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.
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The current purse is $2,000,000, making it the most valuable race for two-year-olds in North America. It is normally run at a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles.
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1⁄16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in early November.
The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs, the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturday in May. Thus the Florida Derby is currently run either at the end of March or the beginning of April. Added to the racing schedule in 1952, the Grade I race is run at 1 1⁄8 miles on the dirt for a purse currently set at $1 Million.
The Matriarch Stakes is an American Grade I turf race for thoroughbred horses now run during Del Mar Racetrack's Fall Meet in early December with a current purse of $300,000. The race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, and is contested over a distance of one mile (8 furlongs.
The La Brea Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1974 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to three-year-old fillies, it is raced over a distance of seven furlongs on dirt, except from 2007 to 2011 when the track used a synthetic Cushion Track surface. A Grade I event, it currently offers a purse of $300,000 and is the last Grade I race for three-year-old fillies in the calendar year.
The Peter Pan Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds over a distance of 1 1⁄8 miles run annually during the second week of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
The Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Gulfstream Park each year. The race is open to horses age four and up, willing to race one mile on the dirt. A Grade II event run in early March, it currently offers a purse of $300,000.
The Holy Bull Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Run in late January or early February, it is open to three-year-olds over a current distance of one and one-sixteenth miles. The Grade II event is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby and currently has a $350,000 purse.
The Laurel Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Run over a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles on turf, at one time it was a Grade I stakes race on dirt, and one of the richest and most important races for two-year-old American thoroughbreds. When the race was moved from the dirt to the turf in 2005, it lost its graded status and was subsequently ineligible for grading in 2006. The race was finally cancelled in 2008 for economic reasons. It was announced by Laurel Park that the famed race would be restored in 2011 and run on October 8 at 6 furlongs.
The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to only three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and three sixteenths. In 1959, the Prince of Wales Stakes became the second race in the Canadian Triple Crown series. It follows the June running of the Queen's Plate and precedes the Breeders' Stakes in August.
The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational is an American Grade I stakes race on turf established in 1977 for Thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. Currently held at Belmont Park, New York City at the end of September, it is named in honor of Joe Hirsch, the award-winning racing columnist and founding president of the National Turf Writers Association. Joe Hirsch, aged 80, died on January 9, 2009.
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses, run on a grass course at a distance of one mile. It is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing. All Breeders' Cups to date have been conducted in the United States, with the exception of the 1996 event in Canada.
The Nashua Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Named for Nashua, the 1955 United States Horse of the Year, it was first run in 1975. A Grade II race, it is open to two-year-olds and has been raced over a distance of one mile since 1994. Held in late October or early November, it currently offers a $200,000-added purse.
Timber Country was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to ever win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile then go on to win one of the U.S. Triple Crown races for three-year-olds.
The Victoria Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Held in mid June, it has been raced on Polytrack since 2006 over a distance of five furlongs. In 2015 it was changed to six furlongs. Open to two-year-old horses, it currently offers a purse of $96,363.
The Autumn Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in mid November, it is open to horses aged three and older. It was raced on dirt until 2006 when the track's owners installed the new synthetic Polytrack surface. For 2008, the Canadian Graded Stakes Committee upgraded the Autumn Stakes to Grade II status.
The Federico Tesio Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland over a distance of 1 1⁄8 miles on the dirt for three-year-old horses.
The Kennedy Road Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Run during the latter part of November, the Grade II sprint race is open to horses aged three and older. Raced over a distance of 6 furlongs, it currently offers a purse of C$200,000. The race was originally run on a natural dirt surface, but since 2006 has been on a synthetic "all weather" surface.
