Breeders' Cup

On the back of a 2023 racing calendar which saw no racing fatalities, the 2024 summer season at Del Mar will feature among the nation's highest prize money as well as a 'robust' lineup of trackside events, the club announced Monday. Marking a historic shift, opening day will be held on a Saturday--July 20--for the first time since the 1950s due to a scheduling adjustment with the San Diego County Fair running through July 7. Tickets for opening weekend and the summer racing season will go on sale Friday, May...

The 2024 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In will consist of 82 races in 12 countries and host track Del Mar will run six on a schedule with several new additions, the organization announced via release Monday. In its 18th year, the Win and You're In (WAYI) program gives each winner an automatic qualifying position with fees paid into the corresponding race at the 2024 World Championships. In addition to the domestic schedule, forty-one international races will be held at premier tracks in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England,...

The 2024 schedule for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen, an incentive-based participation bonus program for horsemen pointing runners to the dirt races in the Breeders' Cup World Championships, was released Monday. Launched in 2022, the 12-race program is comprised of existing graded stakes races scheduled from May through October at six tracks throughout the United States. "We are happy to once again offer our lucrative Dirt Dozen program," said Dora Delgado, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Officer of Breeders' Cup Limited. "Each year $525,000 is offered in awards, and...

While tickets go on sale to the general public Apr. 22, fans can register for pre-sale access to tickets for this year's Breeders' Cup championship weekend at Del Mar at BreedersCup.com/2024. A broad range of seating options for the event were unveiled Tuesday at BreedersCup.com/Tickets. The Breeders' Cup returns to Del Mar for the third time Nov. 1-2. Ahead of championship weekend, Breeders' Cup and Del Mar will invest more than $5 million to create new seating areas and expanded hospitality offerings, including construction of a luxury chalet that will...

Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) Annual Summit and HRWS Events. Events at Keeneland (Apr. 18) and at Saratoga (July 23) kick off the year, all leading up to the third annual Horse Racing Women's Summit at Santa Anita Sept. 25-26. There will be another gathering prior to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar Oct. 31. Attendance at each event is limited and it is expected that events will sell out. Click here to purchase tickets. "Coming into our third year of the...

The GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic and the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf will both receive individual $1-million purse increases, Breeders' Cup Limited announced Tuesday. Beginning with this year's 41st World Championships at Del Mar, the purse of the 1 1/4-mile Longines Breeders' Cup Classic will increase from $6 million to $7 million, while the purse of the 1 1/2-mile Longines Breeders' Cup Turf will increase from $4 million to $5 million. This raises total purses and awards for the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious two-day event,...

With a strong first day program which ran the gambit from the centrality of horse racing's societal license to the destructive use of xylazine to an update from the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit, horse racing investigators at the annual Organization of Racing Investigators were immersed in some of the most pressing issues affecting the sport. Hosted by Parx Racing and sponsored by everyone from Keeneland to the Breeders' Cup, over 100 specialists who protect racetracks in America and several other countries, listened, asked questions and made connections, all in...

Edited Press Release New York Governor Kathy Hochul provided a project timeline and additional updates Monday on the construction of new racing facilities at Belmont Park. The New York Racing Association, which will oversee construction, also released a series of architectural renderings to bring the project's vision to life. Expected to be completed in late 2026, the multi-year project to build a new Belmont Park will generate $1 billion in construction-related economic impact and create 3,700 construction-related jobs. Following the return of thoroughbred racing to Belmont in 2026, additional racing...

Within the past three months, the purses for all three Triple Crown races have been raised. Paradoxically, this increase in prize money has coincided with a 2024 prep race season that is uncharacteristically light on emphatic, leap-off-the-page contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S., and GI Belmont S. The first weekend in March has traditionally served as a launch pad for sophomores who figure to excel in the spring Classics and beyond. Of all the prep stakes currently carded at 1 1/16 miles, the two that have historically...

Edited Press Release Santa Anita Park has opened its all-new synthetic Tapeta inner training track manufactured by Maryland-based Tapeta Footings, Inc., effective Saturday morning. Following the Breeders' Cup, the 'Great Race Place' embarked upon an $8 million project to provide horsemen with a state-of-the-art all-weather surface that will complement its one-mile natural dirt main track and serve as a safe and viable component in the conditioning of Thoroughbreds on a year 'round basis. "At Tapeta, our aim is to maintain the surface so that we have a soft cushion below and...

Things are starting to heat up. Saturday's Busher S. at Aqueduct and Saturday's GII Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream both have the potential to shake things up. The Davona Dale will feature the return of 2-year-old champion filly Just FYI (Justify) and what looks to be an up-and-coming star in Leslie's Rose (Into Mischief). The Busher will feature Jody's Pride (American Pharoah), who was the runner-up behind Just FYI in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Here's a look at the fourth installment of our Kentucky Oaks Top 10. 1)...

WinStar Farm has secured a 'Name, Image, and Likeness' deal with University of Kentucky basketball player Reed Sheppard to promote WinStar stallion Life Is Good (Into Mischief). A freshman guard for John Calipari's Wildcats, Sheppard was Mr. Kentucky Basketball in 2023 and a McDonald's All-American. Also honored as the 2022 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, Sheppard is off to a fast start for the Wildcats (20-8) this season. With March Madness on the horizon, Sheppard is averaging 12.5 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in the 2023-24...