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NBC SPORTS PRESENTS THREE HOURS OF LIVE HORSE RACING THIS SATURDAY, AUG. 1 AT 7 PM ET ON NBCSN, AS “BREEDERS’ CUP CHALLENGE SERIES” CONTINUES FROM DEL MAR

July 30, 2020 By admin

Collusion Illusion and Fashionably Fast Headline the Bing Crosby Stakes, with Winner Earning Automatic Berth into $2 Million Breeders’ Cup Sprint TVG “Trackside Live”

Coverage Featured in First Two Hours of Saturday’s Show

DEL MAR, Calif. (July 30, 2020) – NBC Sports presents three hours of live horse racing this Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, highlighted by 3-year-old Collusion Illusion and the 5-year-old Fashionably Fast competing in a nine-horse field of talented sprinters in the $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar, with the winner receiving an automatic berth into $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). The Bing Crosby telecast, in association with TVG, is part of the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by America’s Best Racing.”

Saturday’s three-hour program, with a 9:30 p.m. ET post time for the Bing Crosby, marks the fifth telecast this year in the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by America’s Best Racing” on NBC and NBCSN from some of North America’s most iconic racetracks. The series leads to the 37th Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., scheduled for Nov. 6-7 on NBC and NBCSN. The complete series TV schedule can be accessed here.

The first two hours on NBCSN features TVG Trackside Live coverage, with commentary and discussion for the entire three-hour telecast led by TVG’s Todd Schrupp and Simon Bray.

Collusion Illusion, trained by Mark Glatt and ridden by Flavien Prat, has won 4 of 5 starts, but will be challenging older horses for the first time. He comes into Saturday’s race off an excellent performance in the 6 ½-furlong Lazaro Barrera Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park on June 20, winning by 3 ¼ lengths. Owned by Dan Agnew, Rodney Orr, Jerry Schneider and John Xitco, Collusion Illusion won both his starts at Del Mar last year, breaking his maiden at 5 furlongs last July, and following up that performance with a win in the Best Pal Stakes (G2).

Collusion Illusion made his next start in the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park on Sept. 27, and was pulled up in the stretch. After a nearly eight-month layoff, he returned in May for his 3-year-old debut with a sharp 3-length win in a 6-furlong allowance optional claiming race at Santa Anita.

California-bred Fashionably Fast, trained by Dean Pederson and ridden by Tiago Pereira, won six consecutive races dating back to July of last year, including three at Del Mar, before stepping into graded stakes company in the 7-furlong Triple Bend (G2) at Santa Anita on June 7. He put up a tough battle against top older horse McKinzie into the stretch, but finished second by 1 ½ lengths. (McKinzie was scratched from the Bing Crosby on Wednesday).

Fashionably Fast opened this year winning the California Cup Sprint Stakes and the Tiznow Stakes at Santa Anita, prior to the Triple Bend.

A challenge from Kentucky comes from Calumet Farm’s 4-year-old Lexitonian, who is being shipped to California following a scratch at the gate in last Saturday’s Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. A chestnut son of 2004 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Speightstown, Lexitonian, trained by Jack Sisterson and ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, finished third by less than a length in last October’s Stoll Keenon Ogden Stakes Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.  After a 10th– place finish in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn in April, Lexitonian rebounded with a solid win in a 7-furlong allowance optional claiming race at Churchill Downs on May 29.

Harris Farm’s 6-year-old gelding Desert Law fought Cistron down the stretch in last year’s Bing Crosby Stakes, finishing second by a half-length. A California-bred son of Desert Code, trained by Carla Gaines, Desert Law made his first start of this year in the 6-furlong Thor’s Echo Stakes on June 13 at Santa Anita, finishing third as the even-money favorite. Desert Law will be ridden by Victor Espinoza.

W.C. Racing’s 4-year-old gelding Wildman Jack, winner of four of nine starts, will make his dirt track debut on Saturday.  Trained by Doug O’Neill, Wildman Jack, a bay son of two-time Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Goldencents, made his biggest career score on March 7 when he captured the Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint (G3) in stakes-record time at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. He was scheduled to make his next start in the Al Quoz Sprint (G1) at Meydan, but the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. He returned to the U.S. and won the Daytona Stakes (G3) on turf at Santa Anita on May 23 by a nose over Sparky Ville. However, in his most recent start, he trailed the field in the Shakertown Stakes (G2) at Keeneland on July 11.

ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred horse racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The Breeders’ Cup is also a founding member of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an organization composed of industry leaders committed to advancing safety measures in Thoroughbred racing and improving the well-being of equine and human athletes.

The 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Championship races, will be held on November 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky and features a total of $35 million in purses and awards. The event will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.

ABOUT AMERICA’S BEST RACING

America’s Best Racing is a multimedia fan development and awareness-building platform designed to increase the profile and visibility of North America’s best Thoroughbred racing events with a primary focus on the sport’s lifestyle and competition. You can follow America’s Best Racing at americasbestracing.net as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, Horse Racing, NBC, TVG, Uncategorized

HASKELL STAKES HIGHLIGHTS BREEDERS’ CUP CHALLENGE SERIES COVERAGE THIS SATURDAY AT 5 P.M. ET ON NBC, LIVE FROM MONMOUTH PARK

July 16, 2020 By admin

Telecast is Part of the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – Presented by America’s Best Racing”

Live Coverage Will be Streamed on NBCSports.com & the NBC Sports app

OCEANPORT, N.J. (July 16, 2020) – Two-time stakes winner Authentic will be the likely favorite in a seven-horse field of 3-year-olds for a free berth into the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in Saturday’s $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, live at 5 p.m. ET on NBC. The Haskell broadcast is part of the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by America’s Best Racing.”

The one-hour program, which also will include coverage of the United Nations Stakes (G1) on turf, marks the fourth broadcast this year in the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by America’s Best Racing” on NBC and NBCSN from some of North America’s most iconic racetracks. The series leads to the 37th Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., scheduled for Nov. 6-7 on NBC and NBCSN. The complete series TV schedule can be accessed here: https://www.breederscup.com/challenge-series/tv-schedule.

NBC Sports’ coverage will feature commentary and discussion led by host Ahmed Fareed and analyst Randy Moss from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who won 15 Breeders’ Cup races, including five victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), joins the broadcast from his home in Florida, and handicapper Eddie Olczyk from his home in Chicago. Reporters Britney Eurton and Matt Bernier will be on-site at Monmouth Park.

