11 prior champs pre-entered for Breeders’ Cup

by | Oct 26, 2016 | Breaking, Racing, Regionwide

American Pharoah, winner of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Photo by © Breeders’ Cup/Todd Buchanan 2015.

From a Breeders’ Cup release

Led by North America’s all-time leading money earner California Chrome, two-time Breeders’ Cup champion mare Beholder, Travers Stakes winner Arrogate, defending champions Tepin and Found (IRE), and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist, an all-star international cast of 185 of the world’s best Thoroughbreds, including 38 from overseas, have been pre-entered for the 2016 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

The 33rd Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s most prestigious two-day global event, consisting of 13 Grade 1 races with purses and awards totaling $28 million, will be held for a record ninth time at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5. There will be four Breeders’ Cup races on Championship Friday and nine Breeders’ Cup races on Championship Saturday.

 

The Breeders’ Cup will be televised live by NBCSN and NBC. The $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic will be broadcast live on Saturday, November 5 at 5:35 p.m. PT/8:35 p.m. ET on NBC (8-9 p.m. ET).

Among the statistical highlights in this year’s pre-entries are that a total of seven races are oversubscribed with more than 14 horses. There are 45 horses who have qualified for automatic starting positions through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series that are pre-entered. Aidan O’Brien has pre-entered 13 horses, the most among trainers, and the Coolmore partnerships lead all owners with 14 horses pre-entered.

This year’s Breeders’ Cup features 11 returning or former champions: Songbird, Beholder, Found, Catch a Glimpse, Mongolian Saturday, Lady Eli, Tepin, Hit it a Bomb, Runhappy, Wavell Avenue and Nyquist

The $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, whose purse was increased by $1 million from last year, is the climactic event of the Championships, will be run on the main track at 1 ¼ miles with a first-place owner’s prize of $3.3 million, with purse payouts now down to eighth place. The $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf has been raised by $1 million.