Major Horse Races. Stay up to date on when the biggest horse races of the season are coming up. Click on the links for any of the major races below to get in-depth details about the history of various races, the winningest trainers and thoroughbreds for. Up until 2017, it was the world’s richest race with a purse of $10M USD made available. It was briefly surpassed by the $12M Pegasus World Cup. Following the reduction of the Pegasus World Cup purse and the increase of the Dubai World Cup purse in 2019 to $12M USD, the UAE once again hosts the world’s richest horse racing prize.

Big Horse Races Coming Up Today

A graded stakes race is a term applied by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay. These fees, to which the track adds an additional amount, constitute the total amount from which prize money is paid to the first, second, third, and usually fourth place finishers. There are three different levels of stakes races, the top ranking, and therefore purse, being a Grade I Stakes. They are higher-class races for bigger prizes and often involve competitors that belong to the same gender, age and class. These races may, though, be 'weight-for-age', with weights adjusted only according to age, and also there are 'set weights' where all horses carry the same weight. Furthermore, there are 'conditions' races, in which horses carry weights that are set by conditions, such as having won a certain number of races, or races of a certain value.

The American Graded Stakes Committee uses as part of its criteria for the grading:

• Purse Requirement: That the race has a purse of more than $75,000.
• Longevity: That the race has been run for two years under the same conditions.
• Drug Testing: That post race drug testing is managed by a governmental authority.
• Restrictions: That the race may be restricted only in age and gender.
• Anabolic Steroid Testing : Boldenone, Nandrolone, Stanozolol, and Testosterone are only allowed to be used.
• Toe Grabs: Cannot be more than two millimeters long.

Big Horse Races Coming Up Tomorrow

In the United States and Canada, a graded race can be dormant for one year without losing its grade. Also, as long as the race meets these requirements, the Committee grades on the overall quality of the previous fields and the performance of horses in the previous fields in stakes both prior to and after the race. For example: if the winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic raced in the Santa Anita Handicap then the race would almost certainly be a Grade One.