Contacts: Jim Gluckson, Breeders’ Cup (jgluckson@breederscup.com) 212-230-9512
Jenna Browning, Conover Tuttle Pace (jbrowning@ctpboston.com) 617-412-4000
Dan Silver, NYRA (dsilver@nyrainc.com) 718-659-2329
Series to Include 68 Races, Winners Earn Automatic Berths, Travel and Entry Fees Paid Into World Championships
NEW YORK (April 20, 2011) -- The Breeders' Cup Challenge, a global series of 68 automatic qualifying races for the Breeders' Cup World Championships, will feature 15 new Grade or Group 1 races this year, with the Breeders’ Cup paying entry fees and providing travel allowances for the winning connections into the Championships, it was announced today by Breeders’ Cup officials. .
The expanded Challenge series, now in its fifth year, will be held at many of the world’s premier racetracks in the US, Canada, Argentina, Australia, England France, Ireland and Japan. This year’s series began in
DATE RACE BC QUALIFYING RACE
May 30, 2011 Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) Dirt Mile
Oct. 1, 2011 Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational (gr. I) Classic
Oct. 1, 2011 Kelso Handicap (gr. II) Dirt Mile
Oct. 1, 2011 Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes (gr. I) Filly & Mare Turf
Oct. 1, 2011 Beldame Stakes Invitational (gr. I) Ladies’ Classic
Oct. 1, 2011 Vosburgh Invitational Stakes (gr. I) Sprint
Oct. 1, 2011 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (gr. I) Turf
Oct. 8, 2011
Oct. 8, 2011 Frizette Stakes (gr. I) Juvenile Fillies
“We are thrilled to partner with the Breeders’ Cup to present these exciting Challenge races at Belmont Park,” said NYRA VP and Director of Racing PJ Campo. “The new incentives this year, highlighted by the Breeders’ Cup paying the starting fees and providing travel allowances for Challenge series winners, will be very beneficial for NYRA and the horsemen. The number of Challenge races NYRA will host this year has more than doubled from last year and should provide a terrific build-up to the Breeders’ Cup.”
The 2011 US Challenge races will be televised on ESPN, TVG and HRTV and on TSN in
This year’s Breeders' Cup World Championships will be held November 4-5 at Churchill Downs in
Among the highlights of this year’s series are:
· As part of the enhanced benefits program for Breeders’ Cup Challenge winners introduced this year, the Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees of all Challenge winners starting in the Championships and provide a travel allowance of $20,000 to the winning connections of each Challenge winner from outside of North America and a $10,000 travel allowance for winners of Challenge races held in North America. The Challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program by the Championships’ pre-entry deadline of October 24 to receive the rewards.
· The 2011 series will feature 51 Group 1, American Grade I or Canadian Grade 1 races, an increase of 15 Grade I or Group 1 events over last year.
· There will be six automatic berths in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Classic qualifiers, all Grade I, begin on July 9 with the Hollywood Gold Cup from Hollywood Park; followed by the Haskell Invitational from Monmouth Park on July 31; the Whitney from Saratoga on August 6; the Pacific Classic from Del Mar on August 28 and the Jockey Club Gold Cup from Belmont Park and the Goodwood Handicap from Santa Anita Park, both on October. 1. The
· There will be 18 Challenge races held overseas, including 10 new events. Among those new events are the first-ever Challenge races in
· Also new this year, breeders of Challenge winners will benefit as the Breeders’ Cup will pay a $10,000 award to the nominator of each Challenge race winner.
To ensure that the world’s best horses can compete in the Challenge series and the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Breeders’ Cup is offering a special one-time “Open Enrollment” program this year. The Open Enrollment program, which ends on June 30, is available to any non-nominated horse anywhere in the world as long as the sire is Breeders’ Cup nominated in 2011. Non-nominated horses can be made fully eligible according to the following Open Enrollment fee schedule: yearlings for $3,000, two-year-olds for $6,000 and three-year-olds and up for $25,000.
“We have strengthened the Breeders’ Cup Challenge by upgrading the quality of the races and creating greater incentives for horsemen to participate in the series by paying the winners’ entry fees and travel expenses into the Championships,” said Clem Murphy, chairman of the Breeders’ Cup Racing and Nominations Committee. “All of these factors will help to generate increased awareness for our Championships throughout the summer and fall while promoting the best of Thoroughbred racing from around the world.”
In addition to the Hollywood Gold Cup, Jockey Club Gold Cup and Haskell, other new grade 1 races in North America joining the series this year are the Shoemaker Mile (Mile) at Hollywood Park on July 2; the Hopeful Stakes (Juvenile) at Saratoga on Sept. 5; and fall races at Belmont Park on Oct. 1: the Beldame (Ladies’ Classic); Flower Bowl Invitational (Filly & Mare Turf); Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (Turf) and the Vosburgh (Sprint).
Among the Group 1 returning races from Europe are the Prix Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard Jacques le Marois (Mile) from
About Breeders’ Cup
The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships. The Breeders’ Cup also administers the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. Total purses for this year’s two-day event at Churchill Downs, Nov. 4-5, are $26 million. The 2010 Breeders’ Cup delivered nearly $140 million in winning wagers to fans at betting locations around the globe. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup Web site, www.breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About NYRA
Founded in 1955, and franchised to run thoroughbred racing at
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