Entries for the Breeders' Cup meeting closed at noon (Kentucky time) yesterday. We can expect the full lists of entries to be released sometime today. In the meantime, I'm posting a link to the Horseman's Guide 2011, which gives you in depth information on the meeting, with details of race conditions, entry costs, etc. It is worth a look if you've never seen it before. https://members.breederscup.com/doc%20repository/other/2011HIG.pdf Once the entries have been published in full I will put them up/post a link.
I’m a huge fan of the ‘Breeders Cup’ and not just because I share the same initials as it. I think some of the great events of the sport have taken place at the meet over the course of the past 20+ years. As I’ve said before the one that I really hope gets sent across the water is Mr O’Brien’s Daddy Long Legs. Am a huge fan of this horse and his win in the Royal Lodge, last time out, looked out of the top drawer to my eye. Think, given his pedigree, he would have a great chance in the ‘Juvenile’. My old fave, Midday, for Sir Henry would obviously be another leading hope should she go to the fixture for a third time.
Finally I've found something that resembles a list of pre-entries https://members.breederscup.com/doc%20repository/championships/2011PossibleStarters.pdf
SBC - remember the Sunday Silence and Easy Goer battle ? That must be one of the first Breeders Cups, late 80s ?
The first Breeders' Cup was 1984 at Hollywood Park. Sunday Silence won the Classic at Gulfstream in 1989. There is a very interesting and, I think, accurate article re the demise of Breeders' Cup in today's Racing Post.
Both meetings are overrated, they may beat us on Prize money, but our races are always of a far higher quality. The Breeders Cup is a mickey mouse event, it has been for years
Nass, it was called Breeders' Cup as that is where the funding originally came from - stallion owners paid the equivalent of one stud fee to register their horses into the scheme so that their foals were able to be nominated by their breeders at $500 a go. These days, however, the vast majority of their money comes from sponsorship deals and the massive supplements that non-nominated horses have to pay. A prime example being JOSHUA TREE - his owners wanted to send him, but when they found out it will cost them $190,000 + shipping costs just to get there (because he was not nominated at an earlier stage) they decided not to bother.
I've now got the official entries for the meeting but they are embargoed until 3pm. I'll put them up shortly afterwards.
The article, by Julian Muscat, from today's RP: Champions Day has helped dull Breeders’ Cup sparkle Something had to give. There are only so many good horses to go round, and the principal sufferer within an increasingly cluttered autumnal programme is undoubtedly the Breeders’ Cup. What was once a magnet for Europe’s finest horses is in danger of becoming a graveyard to the cause of international competition. Where the likes of Dancing Brave, Dayjur Giant’s Causeway, Miesque, Pebbles, Rock Of Gibraltar and Sakhee once trod, Europeans are treading no longer. That won’t stop the Americans hyping it for more than it is worth, but a look at the European absentees tells the sorry story The self-styled World Thoroughbred Championships will have a hollow ring. Among leading three-year-olds there will be no Frankel, no Dream Ahead, no Excelebration, no Danedream, no Nathaniei, no Immortal Verse, no Reliable Man and no Moonlight Cloud. Only Sea Moon and Strong Suit; neither of them a Group 1 winner. It’s the same with our best older horses. No Cirrus Des Aigles, no Workforce, no Twice Over, no Snow Fairy and no Dick Turpin. Only So You Think, Midday and Goldikova, for whom the lure is a slice of Breeders’ Cup history What will that be worth ten years from now? In truth, it has been a transformation waiting to happen. The vexed question of raceday medication has always rested uneasily on European shoulders. The ‘when in Rome’ never worked. Andre Fabre1 the most successful European trainer at the Breeders’ Cup, has always left bute and lasix in the vets’ cupboard. The medication issue polarises opinion to the extent that reduced European participation will pass unlamented by many But the denouement came with the advent of Chan ions Day, which was long overdue. It was absurd that our finest horses went for their swansongs to race in unfamiliar conditions on tracks bearing no resemblance to the ones on which they forged their reputations. In some ways, though, that was the attraction. It was the ultimate challenge for horses who had carded all before them on European playgrounds. It asked different questions. Horses bereft of early pace were forced to sit and suffer beholden to the steely nerve of their jockeys and a good deal of luck. And of course, underpinning it all was the essence of international -competition. It pitted the best from one continent against another. It was an equine Ryder Cup that never quite capitalised on a theme that has made golf’s version one of the most compelling of sporting contests. Champions Day alone is not responsible for the Breeders’ Cup’s fall from grace. There were always issues with a registration process that penalised failure to comply with supplementary entry fees punitive to all hut the richest owners, To this eye, however, the Breeders’ Cup as a forum for international competition collapsed when Americans turned back from the road that was leading to racing on artificial surfaces, rather than dirt. Santa Anita led the way but its Pro-Ride surface was flawed from the start. The rush to install Pro-Ride was a mistake exacerbated by a lack of investment that saw the surface cause all manner of problems. Any significant lain caused waterlogging that forced the abandonment of several meetings. The safety of the surface was compromised, a return to dirt inevitable. Racing on ‘synthetics’ offered the solution to the medication issue. If we in Europe could train horses on such surfaces every day, without the need for drugs, the Americans could surely do-likewise. But the debate never got an airing: It was suppressed by the clamour for a return to dirt and with it a return to the problems that prevented Europeans from competing on equal terms. Where now for the Breeders’ Cup? That’s a tricky one. The steamboat may be too close to the waterfall for redemption. Officials have recently introduced a number of inducements, including the not-inconsiderable concession of drug-flee two-year-old races next year and a drug-free platform for all horses from 2013. But it might be a case of too little, too late. Rival attractions in the Far East are gaining momentum. Next year the gap between Champions Day and the Breeders’ Cup is just two weeks, as opposed to three. The existing schedule is far too tight for all but the Ballydoyle juggernaut, which has always had more talented horses than there axe races to go around. To see the Breeders’ Cup emasculated in this way would be a great shame The event served up one of the defining images of the sport, when a European champion two-year-old challenged the best Americans on their surface and swept through from a tailed-off last to win, going further away with every stride, by nearly five lengths. It’s sobering to think we might never see another like Arazi.
