2019 Breeder's Cup

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Dream_Police

Going back and looking at the dates it looks as if CD had always held the BC the first Friday* and Saturday in November and it looks as if SA was the same with the exception of 2003(Oct 25th) and 2008(Oct 24,25).
* two day event began with Monmouth in 2007
But it looks as though it was either the last weekend in Oct or the first in Nov no matter where it was held.
Hollywood park owns the distinction of the latest the BC was run. In 1984 it was run November 10th and in 1987 it was run November 21st!

Hollywood didn't start its fall meeting until the second week of November, traditionally. So it wanted the BC later in the year. I believe in 1987 there was then an additional complication that NBC didn't want the BC going up against certain college football games, and that's how it ended up on 11/21.

It paid off. We probably got the classic Theatrical-Trempolino BC Turf because Trempolino had enough time to recover off of his Arc win and ship out.

[exactatom]

I believe that it will be moved to Louisville. The sport can't take a chance and if it is held at Santa Anita I think there is a chance the good European horses will not ship and use the track as a reason why.

FYI, a big factor in scheduling Louisville Breeder's Cup dates has been the U of L Football schedule (also NBC had to consider the Notre Dame football schedule as it had the exclusive to show the Fighting Irish game and that took preference to horse racing). They have an open date on this year's Breeder's Cup weekend. This is not as much of a factor now that Churchill has lights and the Classic is run much later in the day. I remember Invasor winning in the dark before the lights were installed.

The Breeder's Cup should be held at least every other year where this sport's breeding and sales take place. The original celebrities that were the target of early Breeder's Cups have passed on (Walter Matthau, Dick Van Patten, etc.) and younger celebs only show their lack of knowledge about the sport when they are given exposure.

Just like everything else in the industry, the event needs to be for the gambler's and the horsemen. Watching regional California trainers enjoy the home advantage of the downhill turf course is not what the creators had in mind. When they thought California, they though Hollywood Park. The thought Hialeah in Florida, Churchill in Kentucky and Belmont in New York.

Visits to Arlington in the cold and Woodbine with a near tote window workers strike pretty much ended the thoughts of a return to a small track.

[dilanesp]

1. The big issue on Louisville football is Churchill uses the University's facilities as overflow parking on big days (there is very little on-site parking at CD). (You can literally see the Louisville football stadium from the Churchill grandstand.) So they definitely would not want to hold a BC on the same day as a Cardinals home football game.

2. I don't think you have anything to worry about in terms of the BC abandoning Kentucky. They obviously like it there.

But I would note that if California racing ever gets its act together regarding safety, Santa Anita, by FAR, is the best BC host. We have the best weather, we draw large crowds, and we offer the best hospitality for the rich people whom the BC markets to. And the arguments for going to Kentucky all the time are actually kind of silly. Despite the name, the BC isn't really a breeders' event. It's a racing event and caters to the very wealthy people worldwide who still follow the sport on its highest level. As for the California horses having "an advantage", the advantage we have is that our horses, in general, are better than horses from other circuits. If you notice, we win plenty of BC races at Kentucky tracks too.

So the correct policy in a vacuum would simply be to hold it at Santa Anita every year.

Unfortunately, we aren't in a vacuum. In the world we actually live in, California racing is hanging by a thread and it makes sense to get the event out of here and over to Churchill where the sport is healthier.

[Saratoga_Mike]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

. We have the best weather, we draw large crowds, and we offer the best hospitality for the rich people whom the BC markets to. And the arguments for going to Kentucky all the time are actually kind of silly. Despite the name, the BC isn't really a breeders' event. It's a racing event and caters to the very wealthy people worldwide who still follow the sport on its highest level. As for the California horses having "an advantage", the advantage we have is that our horses, in general, are better than horses from other circuits. If you notice, we win plenty of BC races at Kentucky tracks too.
r.

Between the Starting Gate Suites, the clubhouse remodel and the new lounge/deck, CHDN has invested almost $60 mm in cap ex in CD over the past 3 to 4 years.

The Cali weather edge is hard to argue.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Saratoga_Mike

Between the Starting Gate Suites, the clubhouse remodel and the new lounge/deck, CHDN has invested almost $60 mm in cap ex in CD over the past 3 to 4 years.

The Cali weather edge is hard to argue.

CD has done an excellent job in the "catering to rich people" department. They are experts at it, both on Derby Day and when they host BC's.

But in the end of the day, Los Angeles is a more fun place to be than Louisville.

[horsefan2019]

Originally Posted by ReplayRandall

A decision on whether Santa Anita will retain the 2019 Breeders' Cup is expected at a Breeders' Cup board meeting on June 27.

The 2019 Breeders' Cup is scheduled for Nov. 1-2.

“I think it’s fair to say our board will have a full report from management on everything we know about the situation in California as well as injury rates at other racetracks and we’ll have to evaluate that situation and what our options are," Breeders' Cup President Craig Fravel said Sunday. "That’s really ultimately a board decision, so I have to defer to that process."

In April, Fravel said he was "evaluating contingency plans" for the Breeders' Cup in light of Santa Anita's fatalities. Two months later, it appears those contingency plans begin and end in Louisville.

