History's Top 10 Breeders' Cup Turf Performances

From the start, the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) has been a race to attract great horses from around the world. Many outstanding winners, surprising upsets, and epic trans-Atlantic contests have stood out.  But which have been the 10 best performances?

With 42 editions having been contested, there are plenty of candidates. But here are 10 outstanding performances, each memorable for its own reasons.

10. Kotashaan (1993)

Few would have predicted the heights Kotashaan would reach when he arrived in North America, having won three of his eight starts, none higher than Group 3. Injury limited his four-year-old season to four starts for one minor win, but after two warm-ups at five he won four of his five starts heading into the Breeders’ Cup. Facing a very good collection of European and American runners, he swooped fast around the final turn and held out a determined Bien Bien, ensuring not only a turf championship but also Horse of the Year. 

9. Bricks and Mortar (2019)

Bricks and Mortar faced a major battle to even get to the racetrack, missing all but the last month of his four-year-old season with a neuromuscular condition. But he returned at five to roll off six consecutive wins heading into the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Not everything went his way in the race; he was in tight quarters for a while, and United posed a determined challenge in the stretch, but the courage which got him through his illness saw him to the line in first, and ensured a Horse of the Year title.

8. Main Sequence (2014)

Main Sequence put up such a series of average results following his Epsom Derby second that he earned the infamous Timeform “squiggle”, which the English ratings agency uses to denote unreliability. It wasn’t something that boded well for him when he was sent to the United States in 2014. But trainer Graham Motion turned him around to the extent that he became the opposite of unreliable, winning three Group 1 races in a row before facing a strong field in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. There he proved his ultimate reliability, forging home down the outside of the Santa Anita turf to beat Flintshire.

7. Fantastic Light (2001)

The turn of the millennium was a great time for quality Breeders’ Cup Turf editions, and Fantastic Light fully earned his stripes in the 2001 edition. Arriving after having beaten the high-class three-year-old and future champion sire Galileo in the Irish Champion Stakes, he was highly favored in the Breeders’ Cup Turf and duly obliged with an arrogant victory. Frankie Dettori spent much of his time coming around the final bend looking over his shoulder to see what his opponents were doing before unleashing his charge, and his turn of foot took him well clear. Ballydoyle’s Milan finished strongly, but Fantastic Light always had the race under control. It was an imperious performance.

6. English Channel (2007)

English Channel was a very good horse who became an excellent turf sire, but overall his career wouldn’t necessarily place him among the 10 best winners of this race. However, no horse has dominated this race like English Channel did in 2007. Having his third start in the race after finishing fifth in 2005 and third in 2006, he settled near the speed before demolishing his opponents in a few strides, careering away to win by seven lengths, leaving the previous year’s winner Red Rocks and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Dylan Thomas struggling in his wake.

5. Theatrical (1987)

It was a case of third-time lucky for the talented Theatrical in 1987. Off the pace as a three-year-old in 1985 and narrowly beaten by Manila in 1986, he topped off a stellar run of form, winning eight of his last nine races. Settling close to the pace for Pat Day, he went to the front going around the final turn and had enough to hold off the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Trempolino in a stirring stretch battle, the pair pulling well clear of the rest.

4. Pebbles (1985)

European racing history has produced many stellar race mares, and Pebbles ranks among the best. She came to the United States as a four-year-old, having won the Eclipse Stakes and Champion Stakes in outstanding fashion, and started a warm favorite at Aqueduct. Jockey Pat Eddery rode a very cool race, riding the rail around the final turn and utilizing the filly’s great acceleration to take her past her opponents. By the line, she was comfortably holding the well-traveled Australian horse Strawberry Road.

3. Enable (2018)

One of Britain’s best race mares in history, Enable has a special place in the race's history as the first horse to break the curse under which no Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner had gone on to take this race. Perhaps the fact that her 2018 Arc victory – her second in the race – came at just her second race of a season whose first half was curtailed by injury, so she entered the Breeders’ Cup with fewer race miles under her belt than most Arc winners. She had a very tough battle with Irish filly Magical at Churchill Downs but won by three-quarters of a length, the pair nine lengths clear of the rest. It was a great way to break a curse and to show her class.

2. Manila (1986)

In Europe, the 1986 Breeders’ Cup Turf is best remembered as the one their Arc-winning superstar, Dancing Brave, lost, and undoubtedly would have been highly competitive if he were at his best. But Manila – like Dancing Brave, a Kentucky-bred son of Lyphard – is thought by some to be the best North American turf horse at this trip since John Henry. Once switched to turf, he was almost unbeatable, and it was no mean effort to beat Theatrical in the Breeders’ Cup, particularly as Jose Santos had to switch him out from behind horses in the stretch with about a furlong to go. He thoroughly deserved his victory and his subsequent Hall of Fame induction.

1. Daylami (1999)

Daylami faced some very good horses in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Turf, among them Royal Anthem and 1998 Turf winner Buck’s Boy. But Frankie Dettori rarely had a moment of worry. He gradually got close to the pace coming up to the final turn at Gulfstream Park, and then unleashed a devastating sprint that took him lengths clear of the field. The final margin of 2 1/2 lengths could easily have been more. It was a performance of the very highest class, and a fitting way for this seven-time Group 1 winner to leave the race track.