by Jeff Lowe

The American Graded Stakes Committee denied Breeders’ Cup Ltd.’s request for immediate Grade 1 status for three $1-million races that will debut on the new World Championships program on Friday, October 26.

Breeders’ Cup Ltd. formally requested grades for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. In general, races are not eligible for grades unless they have been run twice under essentially the same conditions. 

The committee waived that rule in January 1984, when all seven races for the first Breeders’ Cup card were granted immediate Grade 1 status. Prior to this year, the only addition to the program was the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, which also received immediate Grade 1 status for its first edition in 1999.
 
The three additional Breeders’ Cup races for 2007 will anchor a new Friday program that will precede the traditional eight-race card on Saturday, October 27 at Monmouth Park.

Andy Schweigardt, secretary of the ten-member committee, said the group based its decision on general considerations and also on analysis of the individual races.
 
Schweigardt said statistics provided by The Jockey Club showed that, other than the seven original Breeders’ Cup races, only two races worth $1-million or more were offered in the United States in 1984. In 2006, 15 races worth $1-million or more were offered in the U.S., excluding the eight Breeders’ Cup races.

“They wanted to get an idea of where $1-million fits into today’s racing,” Schweigardt said.

Schweigardt said one of the factors that weighed in the committee’s decision was a desire to remain consistent in applying the rule requiring two editions of a race before it is eligible for grading.

Schweigardt noted that the Delta Jackpot Stakes (G3), American Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1), and Colonial Turf Cup Stakes (G3) all did not receive grades for two years, even though they featured purses worth $500,000 or more.

Schweigardt said he did not know the committee’s reasoning for waiving the rule in 1999 for the first Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

“The committee didn’t believe it would be fair to all other tracks that have or may in the future present $1-million races if it fast-tracked the Breeders’ Cup races,” Schweigardt said.

Schweigardt said the committee also considered a letter it sent to the International Cataloguing Committee expressing concern after the European Pattern Committee in 2004 granted immediate Group 2 status to three new races for older fillies and mares. 

“The concern was that the European Pattern Committee had established procedures for grading new races, and they circumvented those procedures,” Schweigardt said. “Our committee thought it would be inconsistent, to say the least, if it then turned around and granted immediate Grade 1 status to these three new races.”

In assessing the individual races, the committee cited the lack of an established pattern of graded stakes leading up to the Juvenile Turf and Dirt Mile.

“With the Filly and Mare Sprint, the committee felt it had the strongest case since there is an established division, but again, I heard a lot of talk about consistency if we were not going to grant Grade 1 status to the other two, they felt like they should be consistent in applying the rule,” Schweigardt said.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer