2013 Breeders' Cup
The 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships was the 30th edition of North America’s premier thoroughbred racing event, held November 1–2 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It marks the end of the North American racing season, though a few high-level races take place later in November and December. The results were influential in Eclipse Award voting.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge is a series of races whose winners earn automatic spots in Breeders’ Cup races. For horses that qualified, the Breeders’ Cup organization covered entry fees and provided a travel allowance of up to $40,000 for overseas connections. Thirty-six horses entered the Breeders’ Cup races via the challenge series, including four winners.
Attendance over the two days was 94,628 (up 5% from 2012), with 58,795 on Saturday (up 7%). Wagering rose 7% compared with 2012, though it was not at the record levels of 2010.
On Friday, five Breeders’ Cup races were run. Three were won by British-trained horses: London Bridge captured the Marathon, Outstrip won the Juvenile Turf, and Chriselliam took the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Mizdirection won the Turf Sprint for the second year in a row. Beholder later became a back-to-back Breeders’ Cup winner, following her 2012 Juvenile Fillies victory with a win in the Distaff.
Saturday’s highlights included Mucho Macho Man’s nose victory in the Classic over Will Take Charge, with the favorite Game On Dude finishing ninth. Kathy Ritvo became the first female trainer to win the Classic. In the Mile, Wise Dan rallied from seventh to win by a head-and-a-half length to three-quarters of a length. His regular jockey John Velazquez had been injured in an earlier race, so Jose Lezcano rode the winner. In the Turf, the European horses finished first and second, with Magician narrowly beating favorite The Fugue; it was Magician’s first race since June and his first start at 1 1/2 miles.
The Juvenile Fillies event was marred by the breakdown of Secret Compass and the controversial disqualification of She's A Tiger for bumping in the stretch. In the Eclipse Award voting, six of the eleven flat racing divisions went to Breeders’ Cup winners: Wise Dan was named Horse of the Year, Champion Older Male, and Champion Male Turf Horse; Beholder was Champion Three-Year-Old Filly; Dank was Champion Female Turf Horse; Groupie Doll was Champion Female Sprinter. Despite her disqualification, She's A Tiger was voted Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:15 (CET).