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Saturday July 7, 2007
The HRH Racing Digest
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Jim Lambert
Founder Horse-Race-Handicapping.com

The Horse-Race-Handicapping.com Breeders Cup 2007 Series

Installment 1 of 3

"The Brave New World Of Breeders Cup"

by Jim Lambert

The Best Kept Secret Of Breeders Cup

I'll bet you know that the Breeders Cup World Championship is a series of races that is televised on one power-packed card. You may also know that Breeders Cup is staged annually in autumn, and that the host race track rotates from year to year, much like the NFL Super Bowl alternates between host cities. And I'll bet you've heard of at least some of the individual races, which historically are the Classic, the Sprint, the Turf, the Mile, the Distaff, the Juvenile, the Juvenile Fillies, and the Filly And Mare Turf. You probably know that Invasor (2006 Horse of the Year) won the Breeders Cup Classic in 2006, and you may even know that Bernardini finished behind him in second. If you are a real racing aficionado, you know that the first Breeders Cup was held at Hollywood Park in 1984, and if you ever tried out for Jeopardy you may know that the Filly And Mare Turf was inaugurated at Gulfstream Park in 1999. That's what you might know.

But I'll bet you don't know how a horse qualifies to run in a Breeders Cup Championship race in the first place. And that is the best kept secret of Breeders Cup, much to the chagrin of Breeders Cup organizers. Historically, the general public expresses only mild interest in Breeders Cup until about two weeks before the event. And that is the reason why the NTRA (National Thoroughbred Racing Association) and Breeders Cup Limited (Ltd) are changing the rules for 2007. The new program is being formally called the Breeders Cup Challenge, but its popular nickname is Win And You're In, and it's going to award 24 automatic berths for Breeders Cup 2007. The winner of each of 24 important stakes and handicap events (on 6 big days in the summer and early fall of 2007) gets a free ticket to Breeders Cup. This plan is not a complete overhaul, but it's a major change to the status quo, and it's high time. The Breeders Cup Challenge is a brainstorm of Breeders Cup Ltd along with the leadership of several of the best racetracks across the country.

The way it worked before was a two-tiered system, and that essentially will not change. The first tier is a point system and the second tier is an expert panel. Up to 14 starters are allowed in each Breeders Cup race. If 14 or less horses are entered for a race, no problem, everybody gets in. But if more than 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.

Breeders Cup Graded Stakes Points

	Win	Place	Show
Grade 1	10	6	4
Grade 2	6	4	2
Grade 3	4	2	1

Graded Stakes Points for dirt races will be the only points counted for horses pre-entered in dirt Championship Races and Graded Stakes Points for turf races will be the only points counted for horses pre-entered in turf Championship Races. Graded Stakes Points points are tallied up during the year, and the number of points a horse earns determines if he makes the cut or not.

There are two caveats. The first is the way points are counted for juveniles. All Graded Stakes Points [from dirt and turf races] will be counted for the three two-year old Championship Races. The other caveat concerns artificial surfaces [Polytrack and Cushion Track]. Points earned on artificial surfaces are counted as dirt points. This causes some ugly problems for the Breeders Cup. For example, Student Council won the Pacific Classic [Del Mar] on Polytrack and earned an automatic berth to the Breeders Cup Classic at Monmouth Park. Should his connections choose to enter him in the Classic, Student Council will have virtually no chance to win [on the Monmouth Park dirt course]. Personally, I feel that automatic berths should be awarded only from races run on the same surface as the Breeders Cup race.

The first seven positions in an oversubscribed field are awarded based on the point system. These seven get to run based strictly 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. Dreaming Of Anna won the 2006 Juvenile Fillies after being awarded a berth by the expert panel, even though she failed to qualify based on points.

The two-tier system is still in place for 2007, but it has to make room for the Breeders Cup Challenge program (Win And You're In). Every time a horse wins an automatic bid he uses up one of the seven positions awarded on points. This means the expert panel still gets to award the final seven berths in an oversubscribed field. The new rules directly effect a horse that is on the bubble. A horse that is ranked seventh on points can be bounced to eighth by a horse who wins an automatic berth. Dropping to eighth in the points rankings places him at the mercy of the expert panel. This is sure to spice up the Breeders Cup selection process.

The new Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf allows only 12 instead of the traditional 14 entrants. The above rules follow, except six positions are awarded on points [and any automatic berths] and six positions are selected by the expert panel.

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The Breeders Cup Challenge Program [Win And You're In]

OK. Enough about the rules. Let's check out the races where the winner gets a free pass to Breeders Cup 2007. And just for fun we'll list last year's winner next to each race, so we can see if he (or she) made it to Breeders Cup.

Here is the breakdown for 2007. The first big day is July 28, 2007.

Date	Race	Division	TV	2006 Winner	Result
Jul 28	Whitney Handicap [Saratoga]	Classic	ABC	Invasor	1st in Classic
Jul 28	Go For Wand Stakes [Saratoga]	Distaff	ABC	Spun Sugar	8th in Distaff
Jul 28	Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap [Saratoga]	Sprint	ABC	War Front	7th in Sprint
Jul 28	Diana Handicap [Saratoga]	Filly & Mare Turf	ABC	Angara	[Did Not Run]
Aug 11	Arlington Million [Arlington Park]	Turf	ESPN2	The Tin Man	[Did Not Run]
Aug 11	Secretariat Stakes [Arlington Park]	Turf	ESPN2	Showing Up	[Did Not Run]
Aug 11	Beverly D. Stakes [Arlington Park]	Filly & Mare Turf	ESPN2	Gorella	7th in Mile
Aug 19	Pacific Classic [Del Mar]	Classic	ESPN2	Lava Man	7th in Classic
Aug 19	Pat O'Brien Handicap [Del Mar]	Sprint	ESPN2	Siren Lure	8th in Sprint
Aug 19	Del Mar Mile [Del Mar]	Mile	ESPN2	Aragorn	2nd in Mile
Sep 30	Jockey Club Gold Cup [Belmont]	Classic	ESPN	Bernardini	2nd in Classic
Sep 30	Goodwood Handicap [Oak Tree at Santa Anita]	Classic	ESPN	Lava Man	7th in Classic
Sep 30	Beldame Stakes [Belmont]	Distaff	ESPN	Fleet Indian	13th in Distaff [Broke Down]
Sep 30	Joe Hirsch Turf Classic [Belmont]	Turf	ESPN	English Channel	3rd in Turf
Sep 30	Vosburgh Stakes [Belmont]	Sprint	ESPN	Henny Hughes	14th in Sprint
Oct 6	First Lady Stakes [Keeneland]	Filly & Mare Turf	ESPN	Gorella	7th in Mile
Oct 6	Shadwell Turf Mile [Keeneland]	Mile	ESPN	Aussie Rules	8th in Mile
Oct 6	Lane's End Breeders' Futurity [Keeneland]	Juvenile	ESPN	With A City	[Did Not Run] (Euthanized April 2006)
Oct 6	Champagne Stakes [Belmont]	Juvenile	ESPN	Scat Daddy	4th in Juvenile
Oct 6	Phoenix Stakes [Keeneland]	Sprint	ESPN	Areyoutalkintome	13th in Sprint
Oct 7	Ancient Title Handicap [Oak Tree at Santa Anita]	Sprint	ESPN2	Bordonaro	4th in Sprint
Oct 7	Lady's Secret Handicap [Oak Tree at Santa Anita]	Distaff	ESPN2	Healthy Addiction	12th in Distaff
Oct 7	Juddmonte Spinster Stakes [Keeneland]	Distaff	ESPN2	Asi Siempre	2nd in Distaff [DQ & Placed 4th]
Oct 7	Oak Tree Mile [Oak Tree at Santa Anita]	Mile	ESPN2	Aragorn	2nd in Mile

Last year a lot of Breeders Cup horses came out of these stakes races. The 2006 Whitney produced the Breeders Cup Classic winner [Invasor]. The Jockey Club Gold Cup yielded the Classic runner-up [Bernardini]. The Oak Tree Mile produced the second place finisher in the Breeders Cup Mile [Aragorn]. The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic produced the third place finisher in the Breeders Cup Turf [English Channel]. This year every winner of these 24 races gets a free pass to Breeders Cup.

To see the updated list of the winners of the 2007 automatic berths, just click on Breeders Cup Challenge and add us to your favorites.

The 2007 World Championships At Monmouth Park

This year's culminating event is the two-day World Championships (October 26 and 27) staging 11 races at Monmouth Park, New Jersey worth $23 million in purses. Three new $1 million races will be introduced on Friday, October 26. They are the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile (for 3-year-olds and up), the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (for 3-year-olds and up fillies & mares), and the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf.

Monmouth Park has undergone some $30 million dollars of renovations in preparation for hosting the 2007 Breeders Cup championships. Two of the biggest highlights include major changes to the Monmouth racing surfaces. A completely new cushion for the dirt course has been installed (similar to the standard cushions used on the east coast) and was ready in time for the May 12, 2007 season opening. Also, a brand new turf course was installed in early 2006, and made its debut in the summer of 2006.

The Breeders Cup 2007 Edition
With Patented Computer Analysis And Handicapping
Commentary For The Entire Breeders Cup Card
And $100 BANKROLL Breeders Cup Plays
From Horse Race Handicapping.com
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