Horse Racing

Breeders’ Cup 2020: History, Leading Jockeys, Trainers and Past Performances


Midnight Bisou and Mike Smith

Midnight Bisou and Mike Smith at The Fleur De Lis (G2) – Courtesy of Churchill Downs

The Breeders’ Cup Classic, which is worth $6 million this year, is contested at the classic distance of 1 1⁄4 miles on dirt. It used to be the richest race in the world until the Dubai World Cup in 1995, then the inaugurual Pegasus World Cup, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and now the $20 million Saudi Cup.

American Horse of the Year winners who have also captured the Breeders’ Cup Classic are: Alysheba, 1988; A.P. Indy, 1992; Cigar, 1995; Tiznow, 2000; Ghostzapper, 2004; Saint Liam, 2005; Invasor, 2006; Curlin, 2007; American Pharoah, 2015; and Gun Runner, 2017.

Hall of Famer Bob Baffert leads all trainers with three winners – Bayern, 2014; American Pharoah, 2015; and Arrogate, 2016. Jerry Bailey and Chris McCarron each rode five winners to lead all jockeys. Tiznow in 2001 and 2002 is the only horse to have won the Classic twice and will remain the only one as last year’s winner, Vino Rosso, was retired and stood his first year at stud this year.

The fastest Breeders’ Cup Classic time belongs to Ghostzapper, who set the mark of 1:59:02 under Javier Castellano in 2004 at Lone Star Park. It is also remains the track record for the distance. In 2015 American Pharoah’s final time of 2:00.07 set a track record at Keeneland.

The Classic is responsible for more than just Horse of the Year Honors. The biggest upset in Breeders’ Cup history came when European import Arcangues stunned the Santa Anita Crowd at odds of 133-1 under jockey Jerry Bailey and returned $269.20 for a $2 wager.

American Pharoah is the only Triple Crown winner to have also won the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Cigar (1995), Pleasantly Perfect (2003) and Invasor (2006) are the only three Breeders’ Cup Classic/Dubai World Cup winners.

RELATED: 2020 Breeders’ Cup Weekend Post Time, Schedule, Odds, Race Times And Favorites

Leading Jockeys and Trainers in Breeders’ Cup History

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith remains the leading jockey in Breeders’ Cup history having won aboard 26 horses, ten more than second-leading rider and fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez. Overall his mounts have earned an impressive total of more than $36.6 million. He’s ridden a total of 145 runners in Breeders’ Cup history starting with his first, Take Me Out in the Juvenile, in 1990.

Top Breeders’ Cup Jockeys:

Jockey Sts 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Money Earned
Mike E. Smith 145 26 16 8 10 19 9 $36,634,605
John R. Velazquez 187 16 17 22 14 13 10 27,760,275
Lanfranco Dettori 105 14 6 9 12 14 10 24,751,862
Pat Day 117 12 17 11 9 11 11 23,033,360
Jerry D. Bailey 102 15 12 14 6 8 6 22,006,440
Garrett K. Gomez 83 13 12 9 7 9 5 20,365,600
Gary L. Stevens 123 11 18 13 7 15 12 20,309,255
Joel Rosario 111 11 11 18 11 7 8 20,202,535
Javier Castellano 118 12 11 15 10 6 13 19,507,600
Chris J. McCarron 101 9 12 7 7 7 13 17,669,600
Ryan L. Moore 70 9 6 5 10 4 2 14,997,035
Irad Ortiz, Jr. 53 9 5 4 8 4 1 13,580,345
Corey S. Nakatani 90 10 10 12 8 6 5 13,268,980
Kent J. Desormeaux 98 6 5 8 17 7 7 10,730,515
Julien R. Leparoux 82 7 7 6 9 9 8 10,718,150
Ramon A. Dominguez 49 3 9 6 6 5 2 9,616,850
Edgar S. Prado 75 5 9 8 4 9 5 9,609,180
Victor Espinoza 63 3 6 3 3 3 6 8,901,200
Jose A. Santos 65 7 2 4 6 9 5 8,008,800
Alex O. Solis 74 3 8 5 10 10 9 7,933,960
Eddie J. Delahoussaye 68 7 3 6 9 8 6 7,775,000
Martin Garcia 29 4 2 0 2 0 2 7,160,000
Florent Geroux 19 5 1 0 2 3 1 6,965,345
Laffit A. Pincay, Jr. 61 7 4 9 5 3 6 6,811,000
Patrick A. Valenzuela 59 7 1 4 9 9 5 6,649,930
Rafael Bejarano 86 5 4 7 7 7 13 6,515,150
Flavien Prat 38 3 6 8 3 4 3 6,335,345
Robby Albarado 42 3 3 1 3 7 2 6,265,050
Angel Cordero, Jr. 48 4 7 7 1 6 8 6,020,000
Jose L. Ortiz 50 3 6 3 7 6 3 5,710,690
Olivier Peslier 27 4 2 2 0 2 0 5,341,000
Cornelio H. Velasquez 30 5 1 0 1 3 4 5,163,100
Michael J. Kinane 31 3 3 4 1 3 6 4,948,520

