With most eyes on next week's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, a dedicated team of workers at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Breeders' Cup Ltd., and Sam Houston Race Park are preparing for the inaugural Great State Challenge on December 7.

The challenge, designed after the Breeders' Cup, will pit horses representing their state's breeders' associations against each other in six different divisions: juvenile fillies, juvenile colts and geldings, sprint, turf, distaff, and classic. Each division carries a purse of $275,000, and together with four additional stakes worth $160,000, December 7 will be the richest day of racing in Sam Houston's nine-season history.

"This is our first real opportunity to put the track in the limelight," said Martha Claussen, Sam Houston director of publicity and media relations. "We're one of the newer tracks in the country, and showcasing some of these Thoroughbred stars to racing fans of Texas will be a great opportunity for everybody."

The crunch to assemble fields for the event began on October 4 when the NTRA asked each of the breeders' associations to submit a list of preliminary nominations.

"The response seems to be enthusiastic," said Pam Blatz-Murff, senior vice president of Breeders' Cup operations. "Obviously, many states will have their best going in [next week's] Breeders' Cup, so a lot of things need to be sorted out yet, but we asked for an earlier deadline because we want to motivate the breeders' associations to get involved in the program."

California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Texas—representing the eight largest NTRA dues-paying members—are guaranteed at least one horse in each race. Nominees from Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Ontario are at the mercy of the selection committee since each race is limited to 12 entrants.

On November 1, Breeders' Cup officials will contact the connections of horses who may be interested in competing. Then, the breeders' associations from the eight primary states will rank horses in order of preference. On November 18, the selection committee will round out the Great State Challenge nominees from other jurisdictions, and invitations will go out on November 25.

Sam Houston has begun selling tickets for the event, which Claussen expects will draw at least 20,000 fans to the track.—Ed DeRosa