Saturday’s Rogers Woodbine Mile is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” race for the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF, offering the winner a fees-paid berth to the Nov. 1 race on the second day of the World Championships at Del Mar.

The $1 million Woodbine Mile annually draws some of the best middle-distance turf horses in North America as well as strong international interest. European trainer Charlie Appleby won two of the last three editions with Modern Games in 2022 and Master of The Seas in 2023, and he will send out Notable Speech this year seeking his third victory in four years. 

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The Woodbine Mile is one of three Challenge Series races on Woodbine’s Turf Champions Day card that grant the victor an expenses-paid Breeders’ Cup berth. The $500,000 bet365 Summer Stakes is a “Win and You’re In” race for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Oct. 31 at Del Mar and the $500,000 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes is a Challenge Series race for the $1 million John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Those three races plus two other stakes Saturday at Woodbine will be televised by FanDuel TV as part of their comprehensive race-day coverage.

For livestream coverage of a huge horse racing day north of the border, America’s Best Racing will produce “Turf Champions Day LIVE” hosted by J.D. Fox and Andrew Champagne and welcome special guests to analyze and handicap Woodbine’s Breeders’ Cup preps. It has a tentative start time of 4 p.m. ET and will stream on ABR’s Facebook, X, and YouTube channels..

Learn more about the race with these fun facts.

What’s in a name. The Woodbine Mile had three name changes before it was called the Woodbine Mile Stakes in 1997 and 1998. It then held a different name – the Atto Mile – from 1999 through 2005, and returned to the Woodbine Mile Stakes in 2006. From 2011 to 2023, it was called the Ricoh Woodbine Mile. In 2024, the race was run for the first time with a new presenting sponsor as the Rogers Woodbine Mile.

New Century winning 2024 Summer Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

It's an event. The Woodbine Mile headlines Turf Champions Day at the track, a day of elite turf racing, style, dining, and more. The Turf Champions card also features the Grade 1 Summer Stakes, a one-mile turf race for 2-year-olds; the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes, a one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies; the $150,000 Ontario Matron Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 race for fillies and mares on the all-weather Tapeta Footings surface; and the $150,000 Branded Cities Vigil Stakes, a seven-furlong Grade 3 sprint for 3-year-olds and older on the all-weather main track. It’s Canadian racing at its best!

Back to 1988. The Woodbine Mile was first contested in 1988 as the Molson Export Challenge, held at 1 ¼ miles on the dirt. From 1991 to 1996, the race was held on dirt at 1 1/8 miles, and changed to a mile race on turf in 1997 – the same surface and distance as it is today.

Neil Drysdale. Racing Hall of Fame member Neil Drysdale holds the title for most wins by a trainer, having won three editions of the Woodbine Mile and once when the race was held as the Molson Export Challenge at a mile and a quarter. Canadian and U.S. Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse won the Woodbine Mile for the third time in 2024 with Win for the Money; Charles LoPresti won three consecutive editions of the Woodbine Mile from 2011 to 2013; and Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel trained the winner in 2000, 2005, and 2009. Back to Drysdale ... he holds a unique international background: He was born in England, studied in Spain, and worked in the Thoroughbred industries of Argentina and Venezuela, all before working as an assistant to trainer Charlie Whittingham in the U.S. Drysdale’s four winners of the Woodbine Mile reflect his international experiences: U.S.-bred Prized in 1989; English-bred Labeeb in 1998; French-bred Touch of the Blues (2003); and Becrux (2006), who was bred in Italy. 

International representation. In total, the Woodbine Mile has been won by horses bred in seven different countries: U.S., Canada, Brazil, France, Ireland, England, and Italy. Brazilian-bred Leroidesanimaux holds the greatest winning margin of 7 ¾ lengths in 2005. He is the sire of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom.

Most races by an owner. Sam-Son Farm holds the most Woodbine Mile victories as an owner with four: Dance Smartly (1991), Quiet Resolve (1999), Soaring Free (2004), and El Tormenta (2019). Dance Smartly went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 1991, and Quiet Resolve was second in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Turf. Sam-Son Farm, an Ontario-based operation with a base in Ocala, Fla., has won 12 Sovereign Awards (5 for founder Ernie Samuel and 7 for Sam-Son Farm) and one Eclipse Award for outstanding owner. In 2021, Sam-Son was honored with a Special Soverign Award celebrating its 50 years in the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry.

Consecutive winners. Hall of Fame racehorse Wise Dan is the only dual winner of the Woodbine Mile, winning in 2012 and 2013 before going on to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile both years. The fan-favorite gelding also holds the record for the fastest time, 1:31:75, set in 2013. As noted above, his trainer, Charlie LoPresti, holds the record for most consecutive wins by a trainer, having also won the Woodbine Mile in 2011 with Turallure.

Winningest jockey. Wise Dan was piloted in both his Woodbine Mile victories by jockey John Velazquez, who holds the most wins by a rider. His other winning mounts were Riviera (2000), Leroidesanimaux (2005), and World Approval (2017). He also happens to be a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby. Velazquez, who was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, is scheduled to ride South African star One Stripe in the 2025 Woodbine Mile. 

Racemares. Four female racehorses have won the Woodbine Mile. The aforementioned Dance Smartly was the first in 1991 (at the time on a different surface and distance than the present-day event). Ventura, who was bred by Juddmonte Farms in the U.S., began her racing career in England before returning to North America. Runner-up in the 2008 Woodbine Mile, she was victorious in 2009. Tepin traveled to Royal Ascot in England to win the 2016 Queen Anne Stakes in June and followed that performance by winning the Woodbine Mile in September. In 2020, Starship Jubilee became the fourth female winner when she won the Woodbine Mile by a length as a 7-year-old.

Modern 3-Year-Old. Since the Woodbine Mile was switched from a dirt race restricted to 3-year-olds to a turf race for 3-year-olds and older, no 3-year-old had been able to best elders in the race ... until Modern Games shipped in to Woodbine in 2022 and won by 5 1/4 lengths as the odds-on favorite. Modern Games went on to win the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile in November at Keeneland and was named the Eclipse Award winner as champion turf male for 2022. Zulu Kingdom has a chance to duplicate the feat as a 3-year-old Woodbine Mile winner, entering the race with six wins in eight career starts.