No More Marathon In Breeder's Cup

[Shelby]

Matt Hegarty ‏@DRFHegarty 4m
BC has announced that the Marathon will be "discontinued." 1 3/4-mile has been run as part of two-day year-end event since 2008.


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[Tom]

The one BC race I win every year! :(:mad:

[Delta Cone]

The one BC race I win every year! :(:mad:

Lol... me too. Well, not every year, but the 2010 edition won by Eldaafer was a big hit for me and really made my Breeders Cup a whole lot more fun that year.

The disqualification of the place horse and Calvin Borel's antics in the winner's circle will always be a great memory for me.

[BlueChip@DRF]

They should make the Marathon a turf event.

[NJ Stinks]

This stinks. God forbid we should reward endurance here. :mad:

[tzipi]

For years it's been breeding for SPEED.....SPEED......SPEED....SPEED....SPEED. Nevermind the breakdowns....SPEED....SPEED....SPEED!

[breezing]

have to admit i'm quite disappointed in that decision, i really liked the marathon.

[tanner12oz]

Replacing it with something or simply gone?

[jeebus1083]

It's time to move the Post-2006 Breeders' Cup races to Friday, and restore the Pre-2006 "classic" Breeders' Cup races to their rightful slot on Saturday.

[Tom]

Hear, hear!
Make it a two-day event, but put the meat on Saturday and the appetizers on Friday.

[PhantomOnTour]

Hear, hear!
Make it a two-day event, but put the meat on Saturday and the appetizers on Friday.
Heck, make the Marathon itself a two-day event :D

I am sad to see it canceled also. Some part of me wanted to see it get Gr1 status and have American trainers actually point for this race rather than kind of wind up there.

[Mineshaft]

Glad to see it go. It was always a 6-7 horse field, not a good betting race.

[maclr11]

Id hope the tracks comeback and write a 100k stake or small overnight for the undercard just to add some flavour. You might get a fuller field just because it would attract some more allowance type horses.

[Mineshaft]

how about a turf sprint for both boys and girls going down the hill 6.5 furlongs. They only have a turf sprint for the boys and I think adding a filly division you would get at least 10-12 entries which is better than the 7 for the Turf Marathon

[maclr11]

Glad to see it go. It was always a 6-7 horse field, not a good betting race.

You should be barred for this idiotic comment. Do you think or do any research before you spit out false information. In six years the BC Marathon has had fields of 10,13,11,12,10 and 8. That works out to an average of 10.6667. So where is that 6 or 7 horse field you speak of........

[maclr11]

how about a turf sprint for both boys and girls going down the hill 6.5 furlongs. They only have a turf sprint for the boys and I think adding a filly division you would get at least 10-12 entries which is better than the 7 for the Turf Marathon

Heres another gem of a comment the turf sprint is open to both sexes, have you noted who has won it the last two years. Mizdirection, why don't you go look under her tail, I would hope she would kick you in the face. So yes fillies can run and even win (and run 2nd like 2013 as well).

There is also a mare sprint down the hill. In 2013 the Senator Ken Maddy Stakes it ran as the third race Breeders Cup Saturday. It drew 13 in the entry box and 11 ran for 100k. A nice Glen Hill mare named Pontchatrain won it by a length with Stevens aboard for Tom Proctor. So the mares have a turf sprint already and it drew a big field.


Here's the other undercard stakes (not counting AOC's and Arabians) from the last two years

2012- Juvy Fillies Sprint field of 5 not run in 2013
2013- Senator Ken Maddy field of 11
2012 and 2013- Damascus Stakes for 3yo going 7/8ths, fields of 5 and 6 ( a spot they could help field size)
2012 and 2013- Juvy Turf Sprint fields of 9 and 10 and in 2013 won by a filly
2013- Golden State Juvenile field of 9 including the Kentucky Derby favorite
2013- Golden State Juvenile Fillies field of 10
2012 and 2013- Twilight Derby fields of 13 and 10 for 3yo on the grass.


