The DowneyProfile.com is a seasonal web site covering the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup.
On Sept. 24, we'll return online to begin the runup to Breeders' Cup. You can expect to see our usual array of free information, and our subscription page will be available. Getting there is half the fun!
See you then.
2008 BREEDERS' CUP RACES
Hosted by Oak Tree Racing Association Meeting at Santa Anita Park
Friday, Oct. 24
$1 million Sentient Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (Seven Furlongs)
$2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (1 1/16 Mile)
$1 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (1 Mile)
$2 million Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (1 1/4 Mile)
$2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies' Classic (1 1/8 Mile)
Saturday, Oct. 25
$500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon (1 1/2 Mile)
$1 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (One Mile)
$1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (One Mile)
$1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (6 1/2 Furlongs)
$2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (1 1/16 Mile)
$2 million Sentient Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Six Furlongs)
$2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile (T) (One Mile)
$3 million Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup Turf (1 1/2 Mile)
$5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (1 1/4 Mile)
TV AND OTHER COVERAGE
The 2008 Breeders’ Cup World will receive an unprecedented nine hours of live coverage including, for the first time, two hours of live coverage on ABC. ESPN and ESPN2 will also have coverage.
Wednesday, Oct. 22, time TBA, on ESPN2: Breeders’ Cup Selection Show
Friday, Oct. 24, 3:30-6:30 ET on ESPN2: Live Racing
Saturday, Oct. 25, 1:30-3:30 ET on ABC: Live Racing
Saturday, Oct. 25, 3:30-7:00 ET on ESPN: Live Racing
Programming hosts and times subject to change.
Friday and Saturday: Simulcast live on www.ESPN360.com, www.breederscup.com
ESPN International will broadcast in over 120 countries in the Atlantic, Pacific Rim and Latin America Networks.
Horse Racing Radio Network, http://horseracingradio.net, is the official radio network of the 2008 Breeders' Cup. HRRN will provide three hours of live coverage of Championship Friday from 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET, and will continue on Saturday with live coverage from 1-7 p.m. ET.
SELECTION PROCESS
This year, with the exception of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Dirt Mile, which are each limited to 12 starters, starting fields for each Breeders' Cup World Championships race will be determined in the following manner after Pre-Entries are received on Tuesday, October 14: (1) Breeders' Cup Challenge winners, who will earn a starting position in a corresponding Breeders' Cup divisional race. (2) The next horses will be ranked on the total number of Breeders' Cup Points collected during the year until seven horses have been ranked based on Breeders’ Cup Challenge races and Breeders' Cup Points. 3) The remaining seven horses will be ranked by the Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel.
BREEDERS' CUP CHALLENGE
Breeders’ Cup officials announced on April 16 that the Breeders’ Cup Challenge, a series of qualifying races for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, will for the first time be expanded to Great Britain, with three “Win and You’re In” races scheduled at Ascot Racecourse on Sept. 27. The races will be televised on the BBC and TVG networks.
The 2008 Challenge schedule had already been expanded from six to 13 U. S. tracks and one in Canada, and includes a race in Japan that was on the 2007 schedule.
The three new Challenge races, all run at one mile on the turf, will be held at the Ascot Festival are: the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Breeders' Cup Mile), the Group 1 Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile for 2-year-old fillies (Juvenile Fillies Turf) and the Group II Juddmonte Royal Lodge (Juvenile Turf).
Since its inception in 1984, 29 horses from Europe have won Breeders’ Cup races.
Three Breeders’ Cup Mile winners, Miesque in 1987, Barathea in 1994 and Ridgewood Pearl (GB) in 1995, ran second in the Queen Elizabeth II.
Each Breeders’ Cup Challenge winner gains an automatic starting position into a corresponding divisional race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 races and purses totaling a record $25.5 million.
