Every year, the road to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships starts months before with a series of qualifying races that are known as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. The series has expanded over the years and it has consistently given fans and bettors a preview of some of the runners who’ll vie for Breeders’ Cup glory in the fall. Each winner of a Challenge Series race will receive an automatic qualifying berth, with fees paid, into a corresponding Breeders’ Cup Race – as described in the series’ popular tag line, “Win and You’re In.”

Below are some facts to know about the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series that leads all the way up to the 43^rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31, at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

1. This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, which began in 2007. The Breeders’ Cup World Championships date back more than two decades earlier, having been first run in 1984. 

2. The 2026 Challenge Series actually began in 2025 with the first race of the series being the Gran Premio International Carlos Pellegrini run at San Isidro Racecourse in Argentina. That race is a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf and it was won by a horse named Obataye.

Reef Runner wins the Jaipur. (Eclipse Sportswire)

3. The first three domestic “Win and You’re In” races were held at the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from June 3-7 at Saratoga Race Course. Nitrogen dominated the Ogden Phipps Stakes Presented by Ford June 5 to earn an expenses-paid starting spot in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff; Nysos romped in the $1 million Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap June 6 to qualify for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile; and and Reef Runner rallied to score in the Jaipur Stakes and earn a spot in the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

4. Television coverage of Challenge Series races is offered across NBC, NBCSN, Peacock, and FOX throughout the year. NBC Sports will stream all five days of the Royal Ascot meet in England next week on Peacock and also have live broadcasts for four of those days. The elite Royal Ascot meet features four international “Win and You’re In” races. Then, domestic coverage picks up with a show on NBCSN and streaming on Peacock June 27, featuring the Stephen Foster Stakes (Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic) and Fasig-Tipton Fleur de Lis Stakes (Longines Distaff) at Churchill Downs. Many Challenge Series races this summer and fall will air on FanDuel TV, including important ones from Woodbine in September. 

5. The Challenge Series began in 2007 with 24 “Win and You’re In” races from two countries. By 2014, it consisted of 71 races across 13 countries. For 2026, there are 95 races in the series that will take place in 14 different countries.

6. One of the two new additions to the Challenge Series in 2026 took place in January, when the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park was won by Skippylongstocking. That 1 1/8-mile race offered a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Longines Classic.  

7. Last year, 46 Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series winners raced in the 2025 World Championships at Del Mar with three winning their respective divisional races.

Forever Young defeats Nysos in the Saudi Cup Feb. 14. (Eclipse Sportswire)

8. The three Challenge Series race winners who went on to 2025 Breeders’ Cup glory were Forever Young in the $7 million Longines Classic; Notable Speech in the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF; and Ted Noffey in the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA.

9. Eight “Win and You’re In” races for Breeders’ Cup 2026 will be held at Keeneland, the site of this year’s World Championships. The picturesque Kentucky track, with its tag line of “Racing As It Was Meant to Be,” first hosted the World Championships in 2015 and did again in 2020 (with very limited attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2022. All of Keeneland’s Challenge Series races will be held during a three-day span named Fall Stars Weekend from Oct. 2-4. Leading the prep parade are the Darley Alcbiades Stakes (NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies), Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (FanDuel Juvenile), Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (FanDuel Mile), and Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (Longines Distaff).

10. There will be 11 automatic berths will be awarded for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, the marquee race of the World Championships. Four of the bids already have been secured by the aforementioned Skippylongstocking in the Pegasus World Cup; Forever Young, repeat winner of the Feb. 14 Saudi Cup; Costa Nova, who also repeated in the Feb. 22 February Stakes in Japan; and Magnitude, who earned a spot in the Classic via his victory over Forever Young in the March 28 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline. The remaining seven qualifiers include the June 27 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs, the July 18 NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, the Aug. 8 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, the Aug. 19 Juddmonte International Stakes at York, the Aug. 22 Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar, the Sept. 18 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes at Belmont Park, and the Sept. 26 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita Park.