Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Fact Sheet: GR1 King George VI & Elizabeth Stakes

From the Breeders’ Cup Media Team / Claire Crosby:

• The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In is an international series of 93 stakes races in 15 countries whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The full schedule may be viewed at BreedersCup.com/races/challenge-series.
• The European leg of the 2025 Challenge Series consists of 14 races in England, five in Ireland, and six in France. A total of 49 Challenge Series race will be held outside of the United States.
• Ascot Racecourse will host six Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races this year: the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) (Docklands, GB), King Charles III Stakes (G1) (American Affair, GB), Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1) (Ombudsman, IRE), Norfolk Stakes (G2) (Charles Darwin, IRE), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) on July 26, and the QIPCO Champion Stakes (G1) on Oct. 18.
• The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series was inaugurated in 2007.
• In 2024, five Breeders’ Cup World Championships winners earned automatic berths via the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series:Lake Victoria (IRE) (John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf), Citizen Bull (FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile), Immersive (NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies), Soul of an Angel (PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint), and Moira (ON) (Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf).
• The next three editions of the Breeders’ Cup will be held at the following host tracks: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. (2025), Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. (2026), and Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. (2027).