Is it true that Fillies and Mares get to race against each other at the Breeders Cup this year?

Question

Is it true that Fillies and Mares get to race against each other at the Breeders Cup this year?

Answer 1

Newmarketsalsa is correct.  The Filly & Mare Turf was originally run in 1999.  There are also two other races restricted to fillies & mares, the Distaff (one of the original seven races) and new this year is the Filly & Mare Sprint.  The F&M Sprint is the only one of the three Friday races that was graded by the American Graded Stakes Committee.  As always there will also be a Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies run restricted to 2yo fillies.

Answer 2

In the past, a really fast filly or mare had no choice but to run in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint against colts and older horses. Now they will have their own race, the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint.

Common (read: dumb) sense says the fillies can't compete with the boys, but an enlightened few knew better: Very Subtle won the Sprint in 1987 and paid $34.80; Safely Kept won in 1990 and paid $26.40; Desert Stormer won in 1995 and paid $31. Several fillies have finished second, too, keying big exacta payoffs.

The other two new races are the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Horses that ran in the Mile in the old days would have either been in the Sprint or the 1¼-mile Classic. Now these "tweeners" have an option.

If a bettor sees a horse in the Classic that looks like a perfect fit for the Mile, you've got to figure $4 million more in the purse has something to do with it.

Answer 3

Fillies and Mares have always run against each other!

The Filly and Mare Turf is called as such because it is open to female horses aged 3 and up.  If they called it the Fillies Turf only 3 and 4 year old fillies would be able to run as once they turn 5 years old they are referred to as mares.

It is no more complicated than that.