| Surface: | Turf |
| Class: | Grade III |
| Horse Race: | Baltimore Washington International Turf Cup |
| Location: | Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Inaugurated: | 1952 |
| Race Type: | Thoroughbred – flat racing |
| Website: | Laurel Park Racecourse |
| Distance: | 1 mile (8 furlongs) |
| Track: | Left-handed |
| Qualification: | 3-year-olds and up |
| Purse: | $200,000 (2021) |
The Baltimore Washington International Turf Cup is an American Grade III invitational horse race run over one mile.[1] Inaugurated in 1952 as the Washington, D.C. International Stakes, it was raced at Laurel Park Racecourse on the turf in Laurel, Maryland, at a distance of miles (12 furlongs), and attracted top turf horses from North America and Europe.
It was held annually from 1952 to 1994, then it was discontinued because of its place on the late fall calendar and the popularity of the Breeders' Cup Turf. The race was brought back in 2005 as the Colonial Turf Cup run at Colonial Downs in Richmond, Virginia, and then at Laurel Park Racecourse as the Commonwealth Turf Cup in Laurel, Maryland, from 2015 to 2016. Then in 2017 the original root of race name was brought back as well adding it to a portion of its last version the Turf Cup suffix. So it is now being called the Baltimore Washington International Turf Cup. The race has been contested at Pimlico Race Course since 2021.
When it was founded by John D. Schapiro (owner of the Laurel Park Racecourse), it was the only international horse race in the United States. Until then, bringing horses from Europe and elsewhere to the United States for a specific race was unprecedented.[2] J. Samuel Pearlman, editor of the Daily Racing Form, discussed the idea with Schapiro after the 1950 racing season. Less than a year and half later, the concept became a reality.[3]
Usually just called the International, the race drew the best Thoroughbreds from the U.S. and Europe; it was important enough to attract horses from the Soviet Union during the 1960s, despite the Cold War.[4] In the 1980s, the Washington, D.C. International was part of a million-dollar bonus given to any horse who won both it, the Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, and the Turf Classic at Belmont Park in New York.
In the race's early days, few American horses excelled on the turf; some were turf specialists, while others built their race records on the dirt and then specifically switched over to grass for the International. U.S. Hall of Famer Kelso won five straight Horse of the Year honors competing almost entirely on the dirt in the early 1960s and finished second three times in a row in the International. In 1964, the great gelding finally won the race in an American record time of 2:23.80. He had given the event international status in Europe by just missing three times, before winning it at age seven.[5]
The Washington, D.C. International Stakes was raced at a distance of miles from its inception in 1952 until 1986, when it was shortened to miles. With the exception of 1993 (when it was raced at one mile), the International remained at miles until its final running in 1994.
Run the Gantlet won the International in 1971; his son Providential won it in 1981. Providential was bred and previously owned by Bertram R. Firestone, whose wife Diana won the race the following year with her filly April Run after coming in second to Providential in 1981.
During its run, the D.C. International Stakes was won by horses from the United States 22 times and by foreign representatives 21 times.
