The Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar two weeks from now will be the last to be held in California for the foreseeable future. Thoroughbred racing’s two-day, multi-race championship-deciding event moves to Kentucky (at Keeneland Race Course) in 2026 and New York (at rebuilt Belmont Park) in 2027. After that, sites are to be announced, with Del Mar and Santa Anita having earned consideration.
It’s a good time to remember the great races, great horses and (mostly) great moments the Breeders’ Cup has brought to California, and what California has contributed to the Breeders’ Cup.
Here’s one man’s list of 10 stars and days to cherish:
1984: The wild beginning
The first Breeders’ Cup, at Hollywood Park, leaves no doubt that the races’ seven-figure purses and instant prestige inspire fierce competition. Wild Again (31-1) and Pat Day hold on to win a roughly run Classic, surviving the eight-minute stewards’ inquiry that leads to Gate Dancer and Laffit Pincay Jr. being disqualified from second to third and Slew O’ Gold and Angel Cordero placed second. Earlier, Outstandingly (22-1) and Walter Guerra win the Juvenile Fillies after Fran’s Valentine (74-1) and tearful Patrick Valenzuela are DQ’d from first to 10th for a bumping incident that affects three horses.
1987: Ferdinand vs. Alysheba
“The two Derby winners hit the wire together!”, in Tom Durkin’s fabulous call, as Ferdinand (1986 Kentucky Derby) and 56-year-old Bill Shoemaker nose out Alysheba (1987) and Chris McCarron in the Classic at Hollywood Park.
1987: Miesque’s opening act
If not for the dramatic Classic, the star of that day at Hollywood Park would have been Miesque. The French-based filly and jockey Freddy Head beat males in the first of her consecutive victories in the Mile, Miesque becoming the first horse to win a Breeders’ Cup race twice. The feat would be matched by Lure in the Mile in 1992 and 1993 (at Santa Anita) and topped by Goldikova in the Mile in 2008, 2009 (both at Santa Anita) and 2010.
1993: Arcangues’ upset
People have to quickly figure out how to pronounce the name of the little-talked-about 5-year-old from France after he and Jerry Bailey catch Bertrando and Gary Stevens in the Santa Anita homestretch and win the Classic at 133-1, still the biggest upset in a Breeders’ Cup race.
2003: Mandella’s four-bagger
Santa Anita-based trainer Richard Mandella saddles four Breeders’ Cup winners on a single card at his home track, a stunning performance capped by Pleasantly Perfect (14-1) and Alex Solis in the Classic. Brad Cox would match Mandella with four wins in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, though Mandella did it in a one-day, eight-race event and Cox did it after the expansion to two days, 14 races.
2009: Zenyatta beats the boys
It would be No. 1 if this list weren’t chronological: Zenyatta, the iconic mare, is the 5-2 favorite at Santa Anita but her rally with Mike Smith from a distant last to become the only female to win the Classic makes Trevor Denman’s call spot-on: “This. Is. Un-buh-lievable!”
2014: Bayern’s bumpy win
The most-debated Breeders’ Cup race sees Bob Baffert-trained Bayern and Martin Garcia win the Classic at 6-1 odds at Santa Anita. The 3-year-old and runnerup Toast of New York both come in at the start, favorite Shared Belief and Bayern’s would-be early-pace rival Moreno getting the worst of the bumping. Stewards make no change after an incident that would have brought a DQ in an everyday race. The only worse controversy: Modern Games and William Buick being prematurely scratched after trouble in the starting gate in the 2021 Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, then allowed to run for purse money but without wagering, and rallying to win to the frustration of those who’d bet on her.
2016: Arrogate vs. California Chrome
In only his sixth start, Arrogate, with Smith aboard, gives Baffert a third straight Classic victory (following Bayern and American Pharoah), getting past Cal-bred crowd favorite California Chrome by a half length in a thriller at Santa Anita. Arrogate is voted 3-year-old champion but California Chrome is Horse of the Year.
Beholder and jockey Gary Stevens, left, win the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff in a photo finish with Songbird and jockey Mike Smith in 2016 at Santa Anita. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)2016: Beholder vs. Songbird
It took the Arrogate-California Chrome duel to upstage the previous day’s nose win by Beholder and Gary Stevens over Songbird and Smith in the Distaff battle of future Hall of Famers. It’s the Mandella-trained 6-year-old Beholder’s third Breeders’ Cup race win and clinches her fourth Eclipse Award, for outstanding older female. It’s Jerry Hollendorfer-trained favorite 3-year-old Songbird’s first loss in 12 races.
2023: Cody’s Wish fulfilled
Five-year-old Cody’s Wish’s repeat win with Junior Alvarado in the Dirt Mile at Santa Anita clinches Horse of the Year and makes him synonymous with “feel-good story.” Cody’s Wish is named for Cody Dorman, a Kentucky boy born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Dorman, who’s in the winner’s circle, dies at age 17 while traveling home from California with his family.
California’s Breeders’ Cup highlights extend beyond the state’s borders to what California-based horses have done elsewhere. They include Sunday Silence beating Easy Goer in the 1989 Classic in Florida, Tiznow’s repeat Classic win over Europe’s Sakhee in 2001 in New York (“Tiznow wins it for America!”, Durkin said the month after 9/11), and Flightline’s Classic-record 8-1/4-length win in 2022 in Kentucky.
Now, California can add more to the Breeders’ Cup, and vice versa. The event Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar will mark the third in a row in the state and the 18th overall here, but the last here for at least three years.
Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti.
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