"The Blossoming Of Breeders Cup"
pp
Jim Lambert
Founder Horse-Race-Handicapping.com
The Real Scoop On Breeders Cup
The easiest way to describe Breeders Cup is to picture a pyramid. There are two organizations at the top of the Breeders Cup pyramid. They are the NTRA (National Throroughbred Racing Association) and the Breeders Cup Limited (Ltd). Breeders Cup Ltd oversees the Breeders Cup Foal and Stallions Nomination programs in conjunction with the Breeders Cup Stakes program which will include 135 stakes races in 2006
culminating in the Breeders Cup Championships
November 4, 2006 at
Churchill Downs. Breeders Cup Ltd works closely with the NTRA to integrate Breeders Cup Purse and Award distributions into the Purse structures defined by the participating racetracks and their sponsors. Together the NTRA and Breeders Cup Ltd are a formidable duo and seek to expand public awareness of the U.S. and Canadian thoroughbred racing industry. They provide a forum in which the best assets of the sport are presented in all their glitter and glamour to adoring masses.
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The plan seems to be working. In the year 2000 the adoring masses wagered over $108 million for the Breeders Cup Championships held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. If you did the math, you'd see that about $20 million of that total went to purses, awards, and track operating expenses,
making it a very good day indeed for the NTRA-Breeders Cup Ltd two-headed giant. In 2002 at Arlington Park, $108.5 million was bet on the Breeders Cup Championship races, breaking the previous record. A new record of $109.8 million was established in 2004 at Lone Star Park.
Most recently in 2005 at Belmont Park, yet another record of $112.9
million was established. Expectations are high in
Louisville, Kentucky for the 2006 Breeders Cup program.
Back to the pyramid, so who is at the bottom? That would be you and me and all our friends, in other words, the adoring masses. The fans spend money either by betting on the races or by buying racing paraphernalia, or by purchasing the products advertised on television and the internet and printed matter by Breeders Cup sponsors. We, the betting and buying public, are one of the the prime targets of this multi-million dollar annual championship series. And boy do we respond, to the tune of
about $110 million wagered on Breeders Cup
Championship races alone.
In the center of the pyramid are the everyday horsemen. These folks are the breeders, owners, trainers, hotwalkers, grooms, jockeys, racetrack administrators, and anyone else responsible for the day-to-day operations that keep the industry running smoothly. They are the heart and soul, the backbone of the racing industry and nothing works without them. The owners and breeders also provide the Stallion and Foal Breeders Cup Nomination fees which in large part fund the Breeders Cup Purse and Awards distribution programs. And do not forget the Breeders Cup race entry Supplemental fees.
Together the top, middle, and bottom cross-sections of the Breeders Cup pyramid form a three-tiered partnership, and Breeders Cup Championship Day is the big party where all partners are invited.
So where does it all start? That would be the breeding farm, of course. It starts when a breeding farm forks over $500 to nominate a promising weanling for future Breeders Cup purse distributions. For instance, the nomination deadline is October 16, 2006 for 2006 weanlings. The Breeder will receive Breeders Cup Awards distributions every time the weanling finishes first, second, or third
in future Breeders Cup Stakes races. And the future owner will be eligible to receive Breeders Cup purse distributions as well. In a typical Breeders Cup Stakes race (there are 135 to be run in the U.S. and Canada in 2006) about 2/3 of the purse money is put up by the racetrack and its sponsors and about 1/3 is put up by Breeders Cup Ltd. If a Breeders Cup nominated horse wins then the connections get the winner's share of the entire purse. If a non-nominated horse wins the connections get the winner's share
of only the racetrack sponsored portion of the purse. This is a huge incentive for the breeders, owners, trainers, and riders to be caring for and nurturing Breeders Cup nominated horses.
Not just the weanling gets nominated, but the stallion gets nominated also. In fact, a weanling cannot be nominated unless the stallion
has also been nominated. Of the over 3,000 stallions standing each year, some 1,200 are nominated annually. Stallions must be nominated every year to maintain eligibility. The Stallion annual nomination fee is equal to the going stud fee but not less than $1,000.
If his progeny finishes first, second, or third in Breeders Cup Stakes races, Breeders Cup awards distributions are presented to
the nominating breeder
for which the
stallion stands, similar to the awards program for horses nominated as weanlings.
How do the dollars add up?
The Breeders Cup Ltd is funding about $8.0 million in 2006 for Breeders Cup Stakes races, an increase of
about $695 thousand from 2005.
This follows a $205 thousand increase in 2005 when the $7.3
million funding plateau was reached.
In 2006, the total
of U.S. and Canadian
Breeders Cup eligible races
is 135. This does not include the eight races on Championship Day,
November 4, 2006, for which Breeders Cup Ltd provides $14 million in purses. Total purses for the 135 pre-Championship Breeders Cup Stakes races are roughly $26 million. Since 1984, Breeders
Cup Ltd has distributed over $380 million in Purses and Awards. That's quite a bit of cheese.
Of the 135 Breeders Cup Stakes races,
81 are Graded stakes run in the U.S. and 6 are Graded stakes run in Canada. This leaves
a balance of 48 non-Graded stakes races.
Beginning July 1, 2005, all Breeders Cup Grade I events
have been run as
weight-for-age. This is a victory for horsemen and for the horses themselves, as unruly Handidcap weight assignments are no longer allowed for these events. This is also a victory for bettors, as weight-for-age is a more fair and thus more predictable circumstance for race handicapping.
Finally, how does a horse qualify for the Breeders Cup Championship Day races? A maximum of 14 starters are allowed in each Championship Day race. If more then 14 horses are entered then the race is "oversubscribed." This is where the Breeders Cup points
system kicks in. During the year, horses that finish first, second, or third in Graded stakes races earn points. More points are earned in Grade 1 events than in Grade 2 events. For example, a winner of a Grade 1 race earns ten points, while a winner of a Grade 2 race earns six points. The number of points a horse has is critical when a race is oversubscribed. The first seven positions in an oversubscribed field are ranked based on the point system. These seven get to run based on their points. The last seven positions are determined by a combination of points earned and the opinions of an expert panel. This provides a "buffer zone" to allow late bloomers to get a chance to
race against their peers.
That's Breeders Cup in a nutshell.
Horse-Race-Handicapping.Com
is your first and last stop for Breeders Cup 2006 coverage.
For
Horse-Race-Handicapping.Com
computer analysis of all Breeders
Cup Championship races November 4 Click
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The Breeders
Cup
Special 2006 Edition
From
Horse Race Handicapping.com
For
Information
Click
Here