ABOUT THE BREEDERS' CUP
History of the Breeders' Cup
John R. Gaines, one of the central figures in the North American commercial breeding industry in the last quarter of the 20th century, was renowned for his creativity and his powers of persuasion. In the early 1980s, Gaines needed all his considerable talents to get a fractious industry lined up behind a groundbreaking concept, which he believed would help to define the Thoroughbred industry and give it a centerpiece.
Gaines's creation was the Breeders' Cup. From the perspective of the 21st century, the Breeders' Cup stands as the most successful initiative of the Thoroughbred industry in the last half of the 20th century. Creation of the Breeders' Cup allowed the sport to hold a championship event in late fall for the majority of age and sex divisions, an important element missing from a sport that had its major fall championship races scattered across the nation at several tracks.
Gaines conceived the idea in part out of anger and frustration. He was angered by a television program in the early 1980s that had depicted Thoroughbred racing as a haven of drug abuse. Indeed, permissive medication policies at racetracks had eroded confidence in the sport's integrity, and racing had continued its long, slow slide in popularity—a decline that began shortly after World War II. Even as the commercial bloodstock markets boomed in the early 1980s, race purses in inflation-adjusted dollars were shrinking.
The highly successful owner of Gainesway in Lexington and an innovator in the stallion-station concept, Gaines developed the idea for a championship day of racing with multimillion-dollar purses to attract the world's best runners, with the races being broadcast nationally on a major television network. The racing, as important as it was, would not be an end unto itself. The event would be used to build racing's popularity, with the organization in charge of the event becoming a leader in marketing the sport.
Given the sport's propensity for infighting, it is surprising the Breeders' Cup came into being in very much the form Gaines first envisioned Thoroughbred racing's championship event. But it was not easy.
Gaines had to sell the concept to a skeptical industry in 1982, and he had to do it one person at a time. His first target was John W. Galbreath, owner of Darby Dan Farm and an influential sportsman in the United States and England. (At the time, Galbreath was the only person to have raced both a Kentucky Derby winner [Chateaugay] and an Epsom Derby victor [Roberto].)
Gaines went to Columbus, Ohio, to meet with Galbreath, who initially thought little of the idea. But, as Gaines sketched out his idea in detail, Galbreath came on board. Moving quickly, Gaines lined up other supporters, including Spendthrift Farm's Leslie Combs II, Nelson Bunker Hunt, Windfields Farms' Charles Taylor, Will Farish, Racing Hall of Fame trainer John Nerud, Brereton C. Jones, John T. L. Jones Jr., and Seth Hancock, who a decade earlier had taken over management of his family's Claiborne Farm.
All great ideas have their moments, and Gaines's idea came at just the right time for the Thoroughbred industry. Commercial breeders, who would pay a big part of the program's cost by nominating their stallions and foals, were enjoying unprecedented prosperity as bloodstock prices rose to record levels and stallion fees climbed.
At the same time, racing was perceived as a sport in trouble, and relatively low purse levels dissuaded some prospective owners from buying horses. Although overseas interests sent the bloodstock markets skyrocketing, many breeders realized the prices they received for their sale offerings and the stallion fees they charged were directly related to purses, which determined how much a sale purchase potentially could earn.
Gaines chose the sport's most prestigious event, the Kentucky Derby (G1), to announce his idea. He was honored at the Kentucky Derby Festival's "They're Off" luncheon on April 23, 1982, and there he outlined his idea, a $13-million afternoon featuring the world's best racehorses. Gaines named it the Breeders' Cup.
He moved quickly to assemble a board of directors and girded for the inevitable naysayers. New York racing interests were opposed because Gaines's proposal would diminish the importance of the New York Racing Association's fall races, which frequently decided year-end titles.
Smaller-scale breeders also voiced their opposition. Gaines said breeders could breed one more mare to a stallion to cover the cost of the stallion nomination fee each year. Such a strategy would work for a breeder with barns filled with desirable stallions whose books were filled, and Gaines was one of those breeders. But, for a small-scale breeder trying to fill the book of a less commercial stallion, the stallion nomination most likely would be paid out of the stallion owner's pocket.
Other breeders raised concerns that Gaines was putting all the money into one event, arguing that the money should be spread throughout the year to supplement purses of existing stakes races. On that point, a compromise was reached, with $10-million earmarked for the championship day and an equal portion going into Breeders' Cup-sponsored races around the country.
By the fall of 1982, the Breeders' Cup was beset with infighting, and Hancock delivered an unexpected blow when he did not nominate Claiborne's stallions on grounds that the organization had not developed a clear game plan. Gaines realized he had become a lightning rod for opponents and resigned the presidency on October 22, becoming chairman. C. Gibson Downing Jr., a Lexington lawyer with a modest-sized stud farm and a reputation for consensus building, became Breeders' Cup president. Hancock signed up after a rules book was written on how the money would be spent, and smaller breeders followed his lead. D. G. Van Clief Jr. came on board that fall as executive director.
