b'executive vice president of racing forBreeders Cup Ltd.The $10 million in [total] purse money was unheard of in those days. There were only two $1 million dollar races in the world, so to have a day where $10 million was on the line was sufficient to capture the imaginations of Europe-george SeLwYnans, Delgado said.Like John Henrys dramatic win in the first Arlington Million Invitational and Cigars triumph in the initial running of the Dubai World Cup, Lashkaris victory immediately stamped the Breeders Cup Turf as top-shelf and worthy of the atten-tion of the worlds best and brightest.The following year, Sheikh Moham-med bin Rashid Al Maktoum11 years before his first Dubai World Cup night echoed the format of the Breeders Cupsent Pebbles to win the Turf under Pat Eddery. Pebbles was the first of five (so far) Turf winners for Sheikh Mohammed, either in his name or Godolphins. The Coolmore lads, in various combina-tions, have won six editions of the Turf.As the event grew, early global sup-porters of the Breeders Cup program such as the Niarchos family, the Wilden-steins (remember Arcangues in 1993?), and Prince Khalid Abdullah and trainers, Shigeki kikkAwA Skip dickSteinincluding Francois Boutin and Andre Fabre, were joined by the likes of Sir Mi-chael Stoute, Aidan OBrien, and others.The fact that Lashkari and Pebbles won the turf races of 1984 and 1985 helped put the Breeders Cup on Eu-ropean horsemens radar, said Alastair Donald, managing director of the Inter-national Racing Bureau in Newmarket, England, which plays a key role in orches-trating global racing involvement.But make no mistake, there were those in Europe in the early days that From the top, Lashkari won theinaugural Breeders Cup Turf. French-based Arcangues, ridden by American Jerry Bailey, posted the still-largest Breeders Cup upset when winning the Classic.The late trainer Francois Boutin won back-to-back Miles with the champion filly Miesque.5508_BreedersCup.indd 55 3/21/19 2:50 PM'