Breeders' Cup returning to Louisville in 2010

By Alicia Wincze - awincze@herald-leader.com

LOUISVILLE — As Breeders' Cup Chairman Bill Farish stepped to the podium in the Aristides room at Churchill Downs, he looked out at the crowd and joked, "I think we all know this has been the best kept secret in racing."

And with that, months of speculation surrounding one of horse racing's premier events was finally over.

Anniversary presents opportunity to look at best Breeders' Cup moments
Breeders' Cup venues
2008 — Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, Calif. (Oct. 24-25)
2009 — Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, Calif. (Nov. 6-7)
2010 — Churchill Downs, Louisville (Nov. 5-6)
Breeders' Cups at Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders' Cup World Championships six times previously. Here is how those events played out:
1988
Date: Nov. 5
Attendance: 71,237
Weather: Cloudy, drizzle, 50 degrees
On-track mutuel handle: $9,219,083
Total mutuel handle: $42,932,379
Highlights: In perhaps the most memorable Breeders' Cup race, undefeated Personal Ensign capped her brilliant career by charging down a muddy track to make up a 4-length deficit and catch Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors at the wire to win the Distaff by a nose. In the Classic, Alysheba came out of the darkness to beat Seeking the Gold by a half-length and secure Horse of the Year honors. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the Sprint with Gulch, swept the top three spots in the Juvenile Fillies (Open Mind, Darby Shuffle, Lea Lucinda) and almost made it three in a row with Winning Colors.
1991
Date: Nov. 2
Attendance: 66,204
Weather: Partly sunny, 43 degrees
On-track mutuel handle: $9,093,733
Total mutuel handle: $67,588,113
Highlights: A superstar was supposedly crowned when Arazi made a stunning move on the backstretch after breaking from the No. 14 post and went on to win the Juvenile by 5 lengths. Black Tie Affair beat a Classic field that included Unbridled, Strike the Gold and Summer Squall and was named Horse of the Year. Long-shot winners included Sheikh Albadou ($54.60) in the Sprint, Opening Verse ($55.40) in the Mile and Miss Alleged ($86.20) in the Turf.
1994
Date: Nov. 5
Attendance: 71,671
Weather: Clear, 75 degrees
On-track mutuel handle: $9,572,887
Total mutuel handle: $78,224,530
Highlights: A record crowd saw Concern ($17.00) cap a day of surprises by beating lukewarm favorite Tabasco Cat in the Classic. Other upset winners included One Dreamer ($96.20) in the Distaff, Barathea ($22.80) in the Mile and Tikkanen ($35.20) in the Turf.
1998
Date: Nov. 7
Attendance: 80,452
Weather: Clear, 55 degrees
On-track mutuel handle: $13,390,497
Total mutuel handle: $91,449,116
Highlights: In the Classic, Awesome Again capped an unbeaten year with a three-quarters-length victory over Silver Charm. Swain was in position to win the race but swung wide in the stretch, almost to the grandstand, and finished third. Skip Away, in his final race, ran sixth and was denied the all-time earnings record. In the Mile, Da Hoss, the 1996 winner, triumphed despite having only one previous race after a two-year layoff.
2000
Date: Nov. 4
Attendance: 76,043
Weather: Cloudy, 55 degrees
On-track mutuel handle: $13,579,798
Total mutuel handle: $108,603,040
Highlights: Tiznow, whose connections had to pay a $360,000 supplementary fee to get him into the Classic field, went off as the fourth choice at 9-1 and finished in front of Giant's Causeway, Captain Steve and heavy favorite Fusaichi Pegasus, who wound up sixth. Tiznow, a 3-year-old, was later named Horse of the Year. Elsewhere, owner Frank Stronach, trainer Joe Orseno and jockey Jerry Bailey teamed up to win both the Filly and Mare Turf with Perfect Sting and the Juvenile with Macho Uno. The only favorites to win on the day were War Chant in the Mile and Kona Gold in the Sprint.
2006
Date: Nov. 4
Attendance: 75,132
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 54 degrees
On-track mutuel handle: $17,184,919
Total mutuel handle: $134,357,846
Highlights: Invasor and 18-year-old jockey Fernando Jara steamrolled past heavily favored Bernardini inside the final sixteenth to win the Classic in a $15.40 upset for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin of Lexington. Carl Nafzger's Street Sense provided a taste of things to come in winning the Juvenile by a record 10 lengths. The day also included tragedy, when Pine Island was euthanized after breaking down in the Distaff.
HERALD-LEADER STAFF REPORT

The announcement many had been expecting for weeks came to fruition Wednesday when officials with Breeders' Cup Ltd. confirmed the Breeders' Cup World Championships would be returning to Churchill Downs for a record seventh time in 2010.

Churchill Downs most recently hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2006, when it produced a record total handle of $134,357,846.

"I've lost track of what the economic estimate is, $50 or $60 million, but it's a significant amount of money, and the community supports Churchill Downs and racing year round," said Robert Evans, president of Churchill Downs Inc. "This community supports this kind of thing, and there is a reason all the record attendance and record handle gets set here."

In the aftermath of 2006, however, there was some question as to when and if horse racing's year-end championship would return to Louisville. Churchill officials were expressing a desire to get a larger cut of the Breeders' Cup revenue.

While neither side would disclose specific terms of the deal, it was deemed satisfactory by both and even left the door open for Churchill to become part of a potential Breeders' Cup rotation.

"What's changed is we were able to work though some complicated business terms," said Greg Avioli, president and CEO of Breeders' Cup. "It became much more complicated, but ... I'm very pleased to say we were able to work through them, and I think the template we've come up with will serve us well to have multiple Breeders' Cups here at the track in the future.

"We don't have any formal plan set up for the next visit, but if you look realistically at what venues are available to host a two-day Breeders' Cup, there are only a handful at most. And there is no question this particular venue is one of the best."

The 2010 Breeders' Cup will be the first Churchill has hosted under the two-day format. Breeders' Cup expanded to two days last season and has 14 races taking place over Friday and Saturday this year.

Avioli said he expects the format to remain roughly the same for 2010, but the current total purse money of $25.5 million could get a bump.

"Now we're not going to go dollar for dollar with someplace like Dubai," Avioli said. "They want to raise the World Cup to $10 million, and you're not going to see the Classic go to $10 million. But, overall with 14 races, there are races that could merit additional purse money."

Earlier this month, Daily Racing Form reported that Charles Hayward, president of the New York Racing Association, said in his post-meet press conference at Saratoga that he had been told Belmont Park would be getting the 2010 Breeders' Cup. Later, he was informed by Avioli that the event would be going to Churchill.

"We never had a deal with NYRA for 2010," Avioli said Wednesday. "We did have discussions with them about hosting the 2010 event, and we hope, sometime, we will have another Breeders' Cup in New York."

Kentucky is playing host to the World Equestrian Games in 2010, a fact Evans says could help bring additional attention to the Breeders' Cup.

"What other events could we bring to this part of the country that have this kind of global visibility?" said Evans, who also downplayed the notion of a past rift with Breeders' Cup. "If you live around here, 2010 should be a good year."

The 2008 and 2009 Breeders' Cup will be held at Santa Anita, the first track with a synthetic surface to host the event.