The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, Presented by America's Best Racing, qualifies the winner of the Whitney Stakes with an expense-paid berth in the starting gate for the November 5 Classic.
For the opposite sex, the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, also on November 5, is a "Win and You're In", qualifying for Saturday's $400,000 Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar. Throughout the history of the World Championships, the Whitney and Clement Hirsch served as crucial qualifiers for their respective Breeders' Cup events.
Here is some background information on the Whitney, the Clement Hirsch, and other significant races leading up to this weekend's Breeders' Cup:
One of Saratoga's endless list of classic stakes races, the Whitney was first to run in 1928. Over the years, greats like Discovery (three times), War Admiral, Gallorette, Tom Fool, Kelso (three times, one of those via disqualification), and Dr. Fager have won it. One significant example of how the race has contributed to Saratoga's reputation as "The Graveyard of Champions" is Onion's victory over Secretariat in 1973.
Remarkable Again won the 1998 Whitney by three lengths under Pat Day (one of Day's five victories in the race) and then the Classic by three-quarters of a length in a wild finish where he split horses late and surged to victory. In that year, Awesome Again became the first horse to win both the Whitney and the Breeders' Cup Classic. He later became a foundation stallion for Kentucky's Adena Springs, owned by Frank Stronach.
In the 2003 Whitney, Medaglia d'Oro defeated Volponi, another outstanding racehorse who later became a notable sire. Volponi had previously won the '02 Classic by an astounding 6 12 lengths at odds of 43.50-1. In the 2003 Classic, Medaglia d'Oro finished second once more, this time to Pleasantly Perfect. Roses in May, a 2004 Whitney Award winner, came in second to Ghostzapper in a Breeders' Cup Classic, which helped the latter become a household name. Saint Liam, who finished second in the 2005 Whitney, would perform better at the World Championships that fall, winning the Classic by a length and being named Horse of the Year.
Saint Liam was upset by Commentator, a pure-speed horse, by a neck in the Whitney in 2005. The Commentator went on to win the Whitney again, running gate-to-wire in 2008.
Invasor, a champion of the decade, won the second Whitney-Breeders' Cup Classic double in 2006, defeating Bernardini in the Classic at Churchill Downs for Shadwell Stable and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. At the Spa, Invader won by a neck over Sun King. The Argentine-bred horse, who made five races, never lost in the United States and won the 2007 Dubai World Cup. He was selected Horse of the Year in 2006, and in 2013 he was admitted to the Hall of Fame.
In four years, another horse won the Whitney and the Breeders' Cup Classic, but for racing fans, the latest victory will be remembered forever. Blame was already known as a top older horse in training after winning the Stephen Foster Handicap. His narrow victory over elite Quality Road in the Whitney race added to his reputation. After finishing second to Haynesfield in the 2010 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Blame was considered by many to be a filler behind defending Classic champion Zenyatta. As a result, Blame and Garrett Gomez won the Classic by a head after taking the lead down the line and fending off Zenyatta's last surge.
When Blame traveled the same summer and fall road to the Breeders' Cup in 2012, Fort Larned followed suit by winning the Whitney, competing in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at the outset (finished third), and then taking home the Breeders' Cup Classic. Mucho Macho Man won the Classic a year later while placing third in the Whitney to Cross Traffic. And in 2015, Honor Code narrowly overcame Liam's Map in a dramatic Whitney to win the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Mile but finished third behind American Pharoah in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland.
A comfortable margin of 514 lengths separated Gun Runner from Keen Ice in the Whitney five summers prior. This was the second of what would end up being five straight victories in Grade 1 races to cap off his career. On that particular DayDay, Gun Runner also gained some recognition on social media when a horseshoe dropped by Whitney's pacesetter became tangled in his tail, and he had to carry it the remaining distance, incurring an unanticipated (although minor) weight penalty. Before retiring to co-ownership, the Steve Asmussen-trained son of Candy Ride won the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar and the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, in addition to the Spa's other best race for older male handicap horses of the time, the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
In the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park, the Bob Baffert-trained California invader McKinzie, the winner of the 2019 Whitney, came in second to Vino Rosso, who took third. The Baffert-trained Improbable, who won the 2020 Whitney, finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic three months later, trailing stablemate Authentic at Keeneland. The Whitney also served as a breeding ground for Breeders' Cup triumph last year, as Knicks Go defeated four talented rivals in a wire-to-wire, four 12-length victories at the Spa.
Knicks Go overcame four outstanding opponents in a wire-to-wire, four 12-length victories at the Spa last year, and two starts later, he defeated a strong field in the Longines Classic at Del Mar by 2 14 lengths, maintaining Whitney's reputation as a breeding ground for Breeders' Cup success. Knicks Go finished his career by placing second to Life Is Good in the Pegasus World Cup earlier this year. Shortly after, he was named the 2021 Horse of the Year. The 2022 Whitney is set to open on Saturday with the premiere of Life Is Good.
