Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint

The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses, run on a grass course at a distance of 5½ furlongs. It is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the de facto year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing. All Breeders' Cups to date have been conducted in the United States, with the exception of the 1996 event in Canada.

The race will be run for the first time as a Breeders' Cup Championship race in 2018 during the first day of the Breeders' Cup at host track, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.^[1] Prior to 2018 the Juvenile Turf Sprint was run as an undercard race at the Breeders' Cup.^[2]

Automatic Berths

Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup developed the Breeders' Cup Challenge, a series of races in each division that allotted automatic qualifying bids to winners of defined races. Each of the thirteen divisions has between two and twelve of these "Win and You're In" qualifying races.

In the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint division, runners are limited to 14 and there are up to four automatic berths. Note though that one horse may win multiple challenge races, while other challenge winners will not be entered in the Breeders' Cup for a variety of reasons such as injury or travel considerations.

The 2018 "Win and You're In" races are:^[3]

1. Norfolk Stakes, a Group 2 race run in June at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, England
2. Belmont Futurity Stakes, a Grade 3 race run in September at Belmont Park in New York
3. Speakeasy Stakes, a race run in October at Santa Anita Park in California
4. Indian Summer Stakes, a race run in October at Keeneland in Kentucky

References