When the Breeders’ Cup started in 1984, it was lacking a premier race for the females on turf, and it was 1999 when the distaff division got a turf race to call their own, the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at 1 3/8 miles.

On six occasions, the race was run at 1 ¼ miles because of the configuration of the turf courses at Belmont Park, Arlington Park, and Santa Anita.

The first running of the race came at Gulfstream Park in 1999, with jockey Jerry Bailey bringing home Soaring Softly first as the lukewarm 7/2 betting favorite.

Ouija Board is the lone two-time winner of the race, winning in 2004 at Lone Star and again in 2006 at Churchill Downs.

She was upset by Intercontinental in 2005 and had to settle for the runner up spot.

Jerry Bailey (1999, 2000) and Kieren Fallon (2003, 2004) share top billing among jockeys, while trainers Bobby Frankel (2002, 2005) and Ed Dunlop (2004, 2006) lead the trainer standings in the race with two wins each.

Fillies and mares bred outside of the U.S. have fared well in the race, accounting for eight wins in the 12 runnings of the race.

2010 Recap: The biggest upset in the history of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf occurred last year at Churchill Downs.

The Graham Motion trained Shared Account tracked the early pace from the inside, shifted to the outside for the stretch run where she split rivals and battled on gamely under jockey Edgar Prado to prevail by a neck over 4/5 betting favorite Midday.

The winner paid $94.00 for a $2 bet, with the exacta returning $295.20. It was just another neck back to third place finisher Keertana, who completed a $2 trifecta that paid $3,830.40.

2010 Breeders’ Cup Fillies & Mare Turf Video:

Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winners: