Winners of 77 Races Earn Automatic Berths, Travel and Entry Fees Paid Into World Championships
7 “Win and You’re In” Races for Breeders’ Cup Classic
The Breeders' Cup announced today that the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Challenge series schedule will consist of 77 automatic qualifying races, including four new races, into the Breeders' Cup World Championships with 49 Challenge races held in the U.S. and Canada, and 28 races to be run outside of North America.
Breeders’ Cup will pay entry fees and provide travel allowances for the connections of the Challenge winners to compete in a corresponding race of the Championships. (Complete 2016 schedule).
Horses from around the globe will be qualifying for the 33rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., on November 4-5, and will be televised live in the U.S. by the NBC Sports Group.
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which will host the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, will have five Breeders’ Cup Challenge races this year:
| Running Date | Race/Conditions | Purse/Distance | Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat. Jul 30 | CLEMENT L. HIRSCH STAKES (Gr. I) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up |
$300,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles |
Distaff |
| Sun. Jul 31 | BING CROSBY STAKES (Gr. I) Three-year-olds & up |
$300,000 Guaranteed 6 Furlongs |
Sprint |
| Sat. Aug 20 | TVG PACIFIC CLASSIC (Gr. I) Three-year-olds & up |
$1,000,000 Guaranteed 1 1/4 Miles |
Classic |
| Sat. Aug 20 | DEL MAR HANDICAP (Gr. II) Three-year-olds & up |
$250,000 Guaranteed 1 3/8 Miles (Turf) |
Turf |
| Sat. Aug 27 | PAT O'BRIEN STAKES (Gr. II) Three-year-olds & up |
$200,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs |
Dirt Mile |
This year, the NBC Sports Group will also televise the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In Series presented by Lane’s End Farm and America’s Best Racing,” featuring Challenge races across 9 shows in the U.S. from June until the World Championships.
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, now in its ninth year, will be held at many of the world’s premier racetracks in 12 countries: U.S., Canada, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Peru and South Africa.
As part of the enhanced benefits to horsemen in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees and guarantee a starting position in a corresponding Championships race for winners of all Challenge races.
Breeders’ Cup will provide travel allowances to all starters outside of California for this year’s Championships including Challenge race winners. Breeders’ Cup will provide a $40,000 travel stipend to the connections of each Challenge winner from outside of North America and in North America, a $10,000 travel allowance for domestic winners stabled outside of California. The Challenge winner must already be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program or it must be done by the Championships’ pre-entry deadline of October 24 to receive the rewards.
Last year, a record 39 participants in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships earned automatic starting positions through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series with six winning their respective divisions: American Pharaoh (Classic), Stephanie’s Kitten (Filly & Mare Turf), Nyquist (Sentient Jet Juvenile), Songbird (14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies), Runhappy (TwinSpires Sprint) and Catch a Glimpse (Juvenile Fillies Turf). A total of 25 Challenge-winning starters earned first- through fifth-place purse money in the 2015 World Championships.
“Over the years, horsemen around the world have realized that one of the best ways to qualify for the World Championships is through winning a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race and receiving the added benefits of an automatic starting position and free entry provided in the series,” said Craig Fravel, Breeders’ Cup President and CEO. “As we continue to encourage international participation in the Challenge series, we thank our partner race tracks and jurisdictions for their commitment in the administration and promotion of these races.”
Some of the highlights of this year’s Challenge series are as follows:
- There will be seven automatic berths awarded for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, all grade I races: The Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 18; The Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 25; the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 31; the Whitney from Saratoga Race Course on August 8; the TVG Pacific Classic from Del Mar on August 20; the Awesome Again Stakes from Santa Anita Park on October 1 and The Jockey Club Gold Cup from Belmont Park on October 8.
- The series will include four new races: the Coolmore Legacy Queen of the Turf (G1), which was run on April 9 at Royal Randwick in Australia (Filly & Mare Turf); Gran Premio Club Hipico Falabella (G1) (Mile) at Club Hipico in Santiago, Chile on May 25; the Gran Premio Pamplona (G1) at Hipodromo Monterrico in Lima, Peru on June 26 and the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes (G2) (Turf Sprint) at The Curragh in Ireland on September 11.
- For the seventh consecutive year, the Breeders’ Cup will pay foal nominators of Challenge winners a $10,000 award.
The international portion of the series began on January 9 in South Africa at Kenilworth Racecourse, when Smart Call (SAF) won the Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes (G1) and qualified for an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and Legal Eagle (SAF) captured the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (G1) and gained an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
In April at Royal Randwick in Australia, Chautauqua (AUS) won the Darley TJ Smith Stakes (G1) (Turf Sprint), Winx (AUS) won the Star Doncaster Mile (G1) (Mile), and Askandellia (NZ) won the Coolmore Legacy.
The first two North American races of the series will be run on June 11 with the Metropolitan Handicap (GI) (Dirt Mile) and the Ogden Phipps (GI) (Distaff) at Belmont Park, and will be televised live on NBCSN.
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. The 2016 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 13 grade I races and purses totaling $26 million, will be held November 4-5 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., and will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. 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, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube