BloodHorse Celebrates Breeders' Cup's Top Horses, 24-17

With Breeders' Cup celebrating the 40th edition of its World Championships this year, BloodHorse thought it would be a good time to consider the event's 40 greatest horses to date.

After receiving nominations from staff and correspondents, we conducted a vote to determine the top 40. Keep in mind that we allowed voters wide latitude in considering "greatness." While most started with Breeders' Cup winners—and, for that matter, multiple winners—voters also found room to back courageous runners-up, a few especially accomplished horses that just competed, as well as horses that impacted the event from the breeding side.

Here's how we see it in the fall of 2023, continuing with horses 24-17.

(In case you missed it, check out Part 1 and Part 2 from earlier in the week.)

24. Gun Runner  

After a second-place finish in the 2016 Dirt Mile (G1), Gun Runner fired big to post a 2 1/4-length victory in the $6 million Classic (G1) at Del Mar in 2017, a performance that landed him Horse of the Year and older dirt male honors. As a stud at Three Chimneys Farm since 2018, Gun Runner is a record-breaking young sire whose progeny includes 2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Echo Zulu .

23. Inside Information

It seemed only fitting that a rainbow would appear as future Hall of Famer Inside Information coasted to a dazzling 13 1/2-length win in the 1995 Distaff (G1) at Belmont Park. Her margin of victory remains a Breeders' Cup record. The Distaff was the final race for the Ogden Mills Phipps homebred who always showed up ready to perform, as evidenced by her 14-1-2 record from 17 career starts.

22. Arrogate

In Arrogate's nearly perfect dream season as a 3-year-old, he was 5-for-6. The colt's handling of older rivals in the 2016 Classic decided 3-year-old male honors following his half-length win over 2014 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner California Chrome  . Arrogate had a thirst for taking down lucrative purses and, after adding wins in the 2017 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and Dubai World Cup (G1), he retired as North America's richest Thoroughbred. 

21. Tepin 

As one of the most decorated turf runners in recent history, two-time champion and Hall of Famer Tepin regularly stuck it to her male rivals, including her romp in the 2015 Mile (G1T) when Keeneland hosted the Breeders' Cup for the first time. She gave the Mile another whirl the following year in California, but settled for second after coming up a half-length short of catching Tourist  . 

20. Lure

Following in the footsteps of two-time Mile winner Miesque (1987-88), Lure became the second horse to double-up in the same Breeders' Cup race. The speedy colt treated his connections to a front-running victory in the 1992 Mile at Gulfstream Park while establishing a course record on Halloween. He roared back a year later to successfully defend his title in the Mile at Santa Anita Park. A third appearance, in the 1994 Mile, yielded a ninth-place finish as the favorite for this future Hall of Fame inductee.

19. Skip Away

Skip Away, the six-length winner of the 1997 Classic, represented a family affair. Owned by Carolyn Hine and trained by her husband, Sonny, who bought her the colt as a birthday gift, Skip Away was celebrated for his racing achievements. He earned several Eclipse Awards, including 1998 Horse of the Year, which came despite finishing sixth in that year's Classic. Sonny Hine, who died in 2000, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003. A year later, Skip Away joined his trainer as a Hall of Famer.

18. Enable 

Enable, a 4-year-old filly at the time, is the first horse to win both the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) and Turf (G1T) in the same year during her glorious 2018 campaign for trainer John Gosden. European champion Enable, a fourth-generation Juddmonte homebred, gave Gosden his fifth victory at the Breeders' Cup.

17. A.P. Indy

In what began as a rocky 3-year-old season for A.P. Indy, the sensational ridgling shrugged off the disappointment surrounding his day-of scratch from the 1992 Kentucky Derby as the second choice because of a hoof ailment to win the Breeders' Cup Classic in October. The four-time grade 1 winner—he also won the Belmont Stakes (G1)—was retired after the Classic and created a legacy at Lane's End Farm as a breed-shaping sire whose stud fee once reached $300,000. He died at the age of 31 in 2020.