Live coverage will also be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.

Authentic, owned by Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, and trained by Bob Baffert, comes into the Haskell as the morning line favorite at odds of 4-5. Authentic has won two of three starts this year, which includes the Sham Stakes (G3) and the San Felipe Stakes (G2), both at Santa Anita Park. He finished second to Honor A.P. in his most recent start, the Santa Anita Derby (G1), on June 6.

Among the challengers to Authentic is St. Elias Stable’s Dr Post, the 5-2 second choice. Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Joe Bravo, Dr Post comes into the Haskell off a fine effort in the 1 1/8 mile Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 20. The dark bay son of Quality Road raced wide into the stretch and closed from sixth to second behind Tiz the Law. Prior to the Belmont, Dr Post broke his maiden in March and then won the Unbridled Stakes, both at Gulfstream Park.

Following a win at Gulfstream Park in the winter, NY Traffic has been in the money in each of his three stakes starts along the Triple Crown trail for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. NY Traffic, owned by John Fanelli, Cash is King LLC, LC Racing and Paul Braverman and ridden on Saturday by Paco Lopez, finished third in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Feb. 15, and then finished second by 1 1/2 lengths in the Louisiana Derby (G2). He comes into the Haskell off a second-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs, after leading the field into the stretch.

The 1 3/8-mile United Nations Stakes is led by Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger and Peter Coneway’s Arklow, who won last year’s Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) at Belmont Park. Trained by Brad Cox, Arklow finished sixth in last Sunday’s Elkhorn Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred horse racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The Breeders’ Cup is also a founding member of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an organization composed of industry leaders committed to advancing safety measures in Thoroughbred racing and improving the well-being of equine and human athletes.

The 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Championship races, is scheduled to be held on November 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky and features a total of $35 million in purses and awards. The event will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.

ABOUT AMERICA’S BEST RACING

America’s Best Racing is a multimedia fan development and awareness-building platform designed to increase the profile and visibility of North America’s best Thoroughbred racing events with a primary focus on the sport’s lifestyle and competition. You can follow America’s Best Racing at americasbestracing.net as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, Horse Racing, NBC, Uncategorized

BREEDERS’ CUP CHALLENGE SERIES CONTINUES THIS SATURDAY AT 5 P.M. ET ON NBC, LIVE FROM BELMONT PARK

July 2, 2020 By admin

Code of Honor, McKinzie & Vekoma Headline NBC’s Fourth of July “Met Mile” Broadcast, Part of the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – Presented by America’s Best Racing”

Live Coverage Will be Streamed on NBCSports.com & the NBC Sports app

ELMONT, N.Y. (July 2, 2020) – Led by Code of Honor, McKinzie and Vekoma, a free berth into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) will be at stake this Saturday, July 4 at Belmont Park in the 1-mile, $500,000 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) live at 5 p.m. ET on NBC. The “Met Mile” broadcast is part of the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by America’s Best Racing.”

Saturday’s one-hour program, which also will include the $150,000 Poker Stakes (G2), marks the third broadcast this year in the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by America’s Best Racing” on NBC and NBCSN from some of North America’s most iconic racetracks. The series leads to the 37th Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., scheduled for Nov. 6-7 on NBC and NBCSN. Complete series TV schedule can be accessed here: https://www.breederscup.com/challenge-series/tv-schedule.

NBC Sports’ coverage will feature commentary and discussion led by host Ahmed Fareed and analyst Randy Moss from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast center in Stamford, Conn. Analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who won 15 Breeders’ Cup races, including five victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), joins the broadcast from his home in Florida, and handicapper Eddie Olczyk from his home in Chicago. Reporter Matt Bernier will be on-site at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Live coverage will also be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.

Code of Honor, a 4-year-old colt owned and bred by W.S. Farish and trained by Hall of Famer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey, has won six of 11 starts, including his 2020 debut when he captured the 1 1/16-mile Westchester Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park on June 6.  Last year, Code of Honor was elevated from third to second place in the Kentucky Derby (G1), following the disqualification of Maximum Security. He won three consecutive races after that, taking the Dwyer (G2) at Belmont, Runhappy Travers (G1) at Saratoga, and The Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park. In the Gold Cup, Code of Honor was moved from second to first due to interference by Vino Rosso. In the 1 ¼-mile Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park, Code of Honor finished seventh in a race won by Vino Rosso.

“He acts like he’s ready to run,” said McGaughey, who teamed up with Farish to win the Met Mile with eventual Champion Older Dirt Male Honor Code in 2015. “He’s had plenty of time off over the winter and it seems to have done him some good, so we’ll just see what he does.”

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman’s 5-year-old McKinzie finished second to Mitole by three-quarters of a length in last year’s Met Mile. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, McKinzie has won eight races in 16 starts and amassed total earnings of more than $3.4 million. He won last year’s Whitney (G1) at Saratoga and finished second in Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. After opening the season in February with an 11th-place finish in the $20 million Saudi Cup, McKinzie made a successful return on June 6, capturing the 7-furlong Triple Bend Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita by 1 ½ lengths.

McKinzie is named after the late racetrack executive and one of Baffert’s close friends, Brad McKinzie, who attended college with Baffert at the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program.

“It’s exciting having such a good horse named after our dear friend Brad McKinzie and his mother is still alive and so it keeps her going,” Baffert said. “She loves watching him run and it brings a tear to her eye when he runs. When you have a nice horse like this it’s so enjoying. Like his namesake, the horse has a great personality and when he performs, we’re always thinking of Brad.”

R. A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables’ 4-year-old Vekoma already has won a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race this year, capturing the 7-furlong Runhappy Carter Handicap (G1) by a widening 7 ¼ lengths at Belmont Park on June 6. That victory earned Vekoma an automatic starting position for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). Trained by George Weaver and ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, Vekoma has won five races in seven starts, including last year’s Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister’s Mr Freeze has finished in the top three in his last seven starts. A 4-year-old son of To Honor and Serve, Mr Freeze began the year on Jan. 25 with a second-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Dale Romans and ridden by Manny Franco, Mr Freeze won the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) one month later, and finished third in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap (G2) on May 2.

