Riders compete in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile horse race in Del Mar, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Gregory Bull
March 27, 2025 - 8:57 AM
TORONTO - The winner of the 2025 Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes will earn a direct entry into the Breeders' Cup.
Woodbine Entertainment announced Thursday the $750,000 turf race has been added to the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series as an official “Win and You’re In” race.
The new designation offers the winner an automatic, fees-paid berth into the US$2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf event at the '25 Breeders' Cup, which will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
The E.P. Taylor Stakes will be run over 1 1/4 miles at Woodbine Racetrack's E.P. Taylor Turf Course on Aug. 16. It will share centre stage with the $1-million King’s Plate, the opening jewel of Canada's Triple Crown.
Once construction on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course is finished in 2026, the race will shift back to being run in September with Woodbine's three other Breeders' Cup Challenge Series events: Woodbine Mile (winner qualifies for Breeders' Cup Mile), Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf) and bet365 Summer Stakes (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf).
Moira was second in last year's E.P. Taylor Stakes but went to win the '24 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf with Woodbine-based trainer Kevin Attard. ?
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2025.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2025