Breeders' Cup Limited was founded in 1982 to stage an annual series of championship Thoroughbred races with a multi-million-dollar total purse. The first series of seven races was held Nov. 10, 1984, before a crowd of 64,254 at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California.
In 1986, a separate $250,000 Breeders' Cup Steeplechase, run two weeks earlier than the series at a different track, was added to the program. That race was discontinued after 1993. A turf race for fillies and mares was added in 1999.
Three new races were added in 2007: the filly and mare sprint, the juvenile turf, and the dirt mile. They were raced on Friday, the day before the other eight races.
The two newest races are the marathon and the juvenile fillies turf event, which were added in 2008. The marathon, originally a 1 1/2-mile race, was lengthened to 1 3/4 miles in 2009. The juvenile fillies turf race as 1 mile long.
The most important race in the series, the Breeders' Cup Classic, has a total purse of $5 million, with a winner's share of more than $2 million. Purses for the eleven races total $23 million.
1984 Hollywood Park
1985 Aqueduct
1986 Santa Anita Park
1987 Hollywood Park
1988 Churchill Downs
1989 Gulfstream Park
1990 Belmont Park
1991 Churchill Downs
1992 Gulfstream Park
1993 Santa Anita Park
1994 Churchill Downs
1995 Belmont Park
1996 Woodbine (Ontario)
1997 Hollywood Park
1998 Churchill Downs
1999 Gulfstream Park
2000 Churchill Downs
2001 Belmont Park
2002 Arlington Park
2003 Santa Anita Park
2004 Lone Star Park
2005 Belmont Park
2006 Churchill Downs
2007 Monmouth Park