The 1-mile Poker Stakes is led by Gary Barber’s 5-year-old mare Got Stormy, who is seeking her first win this year in her fourth start. Trained by Mark Casse, Got Stormy had an extraordinary second half of 2019. In three consecutive races against male rivals, she won the Fourstardave (G1) at Saratoga, and finished second in subsequent Grade 1 starts in the Woodbine Mile and in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile. She closed out last year winning the Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar.

ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred horse racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The Breeders’ Cup is also a founding member of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an organization composed of industry leaders committed to advancing safety measures in Thoroughbred racing and improving the well-being of equine and human athletes.

The 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Championship races, is scheduled to be held on November 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky and features a total of $35 million in purses and awards. The event will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.

ABOUT AMERICA’S BEST RACING

America’s Best Racing is a multimedia fan development and awareness-building platform designed to increase the profile and visibility of North America’s best Thoroughbred racing events with a primary focus on the sport’s lifestyle and competition. You can follow America’s Best Racing at americasbestracing.net as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, Horse Racing, Met Mile, NBC, Uncategorized

BREEDERS’ CUP CHALLENGE SERIES CONTINUES FROM CHURCHILL DOWNS THIS SATURDAY LIVE AT 5 P.M. ET ON NBC

June 25, 2020 By admin

TVG “Trackside Live” Simulcast on NBCSN, Starting at 6 p.m. ET on Friday & Saturday and 4 p.m. ET this Sunday

Live Coverage Will be Streamed on NBCSports.com & the NBC Sports app

NEW YORK (June 25, 2020) – NBC Sports continues its coverage of the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by America’s Best Racing” live this Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on NBC from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Stakes-winning veterans Tom’s d’Etat and By My Standards headline a battle for the second automatic berth of 2020 into the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in the Grade 2, $500,000 Stephen Foster.

The 1 1/8-mile Stephen Foster will follow the 1 1/8-mile, $200,000 Fleur de Lis (G2), led by champion super mare Midnight Bisou, which will award the winner a free berth into the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). Saturday’s one-hour program marks the second of nine telecasts in the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In,” on NBC and NBCSN from some of America’s most iconic racetracks. The series leads to the 37th Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., scheduled for Nov. 6-7 on NBC and NBCSN. Complete series TV schedule can be accessed here:http://www.breederscup.com/challenge-series.

NBC Sports’ coverage will feature commentary and discussion led by host Ahmed Fareed and analyst Randy Moss from NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who owns 15 Breeders’ Cup wins, including five victories in the Classic, joins the broadcast from his home in Florida, and handicapper Eddie Olczyk from his home in Chicago. Reporters Donna Brothers and Kenny Rice will be on-site at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

Also this weekend, NBCSN continues its simulcasts of TVG Trackside Live, beginning at 6 p.m. ET tomorrow, Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27, and 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 28. Anchored by several TVG on-air commentators who cover racing every day, including TVG host and NBC Sports reporter Britney Eurton, TVG’s Trackside Live provides fans with live horse racing from various tracks across the country.

Live coverage will also be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs. Horse Racing Radio Network (HRRN) also will provide live coverage of the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs from 5-6 p.m. on Sirius 219/XM 201 and livestream on horseracingradio.net.

Leading the 10-horse Foster field is the seven-year-old Tom’s d’Etat, 10 of 17 lifetime, who has won four of his last five starts, including last November’s 3 ¼-length victory in the $600,000 Clark (G1). Owned by Gayle Benson, who also owns the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans, Tom’s d’Etat made his 2020 debut on April 11, winning the Oaklawn Mile Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Tom’s d’Etat, who finished third in last year’s Stephen Foster, is trained by Al Stall Jr., who also trained Blame to win the 2010 Stephen Foster. Later that same year, Blame handed the great racemare Zenyatta her only defeat, when he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Miguel Mena has the mount on Tom’s d’Etat.

A major challenge to Tom’s d’Etat should come from Allied Racing Stables’ four-year-old By My Standards, a winner of five of nine starts for trainer Bret Calhoun. By My Standards, a son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Goldencents, has finished in the top three in all but one of his starts, that one being last year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby (11th). Ridden by Gabriel Saez, By My Standards returned this year with three consecutive wins, including a 3-length victory in the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at the Fair Grounds and a 1 ¾-length win in last month’s $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2).

Rupp Racing’s 4-year-old Owendale finished second to Tom’s d’Etat in last year’s Clark Handicap, capping a season of four wins, including the Ohio Derby (G3), Oklahoma Derby (G3), and also a third-place finish in the Preakness Stakes (G1). Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, Owendale won his only start this year, taking the 1-mile Blame Stakes at Churchill on May 23.

MIDNIGHT BISOU IS ONE TO BEAT IN FLEUR DE LIS

Bloom Racing Stable, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing’s 2019 Champion Older Dirt Female Midnight Bisou is set to return against Joel Politi’s speedy 2019 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Serengeti Empress in Saturday’s Fleur de Lis for fillies and mares, four-years-old and older.

Midnight Bisou, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, is the reigning Champion Older Dirt Female Eclipse Award winner, having completed a spectacular season in which she won seven of eight races at six racetracks. Midnight Bisou’s only defeat of 2019 came in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, where she finished second to Blue Prize (ARG).

This year, Midnight Bisou was extremely impressive in her lone start, the Feb. 29 inaugural running of the 1 1/8-mile, $20 million Saudi Cup against a top field of male rivals. After overcoming traffic trouble, she closed boldly in deep stretch, finishing second by three-quarters of a length behind Maximum Security.

Asmussen exudes great pride in describing Midnight Bisou: “I feel like with what she’s done – traveling to Saudi, taking on older boys and everyone knows the trip she got and knows the circumstances… how do you have an adjective for what she is and what she means to racing? Coming back, the next race isn’t the goal for this year. The Breeders’ Cup is. She is arguably the best horse in the world.”

Midnight Bisou will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who leads all Breeders’ Cup riders with 26 wins.

In one of the most impressive performances of 2019, Serengeti Empress, trained by Tom Amoss, and to ridden Saturday by Joe Talamo, won the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs leading from start to finish. Serengeti Empress also finished third in last year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred horse racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The Breeders’ Cup is also a founding member of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an organization composed of industry leaders committed to advancing safety measures in Thoroughbred racing and improving the well-being of equine and human athletes.

The 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Championship races, is scheduled to be held on November 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky and features a total of $35 million in purses and awards. The event will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.