Bit before my time Grizzly but, as I’ve said before, the Arazi BC race was the one that really captured my interest in the sport when I was a young ‘un. Found, and still do, the way he manoeuvred his way around the entire field an absolute joy to behold.
Arazi sure was exceptional. A breathtaking display. I've just started a Breeders' Cup Greats Series for my Blog and he was first on the list. I agree that it's undoubted demise as a 'World Championship' is a shame. It would be great for racing if there was a recognised world final but their abandonment of synthetic surfaces in favour of a return to dirt was a move that alienated the rest of the world. I can see our own Champions Day, and the valuable Eastern prizes detracting from the meeting more and more in the coming seasons. It seems to be that Champions Day has every chance of becoming the Turf championship (all the day lacks is a top juvenile race). I also understand that the current financial situation of the Breeders' Cup is unsustainable so it could be that the meeting as we know it will not last much longer.
Zenyatta....don't forget to include Personal Ensign in the 1988 Distaff, when she looked well beaten, and was atleast 6 lenghs back turning for home, yet she kept on plugging away, only to get up in a photo, to retire unbeaten. That has to be the most dramatic finish to any Breeders Cup race. The other one I liked was High Chapparel's dead heat in the Turf. If we have a world final for horse racing, then I believe it should be passed around from continent to continent, I don't agree that it should be ran in one nation every year, as that's clearly unfair on the horse's who have had to travel 1000s of miles to race, though I do think it is highly unlikely that would ever happen
There has been talk of moving Breeders' Cup around in the past, but it was, quite rightly, shouted down by the American breeders who do still put up a large % of the prize money. Of the $25million spent each year around $9million comes from the American stallion owners/foal nominators. They lost a huge sum of money in the banking crash of 2008, they had invested a substantial sum in bonds, etc and the something like $20million was wiped off their value.
PN....End of the day, if any meeting wants to get recognition as a world final, it needs to be passed around, to give the whole world, equal opportunity. As it stands the Breeders Cup is just the American final, and is no more important than Arc Day, Champions Day, Cox Plate Day, Dubai World Cup day etc etc
Perception is a strange thing. This thread reeks of gloom for the two day meet. But those on the other side of the ditch are not so gloomy about things. A report in the NY Times paints a more glowing prospect. Of course it has to, as do the UK, Australian and French authorities, but when you consider that they have a record entry this year, things can't be all that bad. And they have a faith in their newer products that Europeans lack. I guess the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. I can't wait.
I'm planning my first ever trip the USofA next November to coincide with the BCs return to Santa Anita in 2012. This is one limey who still finds the Breeder's Cup a massive draw.
The Breeders Cup is a great name, and im looking forward to it a million times more than I was "british champions day". British racing is a laughing stock at the minute and alot of people on here are trying to diss the Breeders Cup. Royal Ascot and The Ebor Meeting are the only two meetings I look forward to more than the Breeders Cup. As a spectacle, the Breeders Cup is second to none, and it should never be moved from dirt. They have made plenty of Turf races for the sole purpose of attracting Europeans, and they should be commended for that. As for the guy in the RP, never heard of him in my life and British Champions Day will never compete with The Breeders Cup in a million years. America still has alot of good horses, its a myth that their horses are so poor, we have been spoiled in Europe with the likes of Sea The Stars, Zarkava, Frankel, New Approach, Henrythenavigator, Ravens Pass and others over the last few years but its swings and roundabouts. The strength in depth has not been great in America recently but they have still had the likes of Zenyatta, Curlin, Rachel Alexandra, Street Sense and I can assure you, Havre De Grace and Uncle Mo are both great horses. They also have a hugely exciting 2yo crop this year, with Union Rags looking like he could be a triple crown horse next year. Completely agree with Cyclonic Shergar "the breeders cup is a mickey mouse event" - Lets just add that to the ever growing list of insane comments from Shergar.
"Among leading three-year-olds there will be no Frankel, no Dream Ahead, no Excelebration, no Danedream, no Nathaniei, no Immortal Verse, no Reliable Man and no Moonlight Cloud. Only Sea Moon and Strong Suit; neither of them a Group 1 winner. It’s the same with our best older horses. No Cirrus Des Aigles, no Workforce, no Twice Over, no Snow Fairy and no Dick Turpin. Only So You Think, Midday and Goldikova, for whom the lure is a slice of Breeders’ Cup history What will that be worth ten years from now?" No Frankel? He will be there next year Dream Ahead? Hardly a great - Retired Excelebration? Decent horse, no more Danedream? Owners and trainer decided that it would come too soon after the Arc no Nathaniial, no Immortal Verse, no Reliable Man and no Moonlight Cloud - all soft ground horses, none of which would have any chance of winning a race at the meeting. No Cirrus Des Aigles, no Workforce, no Twice Over, no Snow Fairy and no Dick Turpin. - Cirrus Des Aigles has ran about 15 times this year, Workforce is finished, as is Twice Over, Dick Turpins trainer has sent his best miler, and Snow Fairy ran in the Arc and is going to a race where she has proven herself before. Are these supposed to be the best horses in the world or something? The horses that any would be great must be judged against? The case this guy has made is completely laughable.
