10 things you should know about next weekend’s racing at Del Mar – Daily News

Fields will soon be set for the 14 Breeders’ Cup races, horses have been undergoing final training and jockeys and trainers are talking tactics.

As a week of anticipation begins for the 41st Breeders’ Cup on Friday and Saturday, November 1-2, here are stories, helpful tips and more for you to know.

if you go

Ticket levels include general field admission ($67 Friday, $133 Saturday), general track admission ($100 Friday but sold out at $199 Saturday), box seats ($475 Friday, sold out Saturday), and the Clubhouse Terrace restaurant ($1,749 per seat for two). days).

Visit BreedersCup.com for updates on ticket availability.

Attendance is capped at 37,500 people.

…if you are not

Streaming television and video coverage of the five Breeders’ Cup races on Friday and nine on Saturday will be split between NBC, USA, Peacock and FanDuel TV. Find exact times at BreedersCup.com and in your newspaper’s sports television listings.

Online betting is available (and quite legal in California on horse racing) through FanDuel and other account betting sites.

This week

Final fields, post positions and morning line odds will be set Monday beginning at 4:15 p.m. (on FanDuel TV and streamed live on BreedersCup.com). Past performance charts should be available for purchase on the Daily Racing Form and Equibase sites shortly thereafter.

Del Mar begins its month-long fall season on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Racing begins at 11:35 a.m. on Friday (the first of five Breeders’ Cup races is at 2:45 p.m.) and Saturday to 10:05 a.m. (first of nine Breeders’ Cup races are at noon).

What is at stake?

As the full name of the Breeders’ Cup World Championship suggests, winners of races for a variety of genders and ages, dirt and turf, and sprint and road specialties are generally voted at the annual Eclipse Awards as America’s best in their divisions, and one is usually named Horse of the Year.

It is one of the richest sporting events, with horse owners competing for $30 million in guaranteed prizes. This year, purses were increased to $7 million (from $6 million) for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the premier race for children ages 3 and up, and to $5 million (from $4 million) for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, which attracts many of the best horses in Europe.

and this too

There is a lot at stake for bettors. Last year’s Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita drew more than $176 million in bets, and the two previous Breeders’ Cups at Del Mar handled $166 million in 2017 and $183 million in 2021. Saturday’s pick 6, which this time will challenge bettors to combine the winners of races 7 through 12, has paid out up to $2,687,611.20 (in 2003, the only perfect ticket held by two men in South Dakota who risked only $8).

New this year

The Breeders’ Cup continues to become more international, with 212 horses passing the “pre-entry” stage last week, including a record 80 horses from four other continents.

Racing scheduling is different, with NBC’s college football schedule accommodating the placement of the Classic as the fifth of Saturday’s nine Breeders’ Cup races instead of the seventh as it was in 2023 or the last as it was previously.

equine stars

The Classic has a world full of stars: City of Troy, the English Derby winner and top-ranked horse in the world who will try to match his sire Justify’s affinity for the dirt and give the great Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien his first Classic; Forever Young, the Japanese colt who unluckily finished third in the Kentucky Derby, and Fierceness, the number one three-year-old in the United States.

If the Classic does not decide the Horse of the Year, Thorpedo Anna could take the crown by winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (which will be held two races before the Classic). Thorpedo Anna, a 3-year-old filly who came within inches of beating Fierceness while leaving six other males behind in the Travers Stakes, may be the closest thing this year to an American horse with the potential to appeal to the general public.

Among the possible stars who will not compete in the Breeders’ Cup is Mystik Dan, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and this year’s top earner in North America.

human stars

Ryan Moore will come from Great Britain with City of Troy. If you want to see why Moore is ranked the best jockey in the world, watch him (on the rail in blue and orange) with Auguste Rodin in Turf from last year’s Breeders’ Cup.

Flavien Prat, born in France and with California experience, will ride Sierra Leone in the Classic, Chancer McPatrick in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and other contenders as he attempts to defend his first Eclipse Award as the country’s top jockey.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, an 89-year-old Racing Hall of Famer, has taken advantage of the gray in the Dirt Mile. His record of Breeders’ Cup wins (20) is threatened by O’Brien, Chad Brown and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert (18 each).

The home team

More than 40 horses eligible to participate have been competing in Southern California, led by large groups trained by Baffert and Phil D’Amato. Baffert looks strongest in Juvenile (Citizen Bull, Gaming, Getaway Car) and Juvenile Fillies (Non Compliant, Nooni), while D’Amato’s best hopes are in Juvenile Fillies Turf (Thought Process) and Turf Sprint (Motorious).

The Juvenile usually identifies the early favorite for the upcoming Kentucky Derby, and Baffert’s horses are eligible for the Derby again after Churchill Downs announced in July that it was lifting a ban that followed the disqualification of 2021 Derby winner Medina Spirit, for a failed drug test.

The Breeders’ Cup has avoided horse deaths in all four events since 2019, when Mongolian Spirit suffered a fatal injury during the Classic at Santa Anita. But two horses died in training leading up to the 2023 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, the death of Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move attributed to a “cardiac event” and the death of Geaux Rocket Ride to a fractured knee. fetlock

Breeders’ Cup officials plan to discuss this year’s safety measures at a “racing safety and integrity briefing” for journalists on Wednesday.