ABOUT AMERICA’S BEST RACING

America’s Best Racing is a multimedia fan development and awareness-building platform designed to increase the profile and visibility of North America’s best Thoroughbred racing events with a primary focus on the sport’s lifestyle and competition. You can follow America’s Best Racing at americasbestracing.net as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, Fleur de Lis, Horse Racing, NBC, Stephen Foster, Uncategorized

AMERICAN PHAROAH’S HISTORIC “GRAND SLAM” RUN IN BREEDERS’ CUP HEADLINES NBC SPORTS SPECIAL THIS SAT., JUNE 13 AT 4 P.M. ET ON NBC

June 11, 2020 By admin

TVG “Trackside Live” Simulcast on NBCSN, Starting at 4 p.m. ET on Friday & Sunday and 6 p.m. ET This Saturday

“A Triple Crown winner, a Breeders’ Cup winner, a horse of a lifetime!” – Larry Collmus’ 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic Race Call on NBC

Viewers Can Share Best Memories of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic Using #BC15ReLive Across Social Media Platforms

NBC Sports Presents Six Consecutive Days of Live Horse Racing Next Week with Belmont Stakes and Royal Ascot

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 11, 2020 – With the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships returning Nov. 6-7 to Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, NBC Sports presents a special show on NBC at 4 p.m. ET this Saturday, June 13 headlined by the final race of American Pharoah’s career.

The two-hour special Horse of a Lifetime: American Pharoah’s Run to the Grand Slam will look back at the Triple Crown winner’s victory in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic, becoming the first horse to win racing’s “grand slam” (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup Classic). On Oct. 31, 2015, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships set a Keeneland record with an attendance of 50,155, while 4.6 million viewers watched the NBC telecast. NBC Sports’ Larry Collmus’ race call (for the call click here): “A Triple Crown winner, a Breeders’ Cup winner, a horse of a lifetime!”

Viewers are encouraged to share their memories of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland using the hashtag #BC15ReLive this Saturday. Fans can also follow @BreedersCup on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and check in for regular updates at www.breederscup.com.

NBCSN simulcasts TVG Trackside Live throughout the weekend, beginning at 4 p.m. ET this Friday, June 12 and Sunday, June 14, and 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 13. Anchored by several TVG on-air commentators who cover racing every day, including TVG host and NBC Sports reporter Britney Eurton, TVG’s Trackside Live provides fans with live horse racing from various tracks across the country.

Next week, NBC Sports presents six consecutive days of live horse racing starting with NBCSN’s coverage of Royal Ascot next Tuesday, June 16, through Friday, June 19, at 8:30 a.m. ET. Royal Ascot coverage continues on NBC, Saturday, June 20 at 9 a.m. ET, followed by the 152nd Belmont Stakes starting at 2:45 p.m. ET.

Live coverage will be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.

NBC SPORTS HORSE RACING SCHEDULE, THROUGH JUNE (All Times ET)

Date Time Event Network
Fri., June 12 4 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN
Sat., June 13 4 p.m. Horse of a Lifetime: American Pharoah’s Run to the Grand Slam (Breeders’ Cup Classic) NBC
Sat., June 13 6 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN
Sun., June 14 4 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN
Tues., June 16 8:30 a.m. Royal Ascot (LIVE) NBCSN
Wed., June 17 8:30 a.m. Royal Ascot (LIVE) NBCSN
Thurs., June 18 8:30 a.m. Royal Ascot (LIVE) NBCSN
Fri., June 19 8:30 a.m. Royal Ascot (LIVE) NBCSN
Sat., June 20 9 a.m. Royal Ascot (LIVE) NBC
Sat., June 20 2:45 p.m. 152nd Belmont Stakes (LIVE) NBC
Sat., June 20 6 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN
Sun., June 21 4 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN
Fri., June 26 6 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN
Sat., June 27 5 p.m. Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In -Presented by America’s Best Racing – Stephen Foster Stakes (LIVE) NBC
Sat., June 27 6 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN
Sun., June 28 4 p.m. TVG Trackside Live (LIVE) NBCSN

 

ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred horse racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The Breeders’ Cup is also a founding member of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an organization composed of industry leaders committed to advancing safety measures in Thoroughbred racing and improving the well-being of equine and human athletes.

The 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 Championship races, is scheduled to be held on November 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky and features a total of $35 million in purses and awards. The event will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, Horse Racing, NBC, TVG, Uncategorized

BREEDERS’ CUP CHALLENGE SERIES SHOEMAKER MILE THIS MONDAY AT 6 P.M ET ON NBCSN HEADLINES TVG “TRACKSIDE LIVE” MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND COVERAGE

May 21, 2020 By admin

TVG “Trackside Live” Simulcast for Four Days on NBCSN, Starting Tomorrow, Friday, May 22 at 4 p.m. ET

Monday’s Live Coverage on NBCSN Features the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile (G1) at 6 p.m. ET

NBCSN’s Live Coverage Will be Streamed on NBCSports.com & the NBC Sports app

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 21, 2020 – The $300,000 Shoemaker Mile (G1) at Santa Anita Park, the first U.S.-based Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” event of the 2020 season, headlines TVG’s Trackside Live Memorial Day weekend coverage on NBCSN.

Monday’s coverage will be televised live at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, while NBCSN’s simulcasts of TVG Trackside Live begin at 4 p.m. ET from Friday, May 22 through Sunday, May 24. Anchored by several TVG on-air commentators who cover racing every day, including TVG host and NBC Sports reporter Britney Eurton, TVG’s Trackside Live provides fans with live horse racing from various tracks across the country.

The Breeders’ Cup Challenge, now in its 14th year is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic and free entry into a corresponding race at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which will be held this year on Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. The $300,000 Shoemaker Mile, a 1-mile race on turf for 3-year-olds and up, will provide the winner with a free berth into the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).

2019 Preakness Stakes winner War of Will, who hasn’t raced since a ninth-place finish in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, headlines the potential entrants. The 4-year-old son of War Front is set to go back to the turf for the first time since his juvenile campaign.

Other potential entrants include Raging Bull and Without Parole, both from the barn of four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. Raging Bull has not raced since September, while Without Parole is coming off a disappointing 11th place finish in January’s Pegasus World Cup Turf. Brown won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile with Uni.

Live coverage will be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.

Following is this weekend’s NBCSN programming schedule (all times ET, subject to change):

Date Event Time (ET)
Fri., May 22 TVG Trackside Live 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Sat., May 23 TVG Trackside Live 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Sun., May 24 TVG Trackside Live 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Mon., May 25 TVG Trackside Live featuring Shoemaker Mile (G1) 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

 

ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred horse racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships’ races. The Breeders’ Cup is also a founding member of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, an organization composed of industry leaders committed to advancing safety measures in Thoroughbred racing and improving the well-being of equine and human athletes.

The 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 championship races with purses and awards totaling more than $30 million, will be held on Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, and will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, www.breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, Horse Racing, NBC, Uncategorized

TRANSCRIPT – NBC SPORTS’ 2019 BREEDERS’ CUP CONFERENCE CALL WITH JERRY BAILEY, RANDY MOSS & EDDIE OLCZYK

October 29, 2019 By admin

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us today on our Breeders’ Cup conference call. NBC Sports’ Breeders’ Cup coverage begins Thursday with a special “Betting the Breeders’ Cup” show with Eddie Olczyk among the handicapping experts on that show. We’ll have 10.5 hours of coverage Thursday, Friday and Saturday culminating in primetime with the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 8:00 p.m. eastern on Saturday on NBC.

Joining us on today’s call, Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss, and Eddie Olczyk. We’ll begin with a few brief comments on the Breeders’ Cup events this week, and then we’ll take your questions. With that, I turn it over to Jerry Bailey for some comments.

JERRY BAILEY: It’s a long, long trip for me. I don’t come from middle America like these other two guys. I come from the East Coast, but it’s worth it to me because it’s a beautiful place. It’s at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains. A lot of people always attend this event here. The weather is almost always ideal, as it is right now, as we sit outside in mid-70-degree weather, and it’s just a very, very cool place to have the Breeders’ Cup, and I like coming here. I liked it when I rode, and I like it now doing television.

RANDY MOSS: Let me remind Jerry that I came from Saratoga last night to Los Angeles. I had a show-jumping voice-over at Saratoga. I share his pain coming from Florida.

We’ve had a very eventful, unusual year in NBC horse racing. We had — I’ll try to take it chronologically. We had the first disqualification in Kentucky Derby history. We had a Preakness and Belmont Stakes without the Kentucky Derby winner, Country House. We had a Preakness in which we had a horse throw his rider at the starting gate and run around the track rider-less, which is not a big deal if you know much about horse racing, but a lot of people found that to be highly amusing.

We had a Haskell telecast with no Haskell because the race had to be delayed due to extreme heat, and so we had an hour telecast, which was a first for NBC without an actual horse race. And of course we have had to deal a lot with the unfortunate situation with the horse deaths, the tragedies at Santa Anita over the past year. A lot has happened in horse racing. A lot has happened on NBC in our coverage of horse racing, and we are hoping for an uneventful and entertaining and competitive Breeders’ Cup this weekend.

EDDIE OLCZYK: Thanks, it’s always a good time of year when it comes to our game and bringing in horses from all over the world and being able to put them on center stage at such an incredible setting as Santa Anita, as Jerry alluded to. Santa Anita has always been one of my favorite tracks to play for all the years I’ve been playing the horses and handicapping, and also being a part of our incredible NBC horse racing team. Plenty of opportunities, not only with the Breeders’ Cup races that we have and the 14 total but also the card that is going to — I should say plural, cards, that are available both on Friday and Saturday.

So for a handicapper and for somebody that is always looking for value, always looking for maybe that horse that isn’t getting the respect, this is a handicapper’s dream when you have full fields, so competitive.

I’ll just zero in quickly on the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and I’m sure Randy and Jerry and I will get into it as the week goes on and then on our coverage on NBCSN and NBC, but I think the Breeders’ Cup Classic has a chance to be a heck of a race, and just right now I would think it’s going to be McKinzie with Bob Baffert, and you could be looking at a horse that is 3:1, 7:2 as far as odds to go off as the favorite, so that says, look, the second, third, fourth choice were going to be in that four to five to six range and maybe even a little bit higher than that, depending on the pool and what have you.

There is incredible value all day, but in particular the race that everybody zeroes in on, and horses that people know from either running in the Triple Crown or because they’re trained by Bob Baffert or Todd Pletcher, the value in the Breeders’ Cup Classic is going to be as good as we’ve seen.

I have to go back a handful of years when you’re talking about the Breeders’ Cup Classic, sitting there going, you know what, there really isn’t a horse that you go, yep, he’s for sure going to finish first or second. I don’t see that. I do have a strong opinion, but you’re going to have to wait for that for Saturday when I give my pick on NBC.

But it is always great to be a part of our incredible team, and looking forward to getting to LA tonight and then spending a few days preparing and prepping and putting it all on the line come Friday and Saturday on NBCSN and NBC.

Q. What would you say are the big storylines to look out for for the Classic on Saturday?

JERRY BAILEY: Well, I’ll guess we’ll start with the favorite, McKinzie. Bob Baffert, his trainer, is trying to go for his fourth Classic. He’s replacing his jockey, Mike Smith, who has been with McKinzie and Baffert through last year’s Triple Crown and a lot of major victories before, during and since that Triple Crown run.

He’s putting Joel Rosario on, so there’s a bit of a small divorce issue between Baffert and Smith. You have Code of Honor coming off two great wins, trying to cement his three-year-old of the year title aspirations.

RANDY MOSS: Another huge storyline in the race is the presence of the five-year-old mare named Elate. 2019 is the 10-year anniversary of Zenyatta’s win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic here at Santa Anita, which is the only time to date in the history of the Classic, which began in 1984, in which a female racehorse defeated the males. Elate has a solid chance to follow in Zenyatta’s footsteps on her 10-year anniversary. Elate is a mare who specializes at the mile-and-a-quarter distance of the Classic, and that is the reason, really the only reason, that trainer Bill Mott and her owners have decided to run her against the males in the classic as opposed to keeping her against her own sex earlier on the card in the Distaff.

JERRY BAILEY: Also not just specific to the Classic but the Classic having a big bearing on Horse of the Year, there’s several races throughout the Breeders’ Cup that have horses in them that could lay claim to the stake of Horse of the Year if other things materialize. For example, Bricks and Mortar in the turf; if he were to win impressively and other favorites get beat, he could be up for the Horse of the Year. Mitole in the sprint, same thing; Sister Charlie —

RANDY MOSS: Midnight Bisou —

JERRY BAILEY: Midnight Bisou in the distaff. There’s about five or six horses that would legitimately have a claim for Horse of the Year if other favorites disappoint in other races.

