THE RICH HISTORY OF THE BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC

By Graham Potter | Thursday, October 29, 2026

It is set to be a massive two days for international horse racing as Keeneland prepares to host the 2026 edition of The Breeders’ Cup on Friday and Saturday.

Fourteen races over two days features one race worth US7 million, one worth $US5 million, six races worth US2 million and six races worth US1 million for a total prize-pool of US 30 million.

The US $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, which is one of the original Breeders’ Cup (from 1984), is steeped in history with the winner of the Classic landing the Horse Of The Year title eighteen times.

This year eight runners out of the eleven nominations have stood their ground for the forty-third running of the Classic … with the star-studded line-up including the Breeders’ Cup Classic defending champion Forever Young as well as Sovereignty and Golden Tempo, two runners who won both legs of the Triple Crown they contested (the Kentucky Derby and the Belmonts Stakes).

Six Kentucky Derby winners have gone on to win the Classic.

The Classic honour roll represents class of the highest order and cements the elite standing of its winners and the eight runners who will face the starter on Saturday will be striving to put their name in the record books alongside some of the real greats of the sport.

Here are just three of those superstars whose achievements have set such a high bar.

Zenyatta, who became the first female to win the Classic and the first horse to win two different Breeder’s Cup races … the Ladies' Classic in 2008 and the Classic in 2009). She won nineteen of her twenty race starts. Her one defeat came in the 2010 Classic when she finished second, only going down by a head.

American Pharoah won the Triple Crown before winning the Classic in 2015. He became the first horse to complete the sweep of those four races. He was the 2015 Horse Of The Year. He won nine races from eleven starts.

The 1995 Classic winner Cigar was the 1995 and 1996 Horse Of The year. He was the first winner of the Dubai World Cup (in 1996). At the time of his retirement he was the highest earning racehorse in the world.

The 2007 Classic winner Curlin was the Horse Of The Year in both 2007 and 2008. … and so the list goes on.

You can add in the names of Flightline, Arrogate, Tiznow and Sunday Silence and you still would only be scratching the surface of just how big an historical reach this race has and why it is so roundly appreciated, both at a spectator and participant level