No way in December, but I have never understood why there has never been a Breeders' Cup in Maryland, home of one of the three jewels of the Triple Crown.

Monmouth Park, yes. Lone Star Park, yes. But Laurel or Pimlico, no?

Mid December would get more euros to come but as others have said it could only be run at SA, DMR and GP.

BC DERBY
 

I favor the opposite from what they are considering.

Too many horses fall by the wayside during the long campaigns they have.

Good 3-YO's start in Jan or Feb to prepare for the Derby and TC.
Hardly any of them are around by the end of the year.

The Fall meets, like Belmont, have lost much of their glory due to the BC.

If they want a BC DERBY, run it in late SEPTEMBER or the first week of OCTOBER. A horse could still run in the Classic against older in November.

Pimlico is a non-starter (people are extremely uncomfortable at the Preakness) and Laurel needs more seats.

There have been at least some discussions about Laurel, but there are also weather issues of course.

Sure, but that'd just weaken existing top races.

This is pure selfishness on the part of the BC. They don't care which tracks and races they screw with such inane ideas. The top 3yos don't need protection at that time of year, nor do they need more money added to their coffers. The BC doesn't need any more money either to pay their purses.

The BC more and more reminds me of a benefit program for the elite of the sport.

Not good ideas imo. And honestly I liked the BC best when it was a one day event.

2 Day Event at Santa Anita every year.

Just get it over with. :headbanger:

That makes the most sense for deciding championships, because there would rarely be an off track.

But they make plenty of money when they go to Churchill (which is local to a lot of industry heavy hitters), and despite the fact they do poorly at Belmont, there's still an argument for going out there occasionally if NYRA ever decides they want to host it again, just because Belmont is such a great track and is a so much easier ship for the Europeans.

I honestly don't see the point of holding it anywhere other than those three tracks, however. (And if they did just hold it at SA, that would be fine.)

Just follow the money...
 

With the amount of money that Del Mar made last year, Del mar will definitely be in any rotation. More money ultimately means larger purses. The interesting thing is that the next BC at Del Mar will make even more money. Last year they only used 3 of the temporary structures instead of 7 like they used at Keeneland. Also, Del Mar could have easily accommodated more people because (they now realize) the crowd is more of a "sit down" crowd instead of a "walk around crowd." Of course this is primarily due to a higher ticket price and most importantly, Del Mar / San Diego is a prime tourist location which means that more people come for 3-5 days instead of just Saturday. the Friday handle at Del Mar was very high, as was the attendance.

With all the money TSG is spending on Laurel, it's a strong possibility it will be there in the next few years.

Del Mar, if they could upgrade the track dimensions, has to be considered again. Wouldn't you think?
The betting was pretty strong.

What about Keeneland? It's the heart of the breeding industry.

The original concept was to move it around. Yes?

Not going this year.

Churchill sucks. It is cold. It is miserable, and they treat you like shit.

Belmont? I'm from Nebraska and there is no effing way I'll go to a Breeder's Cup at Belmont. While I do need to go to Belmont, it definitely won't be a Breeder's Cup in November.

1. I don't think we should assume that the Del Mar BC made money until they award another one there. The place was empty. There's good reason to be skeptical about the press releases. Bear in mind, the BC people know the actual numbers.

2. My guess is Keeneland was a one-off. They got a Triple Crown winner so definitely don't assume their numbers will be as good next time


3. No matter how many times people say this, the idea actually wasn't move it around a lot. It was to hold most of them in California's good weather and move it around occasionally. 3 of the first 4 were in California. They got away from that after management changed, nut that was the original idea.

agree unless they put a retractable roof over Churhill:D

Sunny locations in November is fine with me. With Gulfstream raping their turf course year round I say no to that venue though!

Changes announced
 

So the Breeders' Cup has decided to add a Juvenile Turf Sprint as an official event, and to boost the purse of the dirt sprint. I think whoever is on their board needs to be reevaluated because IMHO, their ideas continue to stink.

Part of the reason they added the turf sprint was because the juvenile turf races routinely oversubscribe. Well yeah, if you're putting up 7 figures for a mediocre race, you're probably going to get a lot of interest. Maybe the BC can sponsor some of those maiden claiming events at 7 1/2 furlongs that Gulfstream seems to use to conclude every day.

The BC people complain handle isn't rising fast enough & they wonder why, and their response is to water down races & introduce the most impossible ones to handicap. My general sense from handicappers is that turf sprints rank #1 in least favorite races to play, so let's start with that, add in a bunch of Europeans with indecipherable form & make it a field of 14 2yo's, just what everyone wants to deal with! They'll probably make it the wraparound race for pick 4's, 5's & 6's since this is clearly the race people are clamoring for. Also they say the distance will be 5 1/2 furlongs, which I believe essentially zero BC host tracks can use as their sprint distance.

Also adding $ to the Sprint purse? The race with the least amount of entrants the last 2 years, despite being the race that apparently all US horses are supposed to be bred to run in, that's the race that deserves the purse boost? You've got to be kidding me with these ideas, not to mention the earlier ones which they considered & shelved.