Breeders' Cup announces 'Dirt Dozen' races for 2024

For the third year in a row, Breeders’ Cup will award credits toward the entry fees of six of its dirt races to runners in designated stakes races that are scheduled for the lead-up to the two-day event on Nov. 1-2.

The “Dirt Dozen” will award the credits to the first three finishers in two prep races each for the six Breeders’ Cup dirt races, which include the Juvenile, Juvenile Fillies, Dirt Mile, Distaff, Filly and Mare Sprint, and the Sprint. Breeders’ Cup implemented the program in 2022 to create incentives for horses to run in the dirt races, which typically draw smaller fields than the event’s turf races, with the exception of the Classic.

For races with $2 million purses – the Distaff, the Sprint, the Juvenile, and the Juvenile Fillies – the prep races will award $30,000 in credits for a first-place finish, $15,000 for second, and $7,500 for third. For the two races with $1 million purses, the credits will be $15,000 for first, $7,5000 for second, and $3,750 for third.

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Total entry fees for the Breeders’ Cup races are 3 percent of the purse, or $60,000 for a $2 million race and $30,000 for a $1 million race.

The 12 races in the series this year are the July 27 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar and the Aug. 17 Philip H. Iselin Handicap at Monmouth (Dirt Mile); the June 29 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs and the Sept. 29 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita (Distaff); the May 4 Derby City Distaff at Churchill and the Aug. 25 Rancho Bernardo at Del Mar (Filly and Mare Sprint); the Sept. 8 Del Mar Futurity and the Sept. 14 Iroquois at Churchill (Juvenile); the Aug. 31 Spinaway at Saratoga and the Sept. 14 Pocahontas at Churchill (Juvenile Fillies); and the May 18 Maryland Sprint Stakes at Pimlico and Sept. 30 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (Sprint).

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