Taking the Breeder's Cup back to a "Championship"

Dunbar · #1 02-02-2007, 05:53 PM

I had this pretty crazy idea at 6am one morning. Instead of expanding (and diluting) the Breeder's Cup to more and more races, how about a SINGLE race that could be called a Championship. The current races wouldn't have to be discarded. The final race could be held a month after the current BC races and be promoted as a Breeder's Cup Grand Champion, or something. I'm thinking a mile-and-a-sixteenth on a poly surface. The poly would give both dirt and turf specialists a chance. I KNOW it's too long for a strict sprinter and too short for a real router, but the general public doesn't and wouldn't know that. They would see it as the SuperBowl of horseracing. The final Showdown. And a truly superior horse is likely to come out on top, even if it is not its ideal distance.

Winners of each of the current BC races would have an automatic entry into the BC Grand Championship if they wished. This year we could maybe have had Invasor vs Thor's Echo vs Ouija Board vs Miesque's Approval etc. Now THAT would have been an interesting race! I guarantee the TV ratings would dwarf the current BC telecast.

Well, it's just a pipe dream. Don't slam it too hard!

--Dunbar

Cannon Shell · #2 02-02-2007, 05:57 PM

Interesting idea that has less than zero chance of ever happening.
I have been surprised that no one has commented on the possibility of the Breeders Cup being held overseas. Personally I believe that would be the biggest mistake they could ever make. It would make the addition of some races look like a good idea.

The Indomitable DrugS · #3 02-02-2007, 06:06 PM

To me, it sounded like lip service. I don't think the Breeders Cup will be run overseas anytime soon.

Than again.....I don't think anyone seriously believed, a few months ago, that there would be a 2007 Breeders Cup race being run at one mile and seventy yards

Cannon Shell · #4 02-02-2007, 06:09 PM

Logistically it would be a nightmare. Outside of Japan or Hong Kong, what foreign track has the proper racing surfaces? Lingfield? Please.

blackthroatedwind · #5 02-02-2007, 06:21 PM

Steve Crist wrote about it for Sunday's DRF....the article is on their site but it's subscriber only.

Safe to say he didn't think it was a terrific plan.

The Indomitable DrugS · #6 02-02-2007, 06:24 PM

Hong Kong and Japan each have their own sort of Breeders Cup as well.

I really hope the Breeders Cup is run annually at a track that has a natural dirt surface. It would be a complete waste to run it on an artifical surface, in my opinion. That day will obviously come though.

Cannon Shell · #7 02-02-2007, 06:40 PM

I thought the part about 30 US tracks bidding on the cup was interesting. If you count Belmont, Aqueduct,Saratoga, Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Gulfstream, Monmouth, Calder, Santa Anita, Del Mar, Hollywood, Lone Star, Arlington, Fair Grounds, Woodbine, Laurel, Pimlico, Delaware, Colonial, Bay Meadows, Golden gate, and Oaklawn you get 22 and a lot of these are a stretch. Do tracks like Beulah, Sam Houston, Tampa Bay, and Suffolk really make BC bids?
Counting the NY tracks as one(and Belmont is the only viable choice there) The S.California trcks, and Churchill seem like the only tracks that can handle the cup without serious risks. The new Gulfstream is great for the bluehairs but does not have the proper facilities anymore to host the event. Woodbine and Arlington were so/so. I did not attend in Lone Star but the reviews were mixed at best.
Imagine getting tickets to the Cup in Hong Kong? You would need to hit the Magna 5 for the duration of the Gulfstream meet to pay for the airfare, hotel and tickets. Thats not even counting food, drink and other pleasures.