| Grade I race | |
| Location | North America |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1984 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
| Website | www |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1+1⁄16 miles (8.5 furlongs) |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Two-year-old Colts and geldings |
| Weight | Assigned |
| Purse | US$2,000,000 |
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The current purse is US$2,000,000 making it the most valuable race for two-year-olds in North America. It is normally run at a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles.
The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is typically the first time that the best colts from the various racing circuits across North America (in New York, Kentucky and California in particular) meet up with each other. The winner often earns the Eclipse Award for Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse, and becomes one of the early favorites for the next year's Kentucky Derby.[1]
In 2006, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) wrote in Part 2 of their special series titled Spiraling To The Breeders' Cup that "Arazi turned in what many still consider to be the single-most spectacular performance in Breeders' Cup history."
Timber Country was the first Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner to win an American Triple Crown race when he went on to win the 1995 Preakness Stakes. The 2006 winner, Street Sense, became the first to capture the Kentucky Derby.[1] In 2016, Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby as well.