Speed record:
Most wins by a horse:
Most wins by an owner:
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
| Year | Winner | Nation | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Distance (miles) | Time | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Highestdistinction |  | 6 | Jairo Rendon | Lindsay Schultz | Willow Lane Stables | 1 m | 1:36.63 | III |
| 2022 | Set Piece | 6 | Sheldon Russell | Brad H. Cox | Juddmonte Farms | 1 m | 1:35.70 | III | |
| 2021 | Field Pass | | 4 | Victor Carrasco | Michael Maker | Three Diamonds Farm | 1 m | 1:35.12 | III |
| 2020 | no race | ||||||||
| 2019 | Caribou Club | | 5 | Feargal Lynch | Thomas F. Proctor | Glen Hill Farm (Craig Bernick) | 1 m | 1:33.35 | III |
| 2018 | Doctor Mounty | | 5 | Forest Boyce | C. R. McGaughey III | Dave Alden | 1 m | 1:41.78 | III |
| 2017 | Projected | 5 | Nik Juarez | Chad C. Brown | Juddmonte Farms | 1 m | 1:34.25 | II | |
| 2016 | Blacktype |  | 5 | Trevor McCarthy | Jump Sucker Stable LLC (Duncker, Warsh, Walker) | 1 m | 1:33.43 | II | |
| 2015 | Mr. Speaker | | 3 | José Ortiz | Phipps Stable | 1:47.30 | II | ||
| 2014 | no race | ||||||||
| 2013 | London Lane | 6 | Horacio Karamanos | Lawrence Murray | Howard M. Bender | 1:55.40 | II | ||
| 2012 | Turbo Compressor | | 4 | Joe Bravo | Todd A. Pletcher | P & G Stable & Off The Hook Racing | 1:55.00 | II | |
| 2011 | Rahystrada | | 7 | Sheldon Russell | Byron Hughes | Robert Courtney | 1:54.68 | II | |
| 2010 | Paddy O'Prado | | 3 | Kent Desormeaux | Dale Romans | Donegal Racing | 1:54.20 | II | |
| 2009 | Battle of Hastings | 3 | Tyler Baze | Jeff Mullins | Michael House | 1:57.79 | II | ||
| 2008 | Sailor's Cap | | 3 | Alan Garcia | James J. Toner | Team Valor | 2:04.42 | III | |
| 2007 | Summer Doldrums | | 3 | Jose Lezcano | Richard Violette Jr. | Klaravich Stables | 1:55.68 | III | |
| 2006 | Showing Up | | 3 | Cornelio Velásquez | Barclay Tagg | Lael Stables (Gretchen & Roy Jackson) | 1:52.98 | ||
| 2005 | English Channel | 3 | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher | James T. Scatuorchio | 1:56:37 | |||
| 1995–2004 | no race | ||||||||
| 1994 | Paradise Creek | | 5 | William I. Mott | Masayki Nishiyama | 1:59.60 | I | ||
| 1993 | Buckhar | | 5 | Jean Cruguet | Willard C. Freeman | John W. Meriwether | 1 m | 1:38.00 | I |
| 1992 | Zoman | 5 | Alan Munro | Paul Cole | Prince Fahd Salman | 2:01.40 | I | ||
| 1991 | Leariva | | 4 | Edgar Prado | David Smaga | Thierry van Zuylen | 2:06.40 | I | |
| 1990 | Fly Till Dawn | | 4 | Laffit Pincay Jr. | Darrell Vienna | Josephine T. Gleis | 2:01.20 | I | |
| 1989 | Caltech | | 3 | René Douglas | Eduardo Azpurua Sr. | David S. Romanik | 2:07.60 | I | |
| 1988 | Sunshine Forever | | 3 | Ángel Cordero Jr. | John M. Veitch | Darby Dan Farm | 2:03.00 | I | |
| 1987 | Le Glorieux | | 3 | Laffit Pincay Jr. | Robert Collet | Sieglinde Wolf | 2:02.80 | I | |
| 1986 | Lieutenant's Lark | | 4 | Robbie Davis | Howard M. Tesher | Lowell T. Stevens | 2:09.00 | I | |
| 1985 | Vanlandingham | | 4 | Don MacBeth | C. R. McGaughey III | Loblolly Stable | 2:35.60 | I | |
