# Breeders' Cup Mile

The Breeders' Cup Mile is a 1-mile (1.6 km) Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's inception in 1984. All Breeders' Cups to date have been held in the United States except for the 1996 event in Canada.
The purse was raised from $1.5 million US to $2 million in 2007.
Freddy Head has won this race twice as a jockey and three times as a trainer.
There is no official stakes record for the Breeders' Cup Mile as it is run on different racecourses each year, some of which are significantly faster than others. In 2012, Wise Dan set a then-course record at Santa Anita with his time of 1:31.78. Although Tourist ran faster than this with a time of 1:31.71 in 2016, he just missed the current Santa Anita course record of 1:31.69.

## Automatic berths

Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup developed the Breeders' Cup Challenge, a series of races in each division that allotted automatic qualifying bids to winners of defined races. Each of the fourteen divisions has multiple qualifying races. Note though that one horse may win multiple challenge races, while other challenge winners will not be entered in the Breeders' Cup for a variety of reasons such as injury or travel considerations.
In the Mile division, runners are limited to 14 and there are up to eleven automatic berths. The 2022 "Win and You're In" races were:
* the L'Ormarins Queen's Plate, a Group 1 race run in January Kenilworth Race Course in South Africa
* the Gran Premio Club Hipico Falabella, a Grade 1 race run in May at Club Hipico in Chile
* the Shoemaker Mile, a Grade 1 race run in May at Santa Anita Park in California
* the Yasuda Kinen, a Grade 1 race run in June at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan
* the Queen Anne Stakes, a Group 1 race run in June at Royal Ascot in England
* the Sussex Stakes, a Group 1 race run in July at Goodwood Racecourse in England
* the Fourstardave Handicap, a Grade 1 race run in August at Saratoga in upstate New York
* the Prix Jacques Le Marois, a Group I race run in August at Deauville Racecourse in France
* the Woodbine Mile, a Grade 1 race run in September at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada
* the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes, a Grade 1 race at Keeneland in Kentucky
* the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, a Group 1 race at Ascot in England

## Records

Most wins:
* 3 – Goldikova (2008, 2009, 2010)
Most wins by a jockey:
* 3 – Olivier Peslier (2008, 2009, 2010)
* 3 – John R. Velazquez (1998, 2012, 2017)
* 3 – William Buick (2021, 2022, 2023)
Most wins by a trainer:
* 3 – Freddy Head (2008, 2009, 2010)
* 3 – Charlie Appleby (2021, 2022, 2023)
Most wins by an owner:
* 6 – Flaxman Holdings / Niarchos family (1987, 1988, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2014)
* 3 – Wertheimer et Frère (2008, 2009, 2010)
* 3 – Godolphin (2021, 2022, 2023)

