Some of the Elite Breeders’ Cup sires just might surprise you.
Talk sires and you immediately think of the immensely successful Into Mischief, or maybe Tapit, and so many other top sires. Yes, they are top sires for a reason and you will find them amongst the Elite Breeders’ Cup sires. One or two of the others just might surprise you.
After a four-year absence, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships return to Kentucky this fall. Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington will play host to the two-day event. The historic track hosted the Breeders’ Cup for the first time in 2015. The last Breeders’ Cup held in the Commonwealth state was in 2018 at Churchill Downs. This year’s running marks the 39th edition and will be conducted on November 4 and 5.
The Breeders’ Cup, first run in 1984 as a single day affair offering up seven races, has now evolved into a two-day premier spectacle featuring 14 races. Although thoroughbred racing is conducted year-round in the United States, the Breeders’ Cup generally is regarded as the conclusion of the North American racing season and factors heavily into determining year-end champions in several of the Eclipse Award categories.
Over the 38-year history of the Breeders’ Cup, there have been 375 races that have produced a total of 376 winners (There was a dead-heat in the 2003 Turf between High Chaparral and Johar). A total of 228 sires are responsible for having produced the 376 winners.
Of the 228 sires, 151 have produced a single Breeders’ Cup winner. Forty-three sires claim a pair of winners, while 15 proud fathers boast a trio to their credit. Eight sires have managed four winners.
We are now left with the elite of the Breeders’ Cup sires. There are six sires that have won with five of their progenies, while four sires have produced six winners, but only one horse stands alone at the top with a record seven Breeders’ Cup wins by his offspring.
Who are they?
5 Breeders’ Cup Winners
City Zip
Work All Week – 2014 Sprint
Dayatthespa – 2014 Filly/Mare Turf
Catch a Glimpse – 2015 Juvenile Fillies Turf
Finest City – 2016 Filly/Mare Sprint
Bulletin – 2018 Juvenile Turf Sprint
Danzig
Chief’s Crown – 1984 Juvenile
Dance Smartly – 1991 Distaff
Lure – 1992 & 1993 Mile
War Chant – 2000 Mile
Galileo
Red Rocks (IRE) – 2006 Turf
Magician (IRE) – 2013 Turf
Found (IRE) – 2015 Turf
Highland Reel (IRE) – 2016 Turf
Line of Duty (IRE) – 2018 Juvenile Turf
Kris S.
Prized – 1989 Turf
Hollywood Wildcat – 1993 Distaff
Brocco – 1993 Juvenile
Soaring Softly – 1999 Filly/Mare Turf
Action This Day – 2003 Juvenile
Smart Strike
Curlin – 2007 Classic
English Channel – 2007 Turf
Furthest Land – 2009 Dirt Mile
My Miss Aurelia – 2011 Juvenile Fillies
Battle of Midway – 2017 Dirt Mile
Storm Cat
Desert Stormer – 1995 Sprint
Cat Thief – 1999 Classic
Storm Flag Flying – 2002 Juvenile Fillies
Sweet Catomine – 2004 Juvenile Fillies
Life Is Sweet – 2009 Distaff
6 Breeders’ Cup Winners
Into Mischief
Goldencents – 2013 & 2014 Dirt Mile
Covfefe – 2019 Filly/Mare Sprint
Gamine – 2020 Filly/Mare Sprint
Authentic – 2020 Classic
Life is Good – 2021 Dirt Mile
Sadler’s Wells
In The Wings (GB) – 1990 Turf
Barathea (IRE) – 1994 Mile
Northern Spur (IRE) – 1995 Turf
High Chaparral (IRE) – 2002 and 2003 Turf
Islington (IRE) – 2003 Filly/Mare Turf
Tapit
Stardom Bound – 2008 Juvenile Fillies
Tapitsfly – 2009 Juvenile Fillies Turf
Hansen – 2011 Juvenile
Tapizar – 2012 Dirt Mile
Untapable – 2014 Distaff
Essential Quality – 2020 Juvenile
Unbridled’s Song (Winner – 1995 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile)
Unbridled Elaine – 2001 Distaff
Midshipman – 2008 Juvenile
Unrivaled Belle – 2010 Distaff
Liam’s Map – 2015 Dirt Mile
Arrogate – 2016 Classic
Forever Unbridled – 2017 Distaff
7 Breeders’ Cup Winners
The lone sire to have seven winners in Breeders’ Cup races is More Than Ready. A winner of his first five starts as a juvenile in 1999, the son of Southern Halo then went on to win the 2000 G1 Kings Bishop Stakes as a three-year old and finished fifth in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint before being retired after his sophomore season. More Than Ready finished in the top three in 12 of his 17 lifetime starts, including seven wins. Obviously, he has had a prolific career in the breeding shed.
More Than Real – 2010 Juvenile Fillies Turf
Pluck – 2010 Juvenile Turf
Regally Ready – 2011 Turf Sprint
Rushing Fall – 2017 Juvenile Fillies Turf
Roy H – 2017 and 2018 Sprint
7 Uni – 2019 Mile
Photo: Breeders’ Cup logo, Breeders’ Cup