| 1984 | Seattle Song | | 3 | Cash Asmussen | François Boutin | Stavros Niarchos | 2:27.20 | I | |
| 1983 | All Along | | 4 | Walter Swinburn | Patrick Biancone | Daniel Wildenstein | 2:35.00 | I | |
| 1982 | April Run | | 4 | Cash Asmussen | François Boutin | Diana M. Firestone | 2:31.00 | I | |
| 1981 | Providential | | 4 | Alain Lequeux | Charles Whittingham | Serge Fradkoff | 2:31.20 | I | |
| 1980 | Argument | | 3 | Lester Piggott | Maurice Zilber | Bruce McNall | 2:30.20 | I | |
| 1979 | Bowl Game | | 5 | John M. Gaver Jr. | Greentree Stable | 2:51.00 | I | ||
| 1978 | Mac Diarmida | | 3 | Jean Cruguet | Scotty Schulhofer | Jerome M. Torsney | 2:27.00 | I | |
| 1977 | Johnny D. | | 3 | Steve Cauthen | Michael Kay | Dana S. Bray Jr. | 2:32.00 | I | |
| 1976 | Youth | | 3 | Sandy Hawley | Maurice Zilber | Nelson Bunker Hunt | 2:46.20 | I | |
| 1975 | Nobiliary | | 3 | Sandy Hawley | Maurice Zilber | Nelson Bunker Hunt | 2:31.20 | I | |
| 1974 | Admetus | | 4 | Maurice Philipperon | John Cunnington Jr. | Sir Michael Sobell | 2:29.60 | I | |
| 1973 | Dahlia | | 3 | Bill Pyers | Maurice Zilber | Nelson Bunker Hunt | 2:31.80 | I | |
| 1972 | Droll Role | | 4 | Braulio Baeza | Thomas J. Kelly | John M. Schiff | 2:38.80 | I | |
| 1971 | Run the Gantlet | | 3 | Robert Woodhouse | J. Elliott Burch | Rokeby Stables | 2:50.60 | ||
| 1970 | Fort Marcy | | 6 | Jorge Velásquez | J. Elliott Burch | Rokeby Stables | 2:42.80 | ||
| 1969 | Karabas | 4 | Lester Piggott | Bernard van Cutsem | Benjamin Guinness | 2:27.00 | |||
| 1968 | Sir Ivor |  | 3 | Lester Piggott | Vincent O'Brien | Raymond R. Guest | 2:37.20 | ||
| 1967 | Fort Marcy | | 3 | Manuel Ycaza | J. Elliott Burch | Rokeby Stables | 2:27.00 | ||
| 1966 | Behistoun | | 3 | Jean Deforge | Joseph Lieux | Alec Weisweiller | 2:28.80 | ||
| 1965 | Diatome | | 3 | Jean Deforge | Geoffroy Watson | Guy de Rothschild | 2:28.20 | ||
| 1964 | Kelso | | 7 | Ismael Valenzuela | Carl Hanford | Bohemia Stable | 2:23.80 | ||
| 1963 | Mongo | | 4 | Wayne Chambers | Frank A. Bonsal | Marion duPont Scott | 2:27.40 | ||
| 1962 | Match II | | 4 | Yves Saint-Martin | François Mathet | Haras d'Ouilly | 2:28.20 | ||
| 1961 | T.V. Lark | | 4 | Johnny Longden | Paul K. Parker | Preston W. Madden | 2:26.20 | ||
| 1960 | Bald Eagle | | 5 | Manuel Ycaza | Woody Stephens | Cain Hoy Stable | 2:33.00 | ||
| 1959 | Bald Eagle | | 4 | Manuel Ycaza | Woody Stephens | Cain Hoy Stable | 2:28.00 | ||
| 1958 | Sailor's Guide |  | 6 | Howard Grant | J. Bowes Bond | Jaclyn Stable | 2:33.20 | ||
| 1957 | Mahan | | 6 | Sam Boulmetis Sr. | Harry Trotsek | Hasty House Farm (Allie E. Reuben) | 2:34.60 | ||
| 1956 | Master Boing | | 3 | Guy Chancelier | Georges Pelat | Andre E. Lombard | 2:39.00 | ||
| 1955 | El Chama | 4 | Raul Bustamante | Jose Israel La Belle | Carlos V. Rincones | 2:36.20 | |||
| 1954 | Fisherman | | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Sylvester Veitch | C. V. Whitney | 2:47.80 | ||
| 1953 | Worden | | 4 | Charles Smirke | Georges Bridgland | Ralph Strassburger | 2:36.00 | ||
| 1952 | Wilwyn | 4 | Manny Mercer | John Waugh | Robert C. Boucher | 2:30.80 | |||