2015 Breeders’ Cup Challenge series features 78 qualifying
races
The complete 2015 schedule is available
Horses from around the globe will be qualifying for the
On April 8, Breeders’ Cup and NBC Sports announced an
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The Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, now in its ninth year,
will be held at many of the world’s premier racetracks in 13 countries: United States,
Canada, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, England, France, Germany, Ireland,
Japan, Peru and South Africa.
As part of the enhanced benefits to horsemen in the
Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, Breeders’ Cup will pay the entry fees and
guarantee a starting position in a corresponding Championships race for winners
of all Challenge races.
Breeders’ Cup will provide travel allowances to all
starters outside of Kentucky for this year’s Championships including Challenge
race winners. Breeders’ Cup will provide a $40,000 travel stipend to the
connections of each Challenge winner from outside of North America and a $10,000
travel allowance for winners in North
America who are stabled outside of Kentucky.
The
Challenge winner must already be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program or it
must be done by the Championships’ pre-entry deadline of October 19 to receive
the rewards.
Last year, 37 participants in the Breeders’ Cup World
Championships earned automatic starting positions through the Breeders’ Cup
Challenge series. Bayern (Classic), Main Sequence (Turf), Work All Week (Sprint)
and Goldencents (Dirt Mile) were Challenge qualifiers who won World
Championships races.
“The Breeders’ Cup Challenge has grown into a prominent
international series with highly competitive qualifying for the Championships
throughout the year on five continents,” said Craig Fravel, president and CEO of
Breeders’ Cup Ltd. “Horsemen around the world continue to take advantage of the
series’ benefits of automatic starting positions, free entry and the travel
allowances to gain a spot in a Breeders’ Cup race. We also greatly appreciate
the commitment and enthusiasm from our partner tracks in their conduct and
promotion of the series.”
Some of the highlights of this year’s Challenge series are
as follows:
the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, all Grade 1 races: Stephen Foster
H. at Churchill Downs on June 13; Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June
27; Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on August 2; Whitney H. from Saratoga
on August 8; Pacific
Classic from Del Mar on August 22; Awesome Again S. from Santa Anita
Park (TBD); and Jockey Club Gold Cup from Belmont Park on October 3.
at Churchill Downs; Sussex S. (Eng-G1) at Goodwood in England (Mile); Sword Dancer
Invitational (G1) (Turf) and Spinaway (G1) (Juvenile Fillies) at Saratoga; Princess Rooney H. (G2) (Filly & Mare Sprint)
and Smile Sprint
H. (G2) (Sprint) at Gulfstream Park; and T. Von Zastrow Stutenpreis (Ger-G2) from Baden Baden
in Germany (Filly & Mare Turf).
will pay foal nominators of Challenge winners a $10,000 award.
The international portion of the series began on January 10
in South Africa at Kenilworth Racecourse, when Futura (Dynasty) won the Queen’s
Plate S. (SAf-G1) and qualified for an automatic berth in the Breeders’
Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), and Inara (Soft Gold) captured the Paddock
S. (SAf-G1) and gained an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).
Earlier this week in Australia at Royal Randwick,
Chautauqua (Encosta de Lago) won the T.J. Smith S. (Aus-G1) (Turf Sprint) and Kermadec (Teofilo)
won the Doncaster Mile (Aus-G1) (Mile).
The first two North American races of the series will be
run on June 6 with the Metropolitan H. (G1) (Dirt Mile) and Ogden
Phipps (G1) (Distaff) at Belmont Park, and will be televised live on NBCSN.
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