RANDY MOSS: Did you mention that Mike had a mount in the Classic?

JERRY BAILEY: Mike Smith, who I mentioned was taken off of McKinzie by Bob Baffert, now rides Yoshida for Bill Mott, who he won the Classic with on Drosselmeyer some years back.

RANDY MOSS: So if you don’t think Mike Smith would find it sweet to be taken off of McKinzie and then beat McKinzie in the classic, you don’t know how competitive these guys are.

EDDIE OLCZYK: One more thing, if I could just add on to Jerry and Randy, we’re talking specifically about the Classic, and Jerry touched on — and he’s lived it, and nobody can talk more pure and clean about the changing of the jockeys and decisions that go into it, and also he mentioned about McKinzie, but also let’s not forget the decision that Johnny Velazquez made on Code of Honor, of jumping on the back of Code of Honor and getting off of Vino Rosso, so that’s another storyline specifically about the Classic, which I think is what makes it so, so intriguing as a horse player, a horse lover, and just the ins and outs of deciding, well, the decision-making that goes on when you get to those final minutes before the race and where you’re going to go or if you’ve already got your mind made up. But the jockey carousel I think is obviously in full swing when you talk about the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

RANDY MOSS: Let me interject one more thing and then I’ll shut up on this particular topic. Frankie Dettori, the famous jockey based in England, one of, if not the greatest jockeys in the world, has commented that one of the reasons that he loves the Breeders’ Cup so much is that it has a Ryder Cup feel to it, Europe versus the U.S.

Well, the Breeders’ Cup in all the races typically has an East versus West feel to it. It’s a chance to get the best horses in the east running against the best horses in the west, which you don’t always get during the course of the year, and in the Classic in particular, you’ve got McKinzie, Mongolian Groom, you’ve got another horse in there, Higher Power, who are based in Southern California, who are accustomed to Santa Anita, to the surface at Santa Anita, and now they go up against all the horses based in New York and some in Kentucky who are shipping across country to run against them in their backyard, so it’s another little added element of interest.

Q. Jerry, how much does racing, and Santa Anita specifically, need an incident-free weekend in front of a national TV audience to show that these reforms that have been put in place are working?

JERRY BAILEY: As a guy that rode them for many, many years, and now speaks to them via television, safety is always on my mind with riders and horses. And it is important that we get through this injury-free. But look, this is another form of athletics. Athletics in general come with injury. Unfortunately for horses, they can’t recover like human beings, and while most of the injuries in horse racing are not catastrophic and horses recover from them, usually race again, but almost always live, there are certain ones that are catastrophic, and unlike human beings that can be immobilized, horses cannot. Therefore the severity measures make it unfortunate.

We’ve had injuries on Breeders’ Cup shows, on Triple Crown shows before, and as horrible as they are, and they are, we’ll cover them and we will speak to them and we will have opinions from vets and hopefully they’re not the catastrophic kind if we have any at all, but it’s part of athletics in general, and we will cover them.

RANDY MOSS: And keep in mind, also, this is a long-term process, right. I know the eyes of the world are on Santa Anita and are on the Breeders’ Cup, and it’s obviously critically important for the Breeders’ Cup that they get through this weekend without an incident, but an incident-free weekend doesn’t necessarily mean that the reforms are working, and an injury this weekend doesn’t necessarily mean that the reforms aren’t working. There’s a lot at stake, but this is an issue that’s got to be viewed from a long-term lens to sort of insulate yourself from the happenstance things that can happen with a short period of time and a small sample size.

So after six months, after eight months, after a year, you go back and look at Santa Anita, look at all the reforms, compare Santa Anita to all the other race tracks around the country, and we’ll know a lot more then about exactly how these reforms are taking hold.

JERRY BAILEY: Almost the exact thing happened in New York in 2012 and they went through a systematic change and reforms, a laundry list of things that they changed, medications, administration of medications, track surface attention, and it cut their injury rate in half. Looking back on it, what they did worked. Hopefully what Santa Anita has done when we look back on it will have worked.

Q. The main track at Santa Anita has been deep, and obviously we know why it’s been deep. It’s been favoring front runners and it’s not very conducive to closers. Do you think there’s a chance that on Friday and Saturday they might tighten that track up and make it a little bit more fair, and if not, what do you do with horses that usually come off the pace a little bit more?

RANDY MOSS: I think they’re so concerned right now primarily, as they should be, with horse safety, going into this Breeders’ Cup, that I would be surprised if they make any substantial changes for this weekend to tighten it up. They’ve added cushion to it. They’ve made it deeper. They’ve made it a little more forgiving to try to prevent some of these catastrophic injuries that have happened at Santa Anita.

And specifically to your point, the way the racetrack is playing in general, speed versus come-from-behinders, but also more specifically how the Eastern-based horses are handling deeper surface in California is going to be a huge storyline because there are Eastern trainers that are concerned that their horses won’t handle the surface as well as the California horses that have been out here and that have gotten accustomed to it, and there are California trainers that we’ve talked to that think that they may have a pretty significant home track advantage, even more so than usual. So we’ll be watching that right off the bat on Friday.

EDDIE OLCZYK: And from a handicapping point of view, I think that you certainly will look to see the trends, the way specific races are starting and finishing and being able to go to school, and that’s — look, the track changes from day-to-day and the temperature and all that has a lot to do with it, but if you see that one specific angle on a particular track or the distance or if there’s an opportunity to have it weighted in your favor, then as a handicapper you’re going to certainly look to horses that are either front runners or just off the pace. That’s what handicapping is; having a feel and having an idea how the race is going to be run before the race runs and then try to figure out and do a process of elimination, so something keeping a very close eye on from a distance, but even more so to when we get to Friday and see how the track is playing and then obviously getting into the big day on Saturday.

Q. I’ve heard the turf course is more like a putting green than anything right now. Could you speak about the turf course?