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert leads all trainers money earned (he’s saddled three Classic winners), but fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas still owns the record for number of winners. Baffert’s first starter and winner was Thirty Slews, who won the Sprint in 1992. Lukas, who has sent out a record 167 Breeders’ Cup starters throughout his impressive career, including five in the very first Breeders’ Cup.

RELATED: 2020 Breeders’ Cup Odds: Predictions, Past Performances And Race Analysis By Handicappers

Top Breeders’ Cup Trainers:

Trainer Sts 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Money Earned
Bob Baffert 119 15 17 6 10 13 11 $30,065,000
Aidan P. O’Brien 147 12 17 12 10 15 13 23,895,590
D. Wayne Lukas 167 20 22 17 9 14 14 22,690,520
Todd A. Pletcher 141 11 13 15 8 10 11 21,118,030
Chad C. Brown 91 15 9 11 8 6 9 19,300,690
William I. Mott 101 10 11 6 9 6 5 19,076,900
Steven M. Asmussen 54 7 7 3 11 6 3 13,932,180
Robert J. Frankel 82 6 10 8 12 6 6 13,242,050
Richard E. Mandella 45 9 5 5 4 3 1 12,926,960
Sir Michael R. Stoute 41 8 2 4 4 4 6 11,843,650
Andre Fabre 51 5 6 7 1 4 3 10,941,000
Shug McGaughey 64 9 10 3 9 5 5 10,575,560
Saeed bin Suroor 52 3 3 9 4 7 5 9,488,300
John H. M. Gosden 36 5 2 3 5 4 1 9,081,870
Mark E. Casse 52 5 6 3 4 2 5 7,153,000
John A. Shirreffs 27 3 1 1 5 4 2 7,096,400
H. Graham Motion 41 4 6 1 3 5 0 7,040,595
John W. Sadler 50 1 4 8 4 4 5 6,648,750
Neil D. Drysdale 35 6 5 2 4 4 6 6,529,840
Kiaran P. McLaughlin 41 3 3 3 5 2 5 6,216,545
Dale L. Romans 35 3 4 1 5 2 1 6,100,000
Doug F. O’Neill 56 5 2 1 2 4 4 5,821,535
Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. 18 3 2 0 4 1 2 5,650,000
Nicholas P. Zito 37 2 5 5 3 7 2 5,458,320
Jay M. Robbins 6 2 0 0 2 0 0 4,938,400
Peter Miller 25 5 4 2 1 0 2 4,619,000
David E. Hofmans 17 3 0 2 1 3 2 4,556,340
Christophe Clement 38 0 6 6 8 6 1 4,463,945
Charles E. Whittingham 24 2 2 3 2 2 2 4,298,000
Carl A. Nafzger 18 2 3 1 3 0 1 4,263,100
Jerry Hollendorfer 24 3 4 1 2 3 6 4,160,000
Freddy Head 8 3 1 2 0 1 0 4,098,200
Patrick B. Byrne 9 3 0 0 0 1 1 3,778,000
Brian Meehan 11 2 1 1 0 2 1 3,750,000
Kathy P. Ritvo 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 3,695,345
Jack C. Van Berg 14 1 3 3 1 0 2 3,600,000
Ronald L. McAnally 31 4 3 2 2 2 5 3,543,000
Wesley A. Ward 40 3 5 7 4 3 3 3,468,345
Kenneth G. McPeek 31 0 6 10 2 0 5 3,320,300

Breeders’ Cup Odds

2020 Breeders’ Cup Odds and Post Positions
PP Horse Jockey Odds
1 Tacitus 20-1
2 Tiz the Law Manuel Franco 3-1
3 By My Standards Gabriel Saez 10-1
4 Tom’s d’Etat Joel Rosario 6-1
5 Title Ready Corey Lanerie 30-1
6 Higher Power Flavien Prat 20-1
7 Global Campaign Javier Castellano 20-1
8 Improbable Irad Ortiz Jr 5-2
9 Authentic John Velazquez 6-1
10 Maximum Security Luis Saez 7-2



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