Lexington, KY (Sports Network) – A total of 78 races have been scheduled as
part of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” program with
eight new races announced.
The 32nd Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be held for the first time at
Keeneland Race Course in Lexington on October 30-31
Racetracks in 13 countries will participate in the program where winners of
designated races gain automatic entry into Breeders’ Cup races. Last year, 37
horses in the Breeders’ Cup earned automatic starting positions through the
Challenge series, including winners Bayern (Classic), Main Sequence (Turf),
Work All Week (Sprint) and Goldencents (Dirt Mile).
“The Breeders’ Cup Challenge has grown into a prominent international series
with highly competitive qualifying for the Championships throughout the year
on five continents,” said Craig Fravel, President and CEO of Breeders’ Cup
Ltd. “Horsemen around the world continue to take advantage of the series’
benefits of automatic starting positions, free entry and the travel allowances
to gain a spot in a Breeders’ Cup race. We also greatly appreciate the
commitment and enthusiasm from our partner tracks in their conduct and
promotion of the series.”
Now in its ninth year, the Challenge Series includes races outside of North
America from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, England, France, Germany,
Ireland, Japan, Peru and South Africa.
New races included in this year’s Challenge are the Gran Premio Criadores at
Palermo in Argentina (Distaff), Fleur de Lis Handicap (Distaff), Qatar Sussex
Stakes at Goodwood in England (Mile), Sword Dancer (Turf) and Spinaway
(Juvenile Fillies) at Saratoga, Princess Rooney Handicap (Filly & Mare
Sprint), Smile Sprint Handicap (Sprint) and the T. Von Zastrow Stutenpreis
from Baden Baden in Germany (Filly & Mare Turf).
