Breeders Cup Tickets

"There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse." The Breeders' Cup World Championships always understood this companionship. The Breeders' Cup was founded in 1982 by John R. Gaines, a leading thoroughbred owner and breeder. A consortium of North American racing organizations, led by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, it won annual series of Grade I thoroughbred horse races. Since its inception in 1984, a single-day event expanded to two days starting in 2007, pending regulatory approval. Organized every time at a new location in the United States, except in 1996, when the races were at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.

All Breeders' Cup fields are limited to 14 runners. If more than 14 are pre-entered, Breeders' Cup officials use a two-part selection system to decide which horses will compete. The first seven runners earn automatic berths based on the points they have earned in American graded stakes races then a panel of racing directors and secretaries choose the next seven entrants.Through 2006, there were eight races on the Breeders' Cup card, all classified as Grade I races. These races will continue to be held, with a further three to be introduced on the eve before the main day. The races are listed below in their order on the 2006 race card; the order of the first six listed races varies from year to year, but the 'Turf' and 'Classic' are traditionally the last two races.

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: for 3-year-olds and up. Purse is $1 million. Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint: A seven-furlong race for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up. Purse is $1 million. Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: A one-mile event on grass opens to 2-year-old colts, geldings, and fillies. Purse is $1 million. European-based horses also came and conquered on American soil. In 1984, Alain de Royer-Dupre saddled the Aga Khan's Lashkari to win the first Breeders' Cup Turf. The late Francois Boutin brought over the great mare Miesque in 1987; she was the heroine of the Mile that year and returned the next year to win again, making her the first multiple Breeders' Cup race winner. France-based trainer Andre Fabre had a talented contingent over the years with four winners from 39 starters but Arcangues will be remembered as his standout performer. In 1993, Arcangues stunned the world with his win in the Classic, paying $269.20, which still stands as the highest payoff in Breeders' Cup history. More recently, Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien brought his top runners from Ireland and England. Since his first appearance in 1998, O'Brien saddled 39 starters, coming away with three victories. Each year the Breeders' Cup World Championships is held at a different racetrack in North America on a rotating basis. In 2007, Monmouth Park in New Jersey will host the event for the first time. With the addition of three races, each worth $1 million, the event will be expanded to a two-day format to take place October 26 and 27, culminating in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

Announced in April of 1982 by leading Thoroughbred owner and breeder John R. Gaines, the Breeders' Cup served as a positive step toward not only promoting racing, but uniting the industry itself. Breeders' Cup Limited enjoyed immediate and widespread support from the industry through annual nomination payments for stallions and one-time nomination payments for those stallions' offspring. 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. Depending on one's definition of "sport", it is either the richest or second-richest day in sports, worth $18 million in prize money in 2006 and rising to $20 million for the second day of the 2007 event. The other possible contender for "richest day in sports" is the final table of the main event of the World Series of Poker, in which just over $22 million in prize money was awarded in 2007 (down from nearly $38 million in 2006).

Since the inaugural running at Hollywood Park 23 years ago, the Breeders' Cup has established itself as the season-ending championship of Thoroughbred racing. It is now firmly entrenched in American racing lore with a history and tradition all its own. The Breeders' Cup World Championships also served as a deciding factor in Eclipse Award voting. The Eclipse Awards, which honor Horse of the Year and other champions in the sport, are voted on annually by representatives of Daily Racing Form, the National Turf Writers Association and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. In 2006, we witnessed every Eclipse Award winner participate in the Breeders' Cup, something never achieved previously. With each Breeder's Cup race worth at least $1 million, the day has been a magnet for the most outstanding equine competitors in the world. American champions such as Azeri, A.P. Indy, Alysheba, Cigar, Personal Ensign, Ferdinand, Sunday Silence, and countless others have demonstrated greatness at Breeders' Cup. Last year's Championships at Churchill Downs were no exception - we saw Ouija Board win her second title in three years in the Filly & Mare Turf, as well as Invasor, whose exceptional performance in the Classic brought him Eclipse honors as both outstanding older male and Horse of the Year. Technically, the three new races cannot be considered graded stakes in 2007. 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. However, the races' purses and inclusion as part of the Breeders' Cup program will likely ensure that they will be classified as Grade I once they are eligible for grading.Assuming that the races are approved, the 2007 Dirt Mile will be run over 1 mile and 70 yards, while the 2007 Filly & Mare Sprint will be run over six furlongs. These distances are required because of the configuration of the dirt track at the 2007 Breeders' Cup site of Monmouth Park.A new qualifying process will take effect from 2007, where the winners of 24 races at six tracks - Saratoga Race Course, Arlington Park, Del Mar Racetrack, Belmont Park, Keeneland and Santa Anita during the Oak Tree meeting - will automatically be entered for the event in their respective divisions, to be held October 27 at Monmouth Park.