The Breeders' Cup World Championships is at Santa Anita for the second year in a row, with $25.5 million in purses spread over the 14 races held over two days. Final entries were taken and post positions were drawn at the FrontRunner Restaurant after lunch. There have been a few changes this year to allow for an all Breeders' Cup Pick Six on both days, with the Marathon moving to Friday because of this and also increasing in distance to 1 3/4 miles. Friday will have six races starting with the Marathon followed by the five distaff divisions, with the feature race being the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (formerly the Breeders' Cup Distaff) worth $2 million. Saturday will have eight races, with the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at 1 1/4 miles still the feature and final race of the day.
The Breeders' Cup was always associated will full fields of 12-14 horses but with the doubling of the number of races from the original 7 to the current 14, it appears to have had an effect on field size. Only 3 Championship races, the Turf Sprint, Juvenile Turf, and Juvenile Fillies Turf, drew the maximum field size. The Mile and the Sprint, which usually drew 14 horses in the past, only drew 11 and 9 horses espectively. As expected, Zenyatta will face males and go 10 furlongs for the first time in the Classic and was made the 5-2 morning line favorite. The highlight on Friday, the Ladies Classic, only drew 8 entrants with Canadian hope Careless Jewel the 2-1 favorite.
Television coverage for the Breeders' Cup will be on ESPN and ESPN2 with the schedule so far being:
- Friday, November 6, 3:30-7:00 ET on ESPN2
- Saturday, November 7, 1:00-3:30 ET on ABC
- Saturday, November 7, 3:30-7:00 ET on ESPN
Here are the races with purses, conditions, and post times for both days. Just the race names to get links for info specific to that race plus a list of the horses entered for it with post positions and morning line odds. Each horse's name links to a detailed profile for him or her. 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. Free past performances for 12 of the 14 races can be found here.
- Friday November 6
- Breeders' Cup Marathon; 1 3/4 miles; 3 Year Olds & Up; $500,000; post time 3:35pm
- Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; 1 mile (Turf); 2 Year Old Fillies; $1 Million; post time 4:08pm
- Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1); 1 1/16 miles; 2 Year Old Fillies; $2 Million; post time 4:45pm
- Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1); 1 1/4 miles (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up Fillies & Mares; $2 Million; post time 5:23pm
- Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1); 7 furlongs; 3 Year Olds & Up; Fillies & Mares; $1 Million; post time 6:02pm
- Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (G1); 1 1/8 miles; 3 Year Olds & Up; Fillies & Mares; $2 Million; post time 6:45pm
- Saturday November 7
- Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G2); 1 Mile (Turf); 2 Year Olds; $1 Million; post time 1:45pm
- Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint; 6 1/2 Furlongs (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up; $1 Million; post time 2:23pm
- Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1); 6 Furlongs; 3 Year Olds & Up; $2 Million; post time 3:10pm
- Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1); 1 1/16 miles; 2 Year Old Colts & Geldings; $2 Million; post time 3:49pm
- TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1); 1 mile (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up; $2 Million; post time 4:28pm
- Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1); 1 Mile; 3 Year Olds & Up; $1 Million; post time 5:12pm
- Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Turf (G1); 1 1/2 miles (Turf); 3 Year Olds & Up; $3 Million; post time 5:57pm
- Breeders' Cup Classic (G1); 1 1/4 miles; 3 Year Olds & Up; $5 Million; post time 6:45pm
Here are some useful links for more Breeders' Cup info:
- Breeders' Cup Past Performances - free PPs for 13 of the 14 races can be found here
- Breeders' Cup Weather - What will the weather be like at Santa Anita in Arcadia, CA, on November 6 and 7? Here are lots of places to find out!
- Wednesday Breeders' Cup Workout Photos - 10 more horses on the track, including Summer Bird, Rip Van Winkle, and Goldikova.
- Breeders' Cup Field Selection Rules - how they determine who gets in each race at pre-entry time.
- Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita - An overview of the influence of Santa Anita on the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championship races. In 2009, Santa Anita will host the Breeders' Cup for the fifth time on November 6-7.
- TV Schedule - for all the preps and other programming leading up to the big day
- Free Prep Replays - listed by date in reverse chronological order
- Breeders' Cup Links - the master list with even more info
- Review: Betting Synthetic Surfaces Author Bill Finley has put together a very useful work to allow horseplayers who have been leery of handicapping races over synthetic tracks to develop the ability to analyze these races effectively.
- Review: Crushing the Cup 2009 by Jim Mazur and Peter Mallet. Great anybody wanting to bet the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park with tons of stats, angles, and biases for all the races.
- 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 with supplements and injuries indicated
- 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.
- Thoroughbred Times Breeders' Cup Coverage - News, contender profiles, stats, history, and more.
- The Downey Profile Breeders' Cup Special - analysis of each horse in each race
- European News - the latest on the Euro contenders from Sporting Life
- 2008 Breeders' Cup Results and Coverage