JERRY BAILEY: Santa Anita has always been more closely mown and a tighter-knit turf course than a lot of East Coast courses, but a Gulfstream Park is an example of an East Coast course that’s tightly mown, and it’s very similar to Santa Anita. Belmont is completely different. It’s longer grass. It’s a little more tiring. European courses are much more different. But I think that’s why certain trainers and owners send certain horses to the Breeders’ Cup when it’s out there for that specific reason. Their horses will handle that type of course.

RANDY MOSS: Personally, from a handicapping perspective, I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about the difference between Eastern turf courses and the Santa Anita turf course. I would look to just focus on your handicapping, who the best horse is and — I personally don’t think you’ve got to worry a whole lot about that.

EDDIE OLCZYK: And as far as the grass, I would say I think Santa Anita has always been a fair turf course. I mean, there have been times where the downhill, the six-and-a-half-furlong downhill turf, obviously they haven’t used that course in a long, long time, but I think that it’s been pretty fair over the years, and that’s how I’m going to attack it on Friday and Saturday.

Q. Randy touched on the fact that this is the 10-year anniversary of Zenyatta’s win in the Classic. I’m interested in both of you, Randy and Jerry, what are your memories of that race and the atmosphere of the crowd when she crossed the wire first?

RANDY MOSS: That was a great call by Trevor Denman.

JERRY BAILEY: Well, it was historic, obviously, a female beating the males in the Classic. As I said in the opening, a lot of people come to watch the races here at Santa Anita, so you typically get a big crowd, and she was a home-court horse, female against male, so she had a lot of people rooting for her. She had a huge fan club, and yeah, it was special, it really was.

RANDY MOSS: She was a synthetic track specialist, and Santa Anita happened to have a synthetic racing surface at that time, so that played to her come-from-behind running style and was right in her wheelhouse, and it was — to watch the verse that Zenyatta put forth through the stretch, to run down some pretty good male horses. Gio Ponti was a really nice horse, and she left him in her wake. So that was a career-defining moment for Zenyatta, to be sure. And it certainly resonated with horse racing fans everywhere because when she came back the next year at Churchill Downs to try to end her career undefeated, I don’t ever recall any particular Breeders’ Cup race that generated as much interest from casual mainstream sports fans as that 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic did.

Zenyatta was quite a name in Breeders’ Cup history.

Q. Do you think in that defeat she gained more respect than she did in any of her wins?

RANDY MOSS: I’ll tell you, the line — Jerry and I laugh about this because there was a line that I wanted to get in in the aftermath of Blame’s win over Zenyatta in that Breeders’ Cup Classic, that I never got a chance to get in because of time reasons, and I also probably forgot it, but I’ve used it since. It’s the best race Zenyatta ever ran and the only race she ever lost.

Q. Jerry, Phil Georgeff went to his grave saying the three greatest riders he ever saw were Eddie Arcaro, Bill Hartack and you. So take that. 17 years ago Chicago was a God because Arlington Park was going to host the Breeders’ Cup. Jerry, you rode here for a couple seasons during your period of assent. Churchill Downs has now elected to put the track on death’s doorstep. When you see something like that, Jerry, what are your thoughts?

JERRY BAILEY: Well, it makes me sad. I couldn’t wait for the Breeders’ Cup to get to Chicago. As a matter of fact, our hotel was downtown, and I took the train from downtown to Arlington Park, which let off behind the grandstand, because I enjoy the Midwestern fan so much. I had a hoot just talking to the people and visiting with the people on the train back and forth. That’s how much I like Midwestern people, Chicago racing in particular, and I loved it there. I mean, I moved on because there were better opportunities for me on the East Coast, but I loved racing in Chicago. My wife is from the Midwest. She’s from Southern Illinois. I just had a wonderful time at the Breeders’ Cup there. I wish it would go back actually, and it kills me, it pains me to know that such a beautiful track that Dick Duchossois built may be going out of existence. That’s no fun.

Q. Eddie, if I could ask you one quick Chicago-based question, please. You’ve got the new book out, “Beating the Odds in Hockey and in Life,” which is a fantastic book. What are the nuts and bolts of your travel schedule from Chicago out to Santa Anita and then back to the Blackhawks?

EDDIE OLCZYK: I appreciate it. I’m actually in Nashville this evening with the Blackhawks, and the schedule makers were maybe looking down upon my schedule because the Blackhawks’ next game is Saturday night in LA at Staples Center against the Kings, so actually I am going to be making my way to California after the game tonight, and I will be at our production meeting tomorrow and then our Breeders’ Cup betting show on Thursday. I’ll work Friday, I’ll work Saturday, I’ll make my pick on NBC, and then I will fight traffic from Santa Anita to Staples Center on Saturday night, and I get the ultimate daily double of doing the Breeders’ Cup and doing the Blackhawks and Kings for NBC Sports Chicago on Saturday night. So that will be my week. It doesn’t get any better than that, pucks and ponies, and hopefully I’ll be weighing a little bit more when I’m doing that game with Pat Foley on Saturday night, especially in my pockets if you know what I mean.

— NBC Sports —

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, NBC, Uncategorized

THE RICHEST TWO DAYS IN HORSE RACING ARE HERE: NBC SPORTS PRESENTS LIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2019 BREEDERS’ CUP FROM SANTA ANITA THIS WEEKEND

October 29, 2019 By admin

Breeders’ Cup Classic to Be Run This Saturday, Nov. 2, on NBC at 8 p.m. ET

NBC Sports to Utilize Special ‘Gyro’ Camera Throughout Weekend

Actress Elizabeth Banks Featured in NBC Saturday Night Show Open for Breeders’ Cup Classic

Coverage Streamed Live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 29, 2019 – NBC Sports this weekend presents 10.5 hours of live coverage of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup World Championships – the richest two days in horse racing – with $30 million in prize money at stake. Highlighting the coverage is the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic this Saturday, Nov. 2, live from Santa Anita at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

On Friday and Saturday, NBC Sports presents live coverage of 13 races at the 36th Breeders’ Cup World Championships on NBC and NBCSN.

Trainer Bob Baffert’s colt McKinzie, who won the Grade 1 Whitney this summer at Saratoga, is expected to headline the field of the Classic on Saturday. McKinzie, named after the trainer’s late friend, has finished 1st or 2nd in all but one of his 13 career starts. Also expected to run are Preakness winner War of Will, and the 5-year-old female Elate; she will try to become just the 2nd female to win the Classic, after Zenyatta in 2009.

