Nowadays, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships is a two-day, end-of-season extravaganza, featuring 14 races of the highest calibre for horses of different ages and sexes, over a variety of distances, on dirt and turf surfaces. Each of the races is worth at least $1 million in prize money, but the meeting traditionally culminates with the Breeders’ Cup Turf, over a mile and a half, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic, over a mile and a quarter, on dirt, which are worth $4 million and $6 million respectively. Staged annually at various venues throughout North America, predominantly in the United States, in November, the Breeders’ Cup has become a true ‘world championship’, attracting contenders from throughout the Americas, Europe, Japan, South Africa and New Zealand in recent years.
The Breeders’ Cup was the brainchild of the late John Gaines, the former owner of Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, who unveiled his idea to the annual ‘They’re Off!’ luncheon, the official corporate opening event for the Kentucky Derby Festival on April 23, 1982. With the assistance of several influential figures in the horse racing world, including John Nerud, who became chairman of the Breeders’ Cup marketing committee, and Nelson Bunker Hunt, what began as a vision finally came to fruition at the now-defunct Hollywood Park on Saturday, November 10, 1984.
The inaugural Breeders’ Cup consisted of just seven races, namely the Juvenile, Juvenile Fillies, Sprint, Mile, Distaff, Turf and Classic, with the first five worth $1 million, the Turf worth $2 million and the Classic $3 million. For the record, the winners on that historic day were champion two-year-old colt Chief’s Crown, Outstandingly, who was awarded the race on the demotion of Fran’s Valentine, Eillo, Royal Heroine, Prince Rooney, Lashkari and Wild Again. The latter was involved in a bumping match with his nearest pursuers, Gate Dancer and Slew O’Gold, in the closing stages, but survived a lengthy stewards’ inquiry, which saw the placings reversed.