breeders cup horse races

The Breeders Crown is an annual series of Harness races covering each of the sport's twelve traditional categories of age, gait and gender. The series was initiated by the Hambletonian Society, promoters of the Hambletonian Stakes, in 1984 to enhance the Standardbred breeding industry and to promote the sport of Harness racing by providing a lucrative high profile championship race in each of these categories. The annual races for 3 year old trotting colts and geldings and 3 year old pacing colts and geldings, are each part of the Grand Slam Prize in harness racing. The races have rotated among a number of North American tracks. However, in recent years, the races have alternated principally between the Meadowlands Racetrack, near New York City, and Mohawk Raceway in Ontario, Canada. The 2008 races for 3 year olds and up will be held August 30 at Mohawk and the races for 2 and 3 years olds will be held November 29 at Meadowlands.
The 2007 Breeders' Cup World Championships took place October 26 and 27 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. The 2007 Event marked the first time the event has been held over two days.
In January, The Breeders' Cup announced the creation of three new $1 million dollar races to be held on Friday, the day before the traditional big day. The three new races will not have Grade 1 status, meaning that these will be the first Breders' Cup Races that will not have been run under Grade 1 status. All Breeders' Cup Races got grade 1 status before they were run in 1984.
The three New races are:
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup.
Weights for the race are:
4-year-olds and up: 126 pounds (57.2 kg) Northern Hemisphere 3-year-olds: 122 pounds (55.3 kg) Southern Hemisphere 3-year-olds: 117 pounds (53.1 kg) The reason for the difference in weight between 3-year-olds is that thoroughbreds foaled in the Northern Hemisphere increase in age for racing purposes on January 1, while Southern Hemisphere thoroughbreds do not increase in age until August 1. The Classic is considered by many to be the premier thoroughbred horse race of the year, and for 2006 only the Dubai World Cup surpassed its $5 million purse. Often, the winner goes on to win U.S. Horse of the Year honors, as have the last four winners of the race—Ghostzapper (2004), Saint Liam (2005), Invasor (2006), and Curlin (2007). Due to the extremely high quality of horses in the event, the race is notoriously hard to predict. One notable example of an underdog winning the Classic is the victory of Arcangues in 1993. This was the biggest upset in Breeders' Cup history and his $269.20 payoff for a $2 wager remains a Breeders' Cup record.
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup.
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 the second-richest. 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 richest single day in sports is now another Thoroughbred racing event, Dubai World Cup Night. It features six races with a combined purse of $21 million in 2008. In the past, those who considered poker a sport could argue that the final table of the World Series of Poker was the richest day in sports; the highest payout ever at the final table was $38 million in 2006. However, a change to the format of the final table in 2008 means that the final day of the WSOP is now behind both Dubai World Cup Night and Day 2 of the Breeders' Cup.
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 sponsorA 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 racesThe 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.