The 2026 Breeders’ Cup World Championships marks the 43rd year the best Thoroughbreds in North America meet up to compete in races that usually determine divisional championships at the Eclipse Awards.
Ever since the very first Breeders’ Cup Distaff won by Princess Rooney 42 years ago at Hollywood Park, the prestigious race for fillies and mares has continued to produce high-quality winners. Racing’s Hall of Fame has opened its doors to a dozen winners of the race, several of whom found the winner’s circle more than once at the World Championships.
Breeder Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Farm features two high-powered producers, mares whose progeny have left their mark on the sport’s history in their own ways. Littleprincessemma, purchased by Lyon when her Pioneerof the Nile colt was 2, was part of an elite sorority that boasted, at the time, only two members. That Pioneerof the Nile colt, named American Pharoah, won the Triple Crown in 2015.
The 38th Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar lived up to expectations in many ways. The year prior, fans were prohibited from attending the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the crowds that made it to the 2021 event at picturesque Del Mar in California were more than ready to celebrate as NBC Sports chronicled the festivities.
