Breeders' Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Championship Event Series race
Breeders' Cup
Location Changes yearly
Inaugurated 1984
Race type Thoroughbred
Website Official Breeders' Cup website
Race information
Distance See individual races
Track Turf, Dirt, All Weather
Qualification See individual races
Weight See individual races
Purse Varies by Race; Between $500,000 - $5 Million

The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I thoroughbred horse races operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. The location changes each year. All sites have been in the United States, except in 1996, when the races were at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.

The event was created as a year-end championship for North American thoroughbred racing, and also attracts top horses from other parts of the world, especially Europe. The Breeders' Cup was founded in 1982 by John R. Gaines, a leading thoroughbred owner and breeder. Before the Breeders' Cup expanded to two days, it was generally considered to be the richest day in sports. As of 2008, the second day of the Breeders' Cup is either the second- or third-richest, depending on definitions. In 2008, a total of $17 million will be awarded on that day, down from $20 million in 2007 (two races were moved from Day 2 to Day 1). The two events that are richer are:

  • If one considers poker to be a sport, the final table of the World Series of Poker is the richest day in sports. The 2007 Main Event saw slightly over $22 million awarded at its final table, down from a record $38 million in 2006
  • Another Thoroughbred racing event, Dubai World Cup Night, is now richer than Day 2 of the Breeders' Cup, featuring six races with combined purses of $21 million in 2008.

With the addition of three new races for 2008, a total of $25.5 million will be awarded over the two days, up from $23 million in 2007.

The Breeders' Cup is currently searching for a title sponsor.[1]

Contents

[edit] Selection process

A maximum of 14 starters are allowed in each of the 14 Breeders' Cup Championships races with the exception of the Dirt Mile, Juvenile Fillies Turf and Juvenile Turf which will each be limited to 12 starters. Breeders' Cup Limited has adopted a field selection system to select runners in the event fields are oversubscribed. This system ranks horses in order of preference based upon (1) performance in Breeders' Cup Challenge Races, (2) a point system, and (3) the judgment of a panel of racing experts. The field selection system will be implemented as necessary following the taking of pre-entries on October 14, 2008, to officially rank the oversubscribed fields. The Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel (the “Panel”) will rank all the horses pre-entered in the oversubscribed races as described below. After pre-entry, any vacancies in the fields will be filled by horses in order of panel preference.

Through 2006, there were eight races on the Breeders' Cup card, all classified as Grade I races. In 2007, three races — Dirt Mile, Filly and Mare Sprint, and Juvenile Turf — were added, all of them run the Friday before the remaining eight races. Three more new races — a Turf Sprint, Juvenile Filly Turf and Marathon — were also added for 2008.[2]

The order of the races on the card has changed many times throughout the event's history, but the Turf and Classic are traditionally the last two races. Starting in 2008, Day 1 of the event will be dedicated to races for fillies and mares, with Day 2 featuring all other races.

[edit] 2008 Races

Friday

Saturday

The new races cannot be considered graded stakes in 2007, 2008, or 2009.[3] The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the body that controls grading of North American stakes races, requires that a race be run under the same conditions for at least two years before it can be graded.

The 2007 Dirt Mile was run over 1 mile and 70 yards, while the 2007 Filly & Mare Sprint was run over six furlongs. These distances were required because of the configuration of the dirt track at the 2007 Breeders' Cup site of Monmouth Park.

The 2008 Turf Sprint will be contested on Santa Anita Park's signature El Camino Real “downhill” turf course, with a maximum of 14 starters. In future years, the distance will depend on track configurations.[4]

Beginning in 2007, a new qualifying process took effect, in which the winners of certain races earned automatic entry to the event in their respective divisions.

[edit] History

The all-time leaders in Breeders' Cup wins are:

Churchill Downs has hosted the race card six times, more than any other track. It hosted the card most recently in 2006.

[edit] Television

NBC had broadcast every Breeders' Cup from its inception in 1984 through 2005. Starting in 2006, ESPN took over the television contract for eight years. On June 2, 2008, it was announced that ABC would televise a portion of the Saturday card from 1-3:30 PM Eastern before moving back to ESPN. ESPN2 airs the Friday Card.

Trevor Denman is the voice of the Breeders' Cup. He began in 2006. All previous Breeders' Cup races were called by Tom Durkin from 1984 through 2005.

[edit] Race tracks

Previous championships have been held at the following tracks:

Some future sites have been set:

First time in Breeder's Cup History the event will be held consecutively at the same venue, and on a synthetic racing surface.


[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Sentient is New Breeders' Cup Partner | Blood-Horse.com
  2. ^ Monthly Index to Online Story's | Blood-Horse.com
  3. ^ Graded Stakes Committee releases 2008 changes - Thoroughbred Times
  4. ^ Monthly Index to Online Story's | Blood-Horse.com

[edit] See also