Like the Whitney, the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar was once combined with the Breeders' Cup.
One of the most successful race mares of her era, Princess Rooney, owned by Paula Tucker, won the Chula Vista Handicap by 2 12 lengths on the second of her final five starts. Her grand finale was at Hollywood Park's first World Championships, where she easily won the Distaff under Eddie Delahoussaye by seven lengths. In 1991, Princess Rooney was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame.
Several Chula Vista/Clement Hirsch winners did admirably in the Distaff for the remainder of the 1980s, and in 1990 another future Hall of Famer won the double. After winning the 1989 Distaff at Gulfstream Park, Bayakoa won two races at Chula Vista before winning the Distaff for the second time in a straight, this time at Belmont.
Sid Craig's Paseana won the Chula Vista in 1994 after winning the Distaff in 1992 and being second in 1993. In 1999, the race at Del Mar was renamed in honor of Clement L. Hirsch, one of the track's original directors. In 2002 and 2003, Azeri won back-to-back editions of the race while on a remarkable four-year streak during which she won 17 of 24 races and was honored with four Eclipse Awards, including 2002 Horse of the Year. She triumphed by five lengths in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Arlington Park in 2002.
As powerful as Azeri was in the early 2000s, from 2008 to 2010, the exquisite Zenyatta was superior. She also won the 2008 Distaff (then known as the Ladies' Classic) and 2009 Classic at Santa Anita, both of which had artificial-surface main tracks. From 2008 to 2010, she triumphed in three back-to-back runnings of the Clement Hirsch on Del Mar's synthetic main track. Although Zenyatta's quest for a perfect 20-win career record was heartbreakingly ended when she fell to Blame in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs (see above), her following of supporters, many of whom were situated in Southern California, will never forget her brilliance.
The Clement L. Hirsch has remained an important Distaff qualifier since Zenyatta's reign, with champions like Include Me Out (third in the 2012 Distaff) and Iotapa (third in the 2014 Distaff) doing admirably in the World Championships. Beholder, who has won the 2013 Distaff and is considered the best racehorse in North America since Zenyatta, also won the 2015 Clement Hirsch before her incredible victory in the TVG Pacific Classic. The superstar trained by B. Wayne Hughes was prepared for a matchup with American Pharoah in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, thanks to their races and a victory in the Zenyatta Stakes. Even though Beholder's illness forced him to miss the race, it prepared 2016 to be one of the best years ever.
In the Clement L. Hirsch in 2016, Beholder teamed up with Stellar Wind, who came in second place behind her in the 2015 Longines Distaff for one of the season's most thrilling races. In the end, the Clement Hirsch served as a warm-up for a Longines Distaff for the ages when Stellar Wind and Beholder re-met at Santa Anita, joined by unbeaten 3-year-old filly Songbird. Stellar Wind fought valiantly to defeat Beholder to win by a half-length.
This weekend has several other graded stakes scheduled that are not "Win, and You're In" qualifying but have occasionally produced runners who have excelled in the Breeders' Cup. One is the Longines Test Stakes, a seven-furlong event held at Saratoga for 3-year-old fillies. Winners of the Test include the Lady as mentioned above's Secret ('85 Test, '86 Distaff), Hall of Famer Go For Wand ('89 Juvenile Fillies, won the '90 Test before tragically collapsing in the Distaff), and champion Indian Blessing (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in '07, Test in '08). The Breeders' Cup has been significantly impacted by The Test.
That crossing momentum has continued thanks to two recent Test Stakes triumphs. Covfefe, a 2019 winner, delivered one of the most memorable performances of the World Championships at Santa Anita that fall when she defeated Bellafina by three-quarters of a length in the Filly and Mare Sprint. In 2021, Gamine also followed the Test path to Breeders' Cup glory, romping at Saratoga by seven sizes and setting a stakes record time of 1:20.83, and then coming close to matching it at Keeneland with a For their respective seasons, both fillies won Eclipse Awards as the top female sprinter. Covfefe was also recognized as the year's top 3-year-old filly.
The National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes, another 3-year-old race at Saratoga, has produced several elite runners who have gone on to win Breeders' Cup honors, including Artie Schiller (winner of the Hall of Fame Stakes in 2004 and the Breeders' Cup Mile in 2005), Courageous Cat (winner of the Hall of Fame in 2009, runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Mile that fall), and Big Blue Kitten (won the 2011 Hall of Fame, third in the 2015 Longines Turf and champion turf male that year).
The finest of them all, Bricks and Mortar, utilized the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Races in 2017 as his debut, winning by three-quarters of a length to claim his maiden graded stakes victory. Injuries ended the Chad Brown-trained horse's winning streak in the fall, and he missed more than a year of racing. However, he returned with a fury in late 2018 and went on to win seven consecutive races until the 2019 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita. He was recognized as champion turf male for 2019 and as Horse of the Year by Eclipse Award contributors.
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