Inaugurated 2008 | Surface Turf | |
Location United States, United States Race type Thoroughbred - Flat racing Website Official Breeders' Cup website Distance 6 ⁄2 furlongs (0.81 mi) or
5 furlongs (0.63 mi) | ||
The Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing. The distance of the race will vary depending on the host track's turf course requirements.
Contents
The race was run for the first time in 2008 during the second day of Breeders' Cup racing at that year's host track, Santa Anita Park. The 2008 race was held at a distance of six and a half furlongs and was contested on Santa Anita’s signature El Camino Real “downhill” turf course. Besides Santa Anita, the only tracks in North America capable of contesting turf sprints at six and 1/2 furlongs are Woodbine and Belmont. Churchill Downs, which has hosted the Breeders' Cup eight times, can only conduct turf sprints at 5 furlongs. The 2015 race at Keeneland was held at approximately 5 1/2 furlongs.
Because of technical requirements, it was not eligible for classification as a graded stakes race in its first two runnings. Starting in 2010, it was a Grade II race, and was upgraded to Grade I for 2012.
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 winners of defined races. Each of the thirteen divisions has between two and twelve of these "Win and You're In" qualifying races.
In the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Division, runners are limited to 14 with up to four automatic berths. Note though that one horse may win multiple challenge races, while other challenge winners will not be entered in the Breeders' Cup for a variety of reasons such as injury or travel considerations.
The 2016 "Win and You're In" races are:
- the TJ Smith Stakes, a Group 1 race run in April at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia
- the Nunthorpe Stakes, a Group 1 race run in August at York Racecourse in England
- the Flying Five Stakes, a Group 2 race run in September at Curragh Racecourse in Ireland
- the Sprinters Stakes, a Grade 1 race run in October at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan
Records
Most wins:
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
Most wins by an owner: