Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships

A History of International Thoroughbred

Horse racing Since 1984

The Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships held the first series of its seven races before a crowd of 64,254 horse racing, horse betting, horse wagering, and handicapping fans at Hollywood Park in 1984. Today, purses for the eight races of the Breeders’ Cup amount to $14 million. The most important race in the series, the Breeders' Cup Classic, has a total purse of $5 million, with a winner's share of more than $2.5 million.

The Breeders’ Cup traces its roots back to 1982, with a group of Horse racing leaders frontlined by John R. Gaines, founding father of the Breeders’ Cup and former owner of Gainesway Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. The group had envisioned a vehicle to promote the sport, which would not only be a showcase of the sport’s finest elements but also a grand finale to the racing season, with a multimillion dollar total purse. Every one of those visions came true.

The Breeders’ Cup inaugural event was held on November 10, 1984 at glitzy Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California. It was an instant hit. The championship races have since become the cornerstone of a year-round program that has allocated over $380 million to owners and breeders alike. Most divisional champions crowned since 1984 have participated in a Breeders' Cup racing event.

In 1986, a separate $250,000 Breeders' Cup Steeplechase, run two weeks earlier than the series at a different track, was added to the program. That race was discontinued after 1993. A turf race for fillies and mares was added in 1999.

After Hollywood Park, the Breeders’ Cup would change venues yearly. Each fall, a different North American track plays host to the prestigious thoroughbred racing event, which have included the richly historical Churchill Downs, the stately Belmont Park, and the panoramic Santa Anita in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The Breeders’ Cup comes to Texas for the first time when it holds the 2004 season ender at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie near Dallas.

Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, holds the records for both Breeders' Cup attendance and total wagering. The renowned racecourse attracted 80,452 spectators in 1998, and when the races came back to Louisville in 2000, over $108 million was wagered.

D.G. Van Clief, Jr., current president of The Breeders’ Cup Limited, had been responsible for the racing event's early development and funding, overseeing the 1984 inaugural running. He recently served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) until April 1998, and currently serves on the boards of The Blood-Horse Magazine, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and The Jockey Club Foundation, among others.