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Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile
The Breeders’ Cup really always deserved having a race dedicated to dirt horses that are only bred and trained to run short distances. It took a little while to get the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile to become a part of the championship weekend of the Sport of Kings, but now, the race even has a title sponsor and is known as the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is the third race to be held on the second day of racing at the 2019 Breeders' Cup. The action from Santa Anita Park can be seen on Saturday, November 2 on NBC Sports Network. Post-time is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.
2019 Dirt Mile at a Glance
Race Distance: 1 mile
Record: 1:33.41 (Albertus Maximus, 2008)
Purse: $1 million
Qualification: 3-year olds and up (colts, fillies and mares)
2019 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Field
The 2019 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile got a major boost when trainer Richard Mandella decided to run Omaha Beach in the race instead of in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Omaha Beach should go off as the solid post time favorite in this race. The horse has won four times and finished third twice in eight starts. Mandella knows how to win Breeders’ Cup races, as he won four of them in one day in 2003.
The only two horses that are likely to go off at single-digit odds are Mr. Money for trainer Bret Calhoun and Coal Front for trainer Todd Pletcher. Mr. Money ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last year and finished fourth. His sire, Goldencents won this race twice.
Coal Front has won eight times in 12 starts for Pletcher. The problem with backing him is that he has never won a Grade 1 race.
Darkhorse contenders include Lookin at Lucky who finished second in the Shadwell Turf Mile, Giant Expectations who has not won a race since beating Accelerate in 2017, and Improbable for trainer Bob Baffert.
Longshots are Firenze Fire and Mr. Freeze.
Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Qualifying
The number of runners in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is limited to just 12, a couple fewer than what we see in many of the other races. That said, there are only two automatic qualifying spots which are up for grabs in the races which have become known as "Win and You're In."
Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile "Win and You're In" Races
| RACE |
LOCATION |
WHEN RUN |
| Metropolitan Handicap |
Belmont Park |
June |
| Pat O'Brien Stakes |
Del Mar Racetrack |
August |
The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile features almost exclusively American horses. Many of the European sprinters are asked to run in other capacities, and they just aren't able to keep up with the American-bred ponies at this level. The rest of the qualifiers end up consisting of winners of the other big Grade 1 and Grade 2 races at distances of exactly one mile.
Often times, we end up seeing three-year old horses in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile after failing to run well in the Triple Crown. Generally speaking, an owner and a trainer get a good sense of whether their horse is capable of running at distance at the Kentucky Derby, and it isn't unusual to see colts fail miserably in the Triple Crown, only to come back and be very successful at the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
List of Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Winners
| YEAR |
WINNER |
JOCKEY |
TRAINER |
AGE |
TIME |
| 2018 |
City of Light |
Javier Castellano |
Michael McCarthy |
4 |
1:33.83 |
| 2017 |
Battle of Midway |
Flavien Prat |
Jerry Hollendorfer |
3 |
1:35.20 |
| 2016 |
Tamarkuz |
Mike Smith |
Kiaran McLaughlin |
6 |
1:35.72 |
| 2015 |
Liam's Map |
Javier Castellano |
Todd Pletcher |
4 |
1:34.54 |
| 2014 |
Goldencents |
Rafael Bejarano |
Leandro Mora |
4 |
1:35.19 |
| 2013 |
Goldencents |
Rafael Bejarano |
Doug O'Neill |
3 |
1:35.12 |
| 2012 |
Tapizar |
Corey Nakatani |
Steven Asmussen |
4 |
1:35.34 |
| 2011 |
Caleb's Posse |
Rajiv Maragh |
Donnie Von Hemel |
3 |
1:34.59 |
| 2010 |
Dakota Phone |
Joel Rosario |
Jerry Hollendorfer |
5 |
1:35.29 |
| 2009 |
Furthest Land |
Julien Leparoux |
Michael Maker |
4 |
1:35.50 |
| 2008 |
Albertus Maximus |
Garrett Gomez |
Vladimir Cerin |
4 |
1:33.41 |
| 2007 |
Corinthian |
Kent Desormeaux |
James Jerkens |
4 |
1:39.06 |
There has only been one horse win this race in multiple years, that being Goldencents in 2013 and 2014. There are two jockeys who have won the race twice, Javier Castellano and Rafael Bejarano.
We've seen some big names win this race, including Doug O'Neill, Todd Pletcher and Steven Asmussen, but the only one who has won the race twice is Jerry Hollendorfer.
Younger colts tend to do better in this race than the elder statesmen. You'll surely see five- and six-year old horses in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, but only two above the age of four, Dakota Phone in 2010 and Tamarkuz in 2016, have actually won. In a perhaps mildly-related story, those two editions of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile were also the slowest in the race's 10-year history.
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