The Breeders’ Cup has Charged to the Front of the Worldwide Racing Stage.

Press Release / September 25, 2019 / ,
In 1982 a group of prominent thoroughbred breeders from central Kentucky, led by the visionary John Gaines, hatched a plan. Their idea was to create a year-end, culminating championship for their sport. An event where horses from across the world could meet to settle the age old question, who is the best. An event that celebrated the best of horse racing. Put it on a national platform and helped to build the market for racing and breeding. Their vision – The Breeders’ Cup.

The Breeders’ Cup Trophy is an authentic bronze reproduction of the original Torrie horse that was created in Florence by Giovanni da Bologna in the late 1580s. The horse is an ecorche, showing the muscles of the animal in detail. The Torrie horse bears a close relationship to several drawings by da Vinci related to this project in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor.

The Breeders’ Cup Trophy was cast from the original and was directly supervised and approved by the University of Edinburgh for the exclusive use of Breeders’ Cup Limited. The largest version of the trophy is permanently owned by the Breeders’ Cup, and is displayed at the official host track each year. Replicas are presented to the connections of the winners of each of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships races every year.