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time | Purse | Grade |
| 2024 | More Than Looks | 5 | José Ortiz | Cherie DeVaux | Victory Racing Partners | 1:32.65 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2023 | Master of The Seas (IRE) | 5 | William Buick | Charlie Appleby | Godolphin | 1:32.45 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2022 | Modern Games (IRE) | 3 | William Buick | Charlie Appleby | Godolphin | 1:33.96 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2021 | Space Blues (IRE) | 5 | William Buick | Charlie Appleby | Godolphin | 1:34.01 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2020 | Order of Australia (IRE) | 3 | Pierre-Charles Boudot | Aidan O'Brien | Derrick Smith, Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor, & Anne -Marie O'Brien | 1:33.73 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2019 | Uni† (GB) | 5 | Joel Rosario | Chad C. Brown | Khalid Abdullah | 1:32.45 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2018 | Expert Eye (GB) | 3 | Frankie Dettori | Michael Stoute | Khalid Abdullah | 1:39.80 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2017 | World Approval | 5 | John R. Velazquez | Mark E. Casse | Live Oak Plantation (Charlotte C. Weber) | 1:34.55 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2016 | Tourist | 5 | Joel Rosario | Bill Mott | Winstar Farm | 1:31.71 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2015 | Tepin† | 4 | Julien Leparoux | Mark E. Casse | Robert E Masterson | 1:36.69 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2014 | Karakontie (JPN) | 3 | Stéphane Pasquier | Jonathan Pease | Flaxman Holdings | 1:32.88 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2013 | Wise Dan | 6 | Jose Lezcano | Charles Lopresti | Morton Fink | 1:32.47 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2012 | Wise Dan | 5 | John R. Velazquez | Charles Lopresti | Morton Fink | 1:31.78 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2011 | Court Vision | 6 | Robby Albarado | Dale Romans | Spendthrift Farm | 1:37:05 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2010 | Goldikova† (IRE) | 5 | Olivier Peslier | Freddy Head | Wertheimer et Frère | 1:35.16 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2009 | Goldikova† (IRE) | 4 | Olivier Peslier | Freddy Head | Wertheimer et Frère | 1:32.26 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2008 | Goldikova† (IRE) | 3 | Olivier Peslier | Freddy Head | Wertheimer et Frère | 1:33.40 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2007 | Kip Deville | 4 | Cornelio Velásquez | Richard E. Dutrow Jr. | IEAH Stables et al. | 1:39.78 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2006 | Miesque's Approval | 7 | Eddie Castro | Martin D. Wolfson | Live Oak Plantation (Charlotte C. Weber) | 1:34.75 | $2,000,000 | I |
| 2005 | Artie Schiller | 4 | Garrett Gomez | James A. Jerkens | Timber Bay Farm/Denise Walsh | 1:36.10 | $1,500,000 | I |
| 2004 | Singletary | 4 | David R. Flores | Don Chatlos | Little Red Feather Stables | 1:36.90 | $1,500,000 | I |
| 2003 | Six Perfections† (FR) | 3 | Jerry Bailey | Pascal Bary | Flaxman Holdings | 1:33.86 | $1,500,000 | I |
| 2002 | Domedriver (IRE) | 4 | Thierry Thulliez | Pascal Bary | Flaxman Holdings | 1:36.88 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 2001 | Val Royal (FR) | 5 | Jose Valdivia Jr. | Julio Canani | David S. Milch | 1:32.05 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 2000 | War Chant | 3 | Gary Stevens | Neil Drysdale | Irving & Marjorie Cowan | 1:34.60 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1999 | Silic (FR) | 4 | Corey Nakatani | Julio Canani | J. Terrence Lanni | 1:34.20 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1998 | Da Hoss | 6 | John R. Velazquez | Michael W. Dickinson | Prestonwood Farm & Wallstreet Stables | 1:35.20 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1997 | Spinning World | 4 | Cash Asmussen | Jonathan E. Pease | Flaxman Holdings | 1:32.60 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1996 | Da Hoss | 4 | Gary Stevens | Michael W. Dickinson | Prestonwood Farm & Wallstreet Stables | 1:35.80 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1995 | Ridgewood Pearl† (GB) | 3 | Johnny Murtagh | John Oxx | Anne Coughlan | 1:43.65 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1994 | Barathea (IRE) | 4 | Frankie Dettori | Luca Cumani | Sheikh Mohammed & G. W. Leigh | 1:34.40 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1993 | Lure | 4 | Mike E. Smith | C. R. McGaughey III | Claiborne Farm | 1:33.40 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1992 | Lure | 3 | Mike E. Smith | C. R. McGaughey III | Claiborne Farm & The Gamely Corp. | 1:32.80 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1991 | Opening Verse | 5 | Pat Valenzuela | Richard J. Lundy | Allen E. Paulson | 1:37.40 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1990 | Royal Academy | 3 | Lester Piggott | Vincent O'Brien | Classic Ire Stable | 1:35.20 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1989 | Steinlen (GB) | 6 | José A. Santos | D. Wayne Lukas | Daniel Wildenstein | 1:37.20 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1988 | Miesque† | 4 | Freddy Head | François Boutin | Stavros Niarchos | 1:38.60 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1987 | Miesque† | 3 | Freddy Head | François Boutin | Stavros Niarchos | 1:32.80 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1986 | Last Tycoon (IRE) | 3 | Yves Saint-Martin | Robert Collet | Richard C. Strauss | 1:35.20 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1985 | Cozzene | 5 | Walter Guerra | Jan H. Nerud | John A. Nerud | 1:35.00 | $1,000,000 | I |
| 1984 | Royal Heroine† (IRE) | 4 | Fernando Toro | John Gosden | Robert Sangster | 1:32.60 | $1,000,000 | I |
† Indicates filly/mare