Breeders' Cup Turf
Early in the Breeders' Cup era the event immediately become one of the major preparatory races for the Breeders' Cup Turf. The 1986 winner the three-year-old Manila and 1987 winner the Irish bred Theatrical, both won the Breeders' Cup Turf and were voted US Champion Male Turf Horse. In 1994 Tikkanen also won the Turf Classic-Breeders' Cup Turf double enroute to US Champion Male Turf Horse.