Breeders Cup Filly and Mares Turf Betting

The Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf is a championship race which forms part of the highly important Breeders Cup meeting which is held annually in North America at the end of October or beginning of November.

Carrying a $2 million prize purse, the race is widely regarded as the richest and most prestigious of its kind in the world. Inaugurated in 1999 when Soaring Softly claimed first prize, it is much younger than many of the other races on the Breeders Cup card which were first run after the meeting’s inception in 1984.

Fillies and Mares aged three years-old upwards are eligible for the one mile two furlong contest, with a ‘weight for age’ handicap allotted to the field which at present is capped at fourteen.

Traditionally, unless a filly or mare has broken down the barriers in an open sex race at the Breeders Cup, the winner of the Filly and Mares Turf race is usually seen as the leading female racehorse in the world.

Automatic qualifying berths are available for the race and these can be obtained through prior high status races during the season, a process known as the Breeders Cup Challenge.

The Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh, Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington, John C Mabee Handicap at Del Mar, First Lady Stakes at Keeneland and Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Santa Anita all form part of the division and ensure that the final field for the Filly and Mares Turf will be of the highest quality.

In its history to date, the race has proved to be a huge success and also a major stamping ground for non-US connections.

Indeed each year, it is the Filly and Mares Turf race which provides the rest of the world with the greatest chance of a Breeders Cup winner. Leading trainers Andre Fabre, Sir Michael Stoute and Henry Cecil have all triumphed in the race, as has Ed Dunlop on two occasions courtesy of the excellent Ouija Board in 2004 and 2006.

American racing tends to be extremely ‘dirt’ focused in comparison to Britain and France where all top class races are run on grass.

This is perhaps why horses from these parts of the world hold a significant advantage over their American adversaries in this particular race.

It also goes some way to explaining why British and French horses have experienced such little success in Breeders Cup events which are not run on turf, as it is simply asking too much of a horse to be able to adapt to a new surface in highly competitive company.

Watch out for the non-US connections that are throwing serious weight behind their horses and equate whether or not their form is good enough to transfer success in the likes of Britain and France over to the USA.

Horses such as Ouija Board and 2009 winner Midday have carried superstar status on both sides of the Atlantic and a horse needs that potential in its profile and pedigree if it is to succeed in the race.

Depending on how clear cut the form is, an open, entertaining contest is usually in prospect making the race a busy, interesting and potentially valuable betting heat.

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