Just for your information
Since you cant seem to find it yourself....

[v j stauffer]

You should be barred for this idiotic comment. Do you think or do any research before you spit out false information. In six years the BC Marathon has had fields of 10,13,11,12,10 and 8. That works out to an average of 10.6667. So where is that 6 or 7 horse field you speak of........

Wow, barred seems a bit harsh. Tough room.

[clocker7]

Not surprised, but extremely disappointed. I have a tolerance for a lot of things that horse racing has been doing (far beyond a lot of the other grumblers). But what it is doing to the breed in terms of stamina is a crime. I get it ... market forces are dictating. But it still sucks.

[Robert Fischer]

I agree with the decision.

I liked the race. I liked handicapping it, and really liked betting it. I like distance races. I like stamina in a race horse.

However, my overall impression is that it didn't really make up the core of the program.

In that regard however, I think several of the main races could be reviewed.
For example a 6.5downhill turf, is a great "quirky" handicapper's race, but I believe would fall into the same category of non-core events.

I'm sitting here on my 1st cup of coffee, and I haven't gone through the charts and form anew from recent marathon editions, and I haven't looked at the core races to see if there are even enough core+closely-related races to support a full (2day)card, so take this position w/ a grain of salt.

[Tom]

So where is that 6 or 7 horse field you speak of........

The number of horses who could get the distance without a trailer?

[098poi]

Wow, barred seems a bit harsh. Tough room.

I thought the same thing when I saw that. I think maclr11 should take a chill pill or something.

[wa_kiwi]

Darn! The Marathon was one of my favorite races as I loved seeing at least a few horses with endurance. Never understood the fast early pace, though.

[maclr11]

How many times does he get to be wrong about things though? It's not hard to get the proper info.....

[Mineshaft]

Heres another gem of a comment the turf sprint is open to both sexes, have you noted who has won it the last two years. Mizdirection, why don't you go look under her tail, I would hope she would kick you in the face. So yes fillies can run and even win (and run 2nd like 2013 as well).

There is also a mare sprint down the hill. In 2013 the Senator Ken Maddy Stakes it ran as the third race Breeders Cup Saturday. It drew 13 in the entry box and 11 ran for 100k. A nice Glen Hill mare named Pontchatrain won it by a length with Stevens aboard for Tom Proctor. So the mares have a turf sprint already and it drew a big field.


Here's the other undercard stakes (not counting AOC's and Arabians) from the last two years

2012- Juvy Fillies Sprint field of 5 not run in 2013
2013- Senator Ken Maddy field of 11
2012 and 2013- Damascus Stakes for 3yo going 7/8ths, fields of 5 and 6 ( a spot they could help field size)
2012 and 2013- Juvy Turf Sprint fields of 9 and 10 and in 2013 won by a filly
2013- Golden State Juvenile field of 9 including the Kentucky Derby favorite
2013- Golden State Juvenile Fillies field of 10
2012 and 2013- Twilight Derby fields of 13 and 10 for 3yo on the grass.


Just for your information
Since you cant seem to find it yourself....






I know the turf sprint is open to both sexes. But what about the fillies who are a notch below the males and don't want to take on the males. Why not have a race for both sexes?

[Mineshaft]

You should be barred for this idiotic comment. Do you think or do any research before you spit out false information. In six years the BC Marathon has had fields of 10,13,11,12,10 and 8. That works out to an average of 10.6667. So where is that 6 or 7 horse field you speak of........





Didn't know the field sizes were that big sorry to make an idiotic comment that ruffled your thong. Have a great day..

[andtheyreoff]

I know the turf sprint is open to both sexes. But what about the fillies who are a notch below the males and don't want to take on the males. Why not have a race for both sexes?

Then they can schedule some $200,000 race for turf sprinting fillies and mares and run it on the undercard. The BC doesn't need any more watering down- and removing the Marathon is a step in the right direction.