"We have not explored options other than Churchill Downs," Fravel said.

https://www.courier-journal.com/stor...on/1402736001/

Guess who loses out if the BC doesn't go to Santa Anita this year? Thats lost tax revenue from out of state visitors that the local government will lose out on. This is probably why the people in charge don't want to squeeze the industry too hard or else they will lose out on millions they need for their social programs that they want to implement.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

Guess who loses out if the BC doesn't go to Santa Anita this year? Thats lost tax revenue from out of state visitors that the local government will lose out on. This is probably why the people in charge don't want to squeeze the industry too hard or else they will lose out on millions they need for their social programs that they want to implement.

California doesn't need horse racing.

Seriously, that's one of the reasons why it could conceivably be banned or curtailed here. Horse racing is a significant chunk of the Kentucky economy. It's a smaller, but still significant, part of the economy of a state like Maryland.

But California? This is like why we didn't have an NFL team in LA for over 20 years. We have Hollywood. Silicon Valley. Disneyland. Gigantic numbers of tourists. We really don't have to grovel to keep industries here. Indeed, we have had phenomenal growth even though, for instance, our aerospace and aviation industries have taken huge hits over the past few decades. It really doesn't matter to us. Our economy is gigantic and just about everyone wants to live here.

We definitely don't need the BC. You can argue that over the long term, the BC needs us, and a closure of racing in California would hurt the BC (and perhaps hurt the sport nationally). But California will keep right on going, no matter what happens.

[bob60566]

California Horse Racing Board just voted to leave Association of Racing Commissioners International. Story to come later.

From Bloodhorse

[Tom]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

CD has done an excellent job in the "catering to rich people" department. They are experts at it, both on Derby Day and when they host BC's.

But in the end of the day, Los Angeles is a more fun place to be than Louisville.

But the vast majority of people who bet the BC and most of the money bet comes from off track and where it is has next to no effect on them.
All we care about is the werther and the track condition. I prefer CD because they can handle a 1 turn mile, as it should be.

[JustRalph]

I don't know how they can have it at Santa Anita

One big name horse gets hurt......... that would be the end

[taxicab]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

I don't know how they can have it at Santa Anita

One big name horse gets hurt......... that would be the end

Yup.
Also another factor....
The "Corporate Partners" involved.
Longines/Makers Mark/Sentient Jet/John Deere.......etc.
Don't think for a minute they haven't been blowing in the Breeders Cup folks ears..........do they really want the negative Santa Anita flow attached to their brands ?..........absolutely not.

[Robert Fischer]

The more this issue lingers, and with the recent brief but seemingly successful reduction in breakdowns and then the vultures swooping in after another horse eventually and inevitably broke down, the more, and more likely a move to Churchill is in the works. Pimlico hasn't increased in likeliness, I'm afraid.

[Redboard]

This week on the NBC Ascot broadcasts, the first two days during the advertising spots, they put up the NBC TV racing schedule for the rest of the year. The first two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, they showed Santa Anita as the host of this year’s Breeders Cup in November. On Thursday, during one of their interview periods, they had on a breeders Cup representative, I think they called him the COO of Breeders Cup Ltd. There was no talk of the location with him during the interview. NBC quit “advertising” the Breeders Cup for the rest of the week. I found it strange that they didn’t ask him about the venue controversy. NBC usually doesn’t avoid controversy.

I don’t see what a move to CD will accomplish. The media will still be there. It’s not like it’s moving to Iran. A breakdown there can still get peta’s or the LA Times’ attention. The event will still have the interest of southern Californians because it was going to be held there. For example, when a team or player moves from one city to another, there are still news reports, for a while anyway, about that player/team in the original city.

Is CD’s track any “safer” than SA’s? to think that the media will be "squelched" or "silenced" is irrational.

[horsefan2019]

Originally Posted by Redboard

This week on the NBC Ascot broadcasts, the first two days during the advertising spots, they put up the NBC TV racing schedule for the rest of the year. The first two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, they showed Santa Anita as the host of this year’s Breeders Cup in November. On Thursday, during one of their interview periods, they had on a breeders Cup representative, I think they called him the COO of Breeders Cup Ltd. There was no talk of the location with him during the interview. NBC quit “advertising” the Breeders Cup for the rest of the week. I found it strange that they didn’t ask him about the venue controversy. NBC usually doesn’t avoid controversy.

I don’t see what a move to CD will accomplish. The media will still be there. It’s not like it’s moving to Iran. A breakdown there can still get peta’s or the LA Times’ attention. The event will still have the interest of southern Californians because it was going to be held there. For example, when a team or player moves from one city to another, there are still news reports, for a while anyway, about that player/team in the original city.

Is CD’s track any “safer” than SA’s? to think that the media will be "squelched" or "silenced" is irrational.

Last time I knew they had PETA protesters at the Kentucky Derby as well.I guess moving the BC to Kentucky will make it tougher for PETA to get a local audience since the entire state is much more dependent on the horse racing industry. The locals will look at those people as outsiders compared to those type of people when they protest in California.

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

I don't know how they can have it at Santa Anita

One big name horse gets hurt......... that would be the end

That's true, but if they feel they have the situation under control and any major injury would be truly random, it could just as easily happen at CD and the press would be just as bad.