Breeders' Cup 2014
 

right back to santa anita....three years running.

i don't like the decision at all.

Shocker.

Does Churchill even want it anymore?

Will they add lights by then?

Its impossible for higher up people in the industry to not **** up a good thing. Different tracks was part of the interesting thing about it and basically it has just turned into just another day with big purses at the same old track over and over again.

global warming.....saratoga in 2015

The Breeder's Cup has out lived it's usefulness....... it has "jumped the shark"! :D

I used to think that way until I went last year..it was great,the weather was perfect and its hard to dis the backdrop of the mtns..sure id like to see it go to Belmont or gulfstream..but this isn't bad..if you haven't been ..try it.

It was a foregone conclusion. There's a very narrow set of choices for sites for the event right now and Santa Anita is overwhelmingly the best option on that list. There are factors making it difficult to rotate around North America as in earlier decades of the Cup.. It's best served being at Santa Anita until those factors change.

What are those factors?

There are issues involving the local horsemen's associations and their rights to the signal distribution and of course the collision course the BCL Lasix policy had in the mix the last 2 years. BCL can work in California more easily because of the negotiating structure with the TOC. Then there is the matter of the actual financial viability of being a host track. Santa Anita is willing to basically break even on the deal. People need to understand that host tracks don't get much out of hosting the event. It's a burden on the staff and the track makes almost nothing.

Other than the Lasix policy, is any of that new from prior decades? It doesn't sound like it, unless the BC is doing more of a money grab.

There is also the savings involved in BCL not having to move all their equipment around. By staying in same venue, they save a lot of money. Don't forget that their portfolio was badly dented in the financial meltdown. They aren't as well-heeled as they once were.

Don't know if it's a 'grab' so much as being very careful about the bottom line all around. I think what's changed is the host tracks and HBPA's aren't just saying, "bring it here! bring it here!" like they used to...

We need more Breeders Cup races. The Juvy sprints were such a great inclusion. How about one Juvy sprint at 4.5f one at 7f and one at 6.5f turf? And do it for both sexes. And how about a turf sprint for older females. Poor Mizdirection...having to take on males like she is Desert Stormer, Safely Kept, or Very Subtle or something

:D

I think the greys should have their own turf sprint too.......

They have that one at Calder..

I think the Big M actually had a halloween race for the greys too.

Steve, didn't Calder also have some kind of wacked out 2 turn race where they actually mulitple winners in the race? They paid the winner after 6 furlongs and then the winner at a mile? Something crazy like that.

Does the TV revenue have any impact on entire deal? Or is it miniscule compared to the other revenue streams?

They had the Extreme Day where two races ran at once with horses on the turf course and main. Bobby Newman calling both simultaneously.