an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Tepin was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Champion Female Turf Horse of 2015 and 2016. She showed very promising form as a two-year-old in 2013 when she won the Delta Princess Stakes on the dirt. After a disappointing three-year-old season when she failed to win in four starts, she emerged as a top-class turf performer in 2015. Her wins as a four-year-old included the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes, Just a Game Stakes and First Lady Stakes before recording her biggest success when defeating male opposition in the Breeders' Cup Mile. In 2016, she won her first four starts and was then sent to England, where she defeated a field of leading European milers to win the Queen Anne Stakes. On returning to North America, she extended her winning streak to eight in the Woodbine Mile. The streak included three Grade/Group 1 wins against male horses in three different countries. Although Tepin finished second in her next two starts including an effort to defend her title in the Breeders Cup Mile, she was still named the Champion Female Turf Horse for the second year in a row. Tepin was inducted to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2020 and the US National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2022.
Lady Eli is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the American Champion Female Turf Horse of 2017. She first came to national attention when she won the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She extended her record to a perfect six wins from six starts in the 2015 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes but then stepped on a nail on her way back to the barn, which led to a life-threatening case of laminitis. After a lengthy recovery, Lady Eli finished second in her August 2016 return to the racetrack, then won the Flower Bowl Stakes in October. With her 2017 wins in the Gamely Stakes and Diana Stakes, she won at least one Grade I race in each of her four racing seasons.
Lexie Lou is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, she won the Queen's Plate and two legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara on her way to winning three Sovereign Awards. She has also won three graded stakes in the United States and Canada, and finished second to American Horse of the Year California Chrome in the 2014 Hollywood Derby. In 2019, Lexie Lou was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Oscar Performance is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at age two. After losing his first two starts at age three, he rebounded to win the next three, including the Grade I Belmont Stakes and Secretariat Stakes. He then finished third in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic before finishing ninth in the Breeders' Cup Turf. After recovering from a bout of colic, he made his four-year-old debut in June 2018 in the Poker Stakes, winning in track-record time. In his next start as the favorite in the Arlington Million, he was pulled up after taking a bad step, but he rebounded to win the Woodbine Mile in September.
Monomoy Girl is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 2018 and Champion Older Female Horse of 2020. She showed very promising form as a juvenile in 2017 when she won her first three races before being narrowly beaten in the Golden Rod Stakes. In the following spring, she took the Rachel Alexandra Stakes and the Ashland Stakes before winning the Kentucky Oaks, the filly equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. She followed this up with wins in the Acorn Stakes and Coaching Club American Oaks, but was disqualified to second for interference in the Cotillion Stakes. She then rebounded to win the Breeders' Cup Distaff while facing older horses for the first time.
Wonder Gadot is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, in 2018. As a two-year-old, she was named the Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Filly after winning the Mazarine and Demoiselle Stakes. At age three, in addition to beating the colts twice in Canada, she was second in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks to Monomoy Girl. She was named the 2018 Canadian Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.
Starship Jubilee is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the 2019 Canadian Horse of the Year after recording three stakes wins that year including the Grade I E. P. Taylor Stakes. She was also named Canadian Champion Female Turf Horse in 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2020, she has won five of seven starts including the Woodbine Mile.
Luis Contreras is a Mexican thoroughbred jockey since 2006. After starting his career in Mexico, Contreras started competing in the United States and Canada during the late 2000s. For his graded stakes race career, Contreras has won forty Grade III races, twenty two Grade II races and four Grade I races. At the 2011 Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, Contreras won the Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes, and Breeders' Stakes. He became the first jockey to use two horses to win the Canadian Triple Crown. In 2014, Contreras came short of another Canadian Triple Crown after finishing tenth at the Breeders' Stakes following wins at the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales.
Mighty Heart is a one-eyed Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who was named the 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year and Champion three-year-old colt after winning the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown. His victory time of 2.01.98 in the Queen's Plate was the second-fastest since 1957, when it moved to its current length at Woodbine Racetrack. As a four-year-old in 2021, he won the Blame, Dominion Day and Autumn Stakes.
Shedaresthedevil is an American thoroughbred racehorse, best known for winning the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, the filly equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. She also won the Honeybee Stakes and Indiana Oaks at age three, the Azeri and La Troienne Stakes at age four, and the Fleur de Lis Stakes at age five.
Echo Zulu was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and 2022 Fair Grounds Oaks, and was named the 2021 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.
War Like Goddess is an American multiple Graded Stakes winning Thoroughbred racehorse. Her graded wins include the Grade I Flower Bowl Stakes in 2021 the Grade II Glens Falls Stakes twice at Saratoga Race Course all of which are long-distance turf events.
In Italian is a British-bred multiple Grade I turf winning Thoroughbred racehorse. Her Grade I wins include the Diana Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, the First Lady Stakes (2022) and Jenny Wiley Stakes (2023) at Keeneland.
Caravel is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse. She won 15 races in her career, of which 13 were stakes races. Her top victories were in the Grade I Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in 2022 and the Grade I Jaipur Stakes in 2023.
Rafael Manuel Hernandez is a Puerto Rican thoroughbred racing jockey. During his career, he led in wins at Fairmount Park from 2005 to 2014 except for 2009. At graded stakes races, Hernandez has won 24 Grade III, 17 Grade II and 3 Grade I events. He also finished in thirteenth at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2015.
