Breeders' Cup Challenge adds European races

Breeders' Cup officials have announced that the

Breeders' Cup Challenge, a series of qualifying races for the Breeders' Cup

World Championships, will for the first time be expanded to Europe, with three

"Win and You're In" races scheduled at Ascot Racecourse in England on September

27. The additions bring the total 2008

Breeders' Cup Challenge series races to 53 from 24 races in 2007.

The expansion to Europe marks the third continent and third non-U.S. venue to

host a Breeders' Cup Challenge race. On April 27, Sha Tin Race Course in Hong

Kong will hold the Champions Mile (HK-G1). Its winner will earn an automatic qualifying

position into the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile (G1).

This is the second expansion of

the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2008. After running 24 Challenge races at

six racetracks in the United States in 2007, the 2008 schedule will be run at 13 North

American tracks, including seven races in Canada at Woodbine. Each

Breeders' Cup Challenge winner gains an automatic starting position into a

corresponding divisional race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships,

consisting of 14 races and purses totaling a record $25.5 million. This year's

Breeders' Cup will be held on October 24-25 at the Oak Tree Racing Association

meeting at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, and will be televised live on

ESPN.

The three new Challenge races, all run at one mile on the turf, will be televised on

the BBC and TVG networks. They are the Queen Elizabeth II S. (Eng-G1) for

three-year-olds and up, the Fillies' Mile S. (Eng-G1) for two-year-old

fillies and the Royal Lodge S. (Eng-G2) for two-year-old colts and geldings.

The Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world's most prestigious mile races, is an

automatic qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1). The Fillies' Mile is an automatic qualifier for the $1 million Breeders' Cup

Juvenile Fillies Turf, and the Royal Lodge is a qualifier for the $1

million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Since its inception in 1984, 29 horses from

Europe have won Breeders' Cup races. Three Breeders' Cup Mile winners -- Miesque in 1987, Barathea in 1994 and

Ridgewood Pearl (GB) in 1995 -- have run second in the Queen Elizabeth II.

"Ascot is one of the world's greatest racing venues, and for centuries has

been the hallmark of the finest competition in international racing,"

Breeders' Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli said. "It is an honor and a privilege for

us to be able to include these tremendous races from Ascot in this year's

Challenge."

"Ascot is delighted that the

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Royal Lodge and Fillies' Mile will this year be a

part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge in the run up to the Breeders' Cup at Santa

Anita," Ascot Chief Executive Charles Barnett said. "From our point of view,

with the additional profile and coverage that this will give them in the United

States, this is excellent news for our sponsors, especially for Sony, who we

recently announced as new backers of the QE II."

The Breeders' Cup Challenge begins in the United States on July 5 with races from

Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. Breeders' Cup Challenge races will be televised

on HRTV, ABC, ESPN and TVG in more than 120 countries. Monmouth is one of seven

new North American markets and tracks that will hold 2008 Breeders' Cup

Challenge races. The others are Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington; Suffolk Downs in

Boston; Delaware Park in Wilmington, Delaware; Calder Race Course near Miami; and

Woodbine in Canada. Belmont Park, Saratoga, Arlington Park, Del Mar, Keeneland and Santa Anita will also host Challenge races again this year.

In its first year, the Breeders' Cup Challenge had 14 winners who competed in

the 2007 Breeders' Cup World Championships. Of those 14, four horses won -- War Pass

(Cherokee Run) in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1); Ginger Punch (Awesome Again)

in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1); English Channel in the Breeders' Cup Turf

(G1); and Curlin (Smart Strike) in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).