On Monday October 29, final entries were taken and post positions drawn for the 15 Breeders' Cup Championship races to be held on November 2 and 3. Hurricane Sandy has some Breeders' Cup horses stranded on the east coast, including all of trainer Todd Pletcher's entries, and they may not be able to get to Santa Anita in time for the 72 hour pre-race deadline required by the Breeders' Cup rules. Because of this, Breeders' Cup is making special arrangements for them to be closely supervised where they are until they can make it to Santa Anita rather than disqualifying them.
The pre-entries were released on Wednesday, October 24, and 180 horses were pre-entered with some in two races, giving a total of 203 pre-entries. Eight previous Breeders' Cup Championship Race winners are returning this year: Royal Delta, My Miss Aurelia, Awesome Feather, Amazombie, Musical Romance, St Nicholas Abbey, California Flag, and Eldaafer.
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is at Santa Anita Park for the first of two years in a row. Once again, the Breeders' Cup will have a total of 15 races spread over two days of racing with $26 million in purse money on the line. Friday November 2nd will have six races headlined by the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (formerly the Breeders' Cup Distaff) worth $2 million. Saturday November 3rd will have nine races headlined by the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at 1 1/4 miles.
Television coverage for the Breeders' Cup will be on NBC and NBC Sports with the schedule so far being:
- Friday, November 4, 4:00-7:00 ET on NBC Sports
- Saturday, November 5, 3:30-8:00 ET on NBC Sports
- Saturday, November 5, 8:00-9:00 ET on NBC
Here are the races with purses, conditions, and post times for both days. Just click the race names to get links for info specific to that race plus a list of the pre-entered horses. Each horse's name links to a detailed profile for him or her. Free past performances for all the races are now available here. Good luck with your handicapping and enjoy what should be a spectacular day of racing at its finest. Note that all post times are Eastern Time.
- Friday November 2
- Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint; 6 furlongs; 2 Year Olds $500,000; post time 4:06pm
- Breeders' Cup Marathon (G2); 1 3/4 miles; 3 Year Olds & Up; $500,000; post time 4:48pm
- Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1); 1 mile (Turf); 2 Year Old Fillies; $1 Million; post time 5:28pm
- Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1); 1 1/4 miles (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up Fillies & Mares; $2 Million; post time 6:08pm
- Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1); 1 1/16 miles; 2 Year Old Fillies; $2 Million; post time 6:48pm
- Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (G1); 1 1/8 miles; 3 Year Olds & Up; Fillies & Mares; $2 Million; post time 7:30pm
- Saturday November 3
- Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1); 1 Mile (Turf); 2 Year Olds; $1 Million; post time 2:50pm
- Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1); 7 furlongs; 3 Year Olds & Up; Fillies & Mares; $1 Million; post time 3:35pm
- Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1); 1 Mile; 3 Year Olds & Up; $1 Million; post time 4:14pm
- Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1); 6 1/2 Furlongs (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up; $1 Million; post time 4:57pm
- Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1); 1 1/16 miles; 2 Year Old Colts & Geldings; $2 Million; post time 5:36pm
- Breeders' Cup Turf (G1); 1 1/2 miles (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up; $3 Million; post time 6:18pm
- Xpressbet Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1); 6 Furlongs; 3 Year Olds & Up; $1.5 Million; post time 6:58pm
- Breeders' Cup Mile (G1); 1 mile (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up; $2 Million; post time 7:40pm
- Breeders' Cup Classic (G1); 1 1/4 miles; 3 Year Olds & Up; $5 Million; post time 8:30pm
Here are some useful links for more Breeders' Cup info:
- Free Past Performances - for all the races as of pre-entry day
- Breeders' Cup Weather - What will the weather be like at Santa Anita Park on November 2 and 3? Here are lots of places to find out!
- The Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita - history of the event at the track and winners who prepped at Santa Anita.
- Breeders' Cup Field Selection Rules - how they determine who gets in each race at pre-entry time.
- 2011 Breeders' Cup Saturday Results - The feature race was the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic where Drosselmeyer was an upset winner. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 9 races here.
- 2011 Breeders' Cup Friday Results - Friday was headlined by the $2 million Ladies Classic (formerly the Distaff) won by Royal Delta. Get the results, charts, and photos for all 6 races here.
- TV Schedule - for all the preps and other programming leading up to the big day
- Free Prep Replays - for major prep races in the Breeders' Cup Challenge. The ones with camera logos have video available.
- Breeders' Cup Links - the master list with even more info
- Review: Crushing the Cup 2011 by Jim Mazur and Peter Mallett. Great anybody wanting to bet the Breeders' Cup with tons of stats, angles, and biases for all the races. This is for last year's edition but it is updated every year.
- Satellite photo of Santa Anita Park from Google Maps
- The Breeders' Cup Championship Day - The official page for the Breeders' Cup championship races. Just about anything you need to know about it: results, video clips, and race calls for past years, and eventually nominations, entries, and results.
- Points Standings - from the Breeders' Cup
- TV Schedule - for all the preps and other programming leading up to the big day
- Breeders' Cup Supplemental Entries - past supplements and how they fared
- Blood Horse Countdown to the Cup - Contenders, news, history and more
- DRF Breeders' Cup coverage - news, handicapping, and more.
- The Downey Profile Breeders' Cup Special - analysis of each horse in the biggest races starting in October
- European News - the latest on the Euro contenders from Sporting Life
- 2011 Breeders' Cup Results and Coverage
