Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Grade I race
Location	United States
Inaugurated	2007
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Website	breederscup.com/worldchampionships.aspx
Race information
Distance	One mile (8 furlongs)
Surface	Dirt
Track	left-handed
Qualification	Three-years-old & up
Weight	Weight for Age
Purse	US$1,000,000

The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is a 1-mile (1.6 km) Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, and is run on a dirt course (either natural dirt or a synthetic surface such as Polytrack). This contrasts with the similar Breeders' Cup Mile, run on grass. All Breeders' Cups to date have been conducted in the United States, with the exception of the 1996 event in Canada.

The race was run for the first time in 2007 during the first day of the expanded Breeders' Cup at that year's host track, Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. It became a Grade I event in 2009.

Occasionally, various track configurations require minor changes in the distance of the race. The 2007 race at Monmouth Park was held at a distance of 1 mile 70 yards (1673 m) instead of the normal distance of 1-mile (1.6 km). The 2015 Breeders' Cup was held at Keeneland, which does not have the ability to run one mile dirt races, and so the Dirt Mile was run out of the backstretch chute at a distance of 7 furlongs, 384 feet (1525 m).

Automatic berths

Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup developed "The Breeders' Cup Challenge," a series of races in each division that allotted automatic qualifying bids to the winners of defined races. Each of the fourteen divisions has between three and seven of these, "Win and You're In," qualifying races.

In the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Division the number of runners are limited to 14 and there are four automatic berths.
The "Win and You're In" races are:
1. the Triple Bend Handicap, a Grade 1 race at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Hollywood, California;
2. the Pat O'Brien Stakes, a Grade 1 race at Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego, California;
3. the Kelso Handicap, a Grade 1 race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. and
4. the Clásico Copa de Oro, a Grade 2 race at Club Hípico de Santiago in Santiago, Región Metropolitana, Chile.

Records

Most wins:

• Goldencents - 2013, 2014

Most wins by a jockey:

• Rafael Bejarano - 2013, 2014

Most wins by a trainer:

• No trainer has won this race more than once.

Most wins by an owner:

• W. C. Racing - 2013, 2014

Winners of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile since inception

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time	Purse	Grade
2015	Liam's Map	4	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	Teresa Viola Racing Stables	1:34.54	$1,000,000	I
2014	Goldencents	4	Rafael Bejarano	Leandro Mora	W. C. Racing	1:35.19	$1,000,000	I
2013	Goldencents	3	Rafael Bejarano	Doug O'Neill	W. C. Racing et al.	1:35.12	$1,000,000	I
2012	Tapizar	4	Corey Nakatani	Steven M. Asmussen	Winchell Thoroughbreds	1:35.34	$1,000,000	I
2011	Caleb's Posse	3	Rajiv Maragh	Donnie K. Von Hemel	McNeil Stables/Cheyenne Stables	1:34.59	$1,000,000	I
2010	Dakota Phone	5	Joel Rosario	Jerry Hollendorfer	Todaro/Halo Farms/Carver/Hollendorfer	1:35.29	$1,000,000	I
2009	Furthest Land	4	Julien Leparoux	Michael J. Maker	Ken & Sarah Ramsey	1:35.50	$1,000,000	I
2008	Albertus Maximus	4	Garrett Gomez	Vladimir Cerin	Brandon & Marianne Chase	1:33.41	$1,000,000
2007	Corinthian	4	Kent Desormeaux	James A. Jerkens	Centennial Farms	1:39.06	$1,000,000

See also

• Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile "top three finishers" and starters
• American Thoroughbred Racing top Attended Events