NBCSN’s coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships begins this Thursday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. ET with handicapping special “Betting the Breeders’ Cup.” Live racing coverage begins Friday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m. ET, followed by 4.5 live hours on Saturday, Nov. 2, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and continuing on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.

This week, NBCSN will also televise all four episodes from season two of “ALL IN: The Road to the Classic,” an original series documenting the world’s best trainers, jockeys, owners and thoroughbred horses as they prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Episode two will air tonight at 6 p.m. ET, followed by episode three at 11:30 p.m. ET tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 30, and episode four at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 31. Beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, the first three episodes will encore on NBCSN.

2019 BREEDERS’ CUP TELEVISION SCHEDULE:

Date Time (ET)   Program Network      
Thurs., Oct. 31 4 p.m. Betting the Breeders’ Cup NBCSN
Fri., Nov. 1 4 p.m. Breeders’ Cup World Championships NBCSN
Sat., Nov. 2 3:30 p.m. Breeders’ Cup World Championships NBCSN
Sat., Nov. 2 8 p.m. Breeders’ Cup Classic NBC


COMMENTATORS:
Ahmed Fareed hosts coverage, joined by analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who owns 15 Breeders’ Cup wins, including five victories in the Classic, analyst Randy Moss; host/reporters Laffit Pincay III and Nick Luck; analyst/handicapper Eddie Olczyk and reporters Kenny Rice, Donna Brothers, and Britney Eurton. NBC’s Triple Crown race caller Larry Collmus will call all of the Breeders’ Cup races. In addition, Daily Racing Form’s Matt Bernier will serve as a handicapper. Thursday night’s “Betting the Breeders’ Cup” special features Fareed, Pincay, Luck, Olczyk, Eurton, and Bernier.

Programming highlights include:

  • Actress, director and Breeders’ Cup Ambassador Elizabeth Banks will be featured in the Saturday night Classic show open on NBC from the set of Charlie’s Angels.
  • Eddie Olczyk interviews Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, owner of multiple horses expected to run in the Breeders’ Cup.
  • A feature on McKinzie, named for trainer Bob Baffert’s longtime friend and Los Alamitos Race Course executive Brad McKinzie, who died of cancer in 2017.

Award-winning NBC Sports journalist Tim Layden presents several pieces throughout NBC Sports’ broadcasts this weekend. Highlights include:

  • Appreciation of Zenyatta: celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the filly who became the first female to ever win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
  • A feature on Omaha Beach, the morning line favorite in this year’s Kentucky Derby before being scratched from the race due to illness; Omaha Beach is expected to run in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile this weekend.
  • An inside look at 2019 in horse racing.


SPECIAL GYRO CAMERA TO CAPTURE UNIQUE VIEWS OF RACING AND SCENERY THROUGHOUT WEEKEND

Coverage will feature a Gyro-stabilized camera on the back of a moving vehicle, providing picturesque scenic and low-angle views of the horses racing down the backstretch with the San Gabriel mountains in the background.

NBC Sports’ coverage will be produced by Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, and directed by Kaare Numme and Tim Nelson.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs – will stream coverage of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The NBC Sports app will stream coverage via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. Powered by Playmaker Media, the NBC Sports app is available on Apple iOS, Android and select Samsung devices, as well as on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Win10, and Xbox.

BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Breeders’ Cup, thoroughbred racing’s most prestigious global racing event, consists of 14 races (13 Grade 1 events) held over two days with $30 million in purses and awards at stake.  The culminating event of the Breeders’ Cup, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, is contested at 1 ¼ miles on the main track, for 3-year-olds and older.

Breeders’ Cup Limited administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships.  The Breeders’ Cup also administers the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup Web site, www.breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown. The 2019 Kentucky Derby posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 16.5 million viewers across NBC and NBC Sports Digital platforms – up 10% from last year’s race (15.0 million) featuring eventual Triple Crown winner Justify and marking television’s largest Saturday audience since the NFL Divisional Playoffs (Jan. 12, 2019).

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, NBC, Uncategorized

*REMINDER* JERRY BAILEY, RANDY MOSS & EDDIE OLCZYK PREVIEW NBC SPORTS’ BREEDERS’ CUP COVERAGE ON CONFERENCE CALL TODAY AT 2:30 P.M. ET

October 29, 2019 By admin

Dial 800-353-6461 to Participate

36th Breeders’ Cup Classic This Saturday, November 2, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 29, 2019 – NBC Sports’ horse racing team will preview coverage of the 36th Breeders’ Cup World Championships on a media conference call today at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Participants include analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, veteran horse racing analyst Randy Moss, and analyst/handicapper Eddie Olczyk. Bailey owns 15 Breeders’ Cup wins, with five victories in the Classic – including the greatest upset in Classic history aboard 133-to-1 longshot Arcangues in 1993 at Santa Anita.

Dial 800-353-6461 to participate; conference call ID 5391520.

NBC Sports’ live coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships begins this Thursday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN with handicapping special “Betting the Breeders’ Cup.” Live racing coverage begins Friday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m. ET, followed by 4.5 live hours on Saturday, Nov. 2 – beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, and continuing on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, NBC, Uncategorized

JERRY BAILEY, RANDY MOSS & EDDIE OLCZYK PREVIEW NBC SPORTS’ BREEDERS’ CUP COVERAGE ON CONFERENCE CALL TOMORROW, TUESDAY, OCT. 29 AT 2:30 P.M. ET

October 28, 2019 By admin

Dial 800-353-6461 to Participate

36th Breeders’ Cup Classic This Saturday, November 2, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 28, 2019 – NBC Sports’ horse racing team will preview coverage of the 36th Breeders’ Cup World Championships on a media conference call tomorrow, Tuesday, October 29, at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Participants include analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, veteran horse racing analyst Randy Moss, and analyst/handicapper Eddie Olczyk. Bailey owns 15 Breeders’ Cup wins, with five victories in the Classic – including the greatest upset in Classic history aboard 133-to-1 longshot Arcangues in 1993 at Santa Anita.

Dial 800-353-6461 to participate; conference call ID 5391520.

NBC Sports’ live coverage of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships begins this Thursday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN with handicapping special “Betting the Breeders’ Cup.” Live racing coverage begins Friday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m. ET, followed by 4.5 live hours on Saturday, Nov. 2 – beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, and continuing on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Breeder's Cup, NBC, Uncategorized

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