Breeders' Cup adds three new races for 2008

Three new races will be added to the Breeders' Cup World Championships in

2008, officials announced Monday. Scheduled for October 24-25 at the Oak Tree

meeting at Santa Anita, the 25th Breeders Cup will feature a record 14 races

worth an all-time high of $25.5 million in total purses. For the second

consecutive year, the richest prize money event in sports will be conducted over

a two-day format.

The new Breeders' Cup World Championships races, which will be run on

Breeders' Cup Friday, are the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint for

three-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 grassy furlongs; the $1 million Breeders' Cup

Juvenile Fillies Turf at one mile; and the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Dirt Marathon

for three-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles.

The Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint will be contested on Santa Anita's signature El

Camino Real downhill turf course, with a maximum of 14 starters. The Juvenile

Fillies Turf will be limited to 12 starters. The institution of the Turf Sprint,

the Dirt Marathon and the Juvenile Fillies Turf boosts total purses for the 14

Breeders' Cup races to $25.5 million. 

The addition of the Turf Sprint comes less than one year after the

establishment of three new $1 million Breeders' Cup races -- the Filly and Mare

Sprint, the Dirt Mile and the Juvenile Turf -- which were all held for the first

time at Monmouth Park on October 26. Next year, those three races and the new

Turf Sprint, Juvenile Fillies Turf and Dirt Marathon will increase Breeders' Cup

Friday purses beyond $5 million. 

Friday's program of six Breeders' Cup races will be followed on Saturday by

eight more Breeders' Cup races worth $20 million.

"The establishment of the three new races continues our aggressive expansion

of the Breeders' Cup World Championships as a preeminent international sports

and entertainment property for our fans, sponsors and television viewers around

the globe," said Greg Avioli, Breeders' Cup president and CEO. "These new races

also continue our mission in providing more opportunities for horsemen to

compete at the highest levels over the two days of the Championships."

A committee of the nation's racing secretaries, under the direction of Martin

Panza of Hollywood Park, aided Breeders' Cup Ltd., in making recommendations on

the selection and conditions of the new races. Part of these recommendations

included the creation of a pattern of 12-furlong races to be run around the

country as preps for the Dirt Marathon.

2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Oak

Tree

Friday, October 24

RACE		DISTANCE		AGE/SEX
$1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile		One mile and 70 yards		Three-year-olds and up
$1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint		Seven furlongs		Three-and-up, fillies and mares
$1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf		One mile (turf)		Two-year-olds, colts, geldings, fillies
$1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint		6 1/2 furlongs (turf)		Three-year-olds and up
$1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf		One mile (turf)		Two-year-old fillies
$500,000 Breeders' Cup Dirt Marathon		1 1/2 miles		Three-year-olds and up

Saturday, October 25

RACE		DISTANCE		AGE/SEX
$2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies		1 1/16 miles		Two-year-old fillies
$2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile		1 1/16 miles		Two-year-old colts & geldings
$2 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf		1 1/4 miles (turf)		Three-and-up, fillies & mares
$2 million Breeders' Cup Mile		1 mile (turf)		Three-year-olds and up
$2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint		Six furlongs		Three-year-olds and up
$2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff		1 1/8 miles		Three-year-olds and up
$3 million Breeders' Cup Turf		1 1/2 miles (turf)		Three-year-olds and up
$5 million Breeders' Cup Classic		1 1/4 miles		Three-year-olds and up