For several months, Gaines and Nerud traveled around the country, selling breeders and racetrack operators on the concept. By April 15, 1983, 1,083 stallions had been nominated to the program, and the Breeders' Cup was up and running. Nerud said in 1985 that a decision was made early to hold the first Breeders' Cup in a warm climate so television viewers would see racing in a pleasant setting. Marjorie Everett, chief executive of Hollywood Park, lobbied heavily for the first event, and on February 24, 1983, the Inglewood, California, track was named as host of the first Breeders' Cup, to be held on November 10, 1984. In a bow to New York interests, Aqueduct was host of the second Breeders' Cup in 1985.
At Nerud's suggestion, marketers Mike Letis and Mike Trager of Sports Marketing and Television International were brought in to negotiate a television deal, and a contract with NBC was signed on September 13, 1983. The show would run for four hours on a Saturday afternoon and would include live coverage of all seven Breeders' Cup championship races. In January 1984, all seven races were granted Grade 1 status.
From the first race, won by Chief's Crown in the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), the Breeders' Cup was an unprecedented success. That afternoon's races attracted a crowd of 64,254, and the day concluded with a breathtaking $3-million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), in which supplemental entry Wild Again edged Gate Dancer and Slew o' Gold for the biggest race purse ever offered to that time.
An even larger crowd, 69,155, attended the third Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park in suburban Los Angeles, but that record lasted only two years until Churchill Downs hosted the fifth Breeders' Cup in 1988 before a crowd of 71,237. On a dreary, rainy, chilly day in Louisville, they were treated to one of the event's most exciting races when undefeated Personal Ensign closed relentlessly in the final yards and caught that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Winning Colors, at the finish line to win the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) by a nose. With that victory, Personal Ensign was retired unbeaten in 13 starts.
The Breeders' Cup traveled to Florida for the first time in 1989, and Gulfstream Park was the scene for another monumental struggle in which Sunday Silence fought off the challenge of Easy Goer to win the Breeders' Cup Classic. The event reached its nadir the following year at Belmont Park, when Go for Wand sustained a fatal breakdown near the finish line of the Breeders' Cup Distaff and was euthanized. Subsequently, Breeders' Cup Ltd. instituted prerace examinations in an effort to limit breakdowns.
As rich races became more common, especially internationally, Breeders' Cup Ltd. increased its championship day purses, raising the Classic to $4-million in 1996 and the Distaff to $2-million in '98. In 1999, a new race, the $1-million Filly and Mare Turf (G1), was added, raising the afternoon's total purses to $13-million. In 2001, the championship day was renamed the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, and in '03 total purses increased to $14-million. In 2006, the championship day was renamed again, to the Breeders' Cup World Championships, and total purse money was increased to $20-million, with the Classic carrying a $5-million purse and the Turf raised to $3-million. All other races were allotted a $2-million purse.
In 2003, Breeders' Cup increased total entry fees 50% to 3% of the race purse. Stallion nomination fees were adjusted beginning in 2006. Stallions with 50 to 99 live foals were assessed 1 1/2 times the advertised stud fee, and stallions with more than 100 foals were assessed twice the stud fee.
Some of the most noteworthy changes in Breeders' Cup history occurred in 2006 and early '07. The first change was Van Clief's retirement as president and chief executive officer after more than 23 years with the organization. Announced in April 2006, the change took effect before the World Championships at Churchill Downs. Succeeding Van Clief on an interim basis was Gregory C. Avioli, who also served as interim CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. In April 2007, Avioli was appointed president and CEO on a permanent basis.
Churchill Downs hosted its sixth championship in 2006. In 2007, the Breeders' Cup expanded to a second day for the event at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. Added to the championship series were three $1-million races, the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
A year later, three more races were added for the 2008 edition at Santa Anita Park: the $1-million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon. Also for 2008, all filly and mare races were moved to the Friday card.
The 2009 Breeders' Cup marked the first time in the history of the event that it was contested at the same site in consecutive years. The program also featured 11 graded events with the upgrades to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G2).
Churchill Downs will host its record seventh championship in 2010 and will be host again in 2011.
Breeders' Cup trophy
The Breeders' Cup trophy is an authentic reproduction of the Torrie horse, created by Giovanni da Bologna in Florence, Italy, most likely in the late 1580s. The sculpture is known as an ecorche or flayed horse and shows the horse's muscles in great detail.
Although its original commission is not known, the sculpture may have been a study made for an equestrian statue of Duke Cosimo I, which was completed in 1591 and stands today in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The sculptor's original ecorche in bronze was acquired by Sir James Erskine of Torrie in the early 1800s. It was bequeathed to the University of Edinburgh in 1836 and today is housed in the university's Museum of Fine Arts in Scotland.
The Breeders' Cup trophy was cast from the original under supervision of University of Edinburgh curators, and the replica is owned by Breeders' Cup Ltd. Smaller replicas are presented to winners of each Breeders' Cup race, and winning breeders, trainers, and jockeys also are presented with replicas.