Breeders' Cup announced Thursday multi-year agreements with ITV, Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV to continue their live broadcast coverage of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in the U.K. and Ireland. The networks will deliver live television and digital broadcast coverage of the World Championships.
“The Breeders' Cup World Championships is a premier international event and we're delighted that fans in the U.K. and Ireland will once again be able to watch the most talented horses, jockeys and trainers in the world compete during our two days of championship racing,” said Breeders' Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming. “ITV, Sky Sports Racing and Racing TV have been terrific partners and we are pleased to extend our agreements to provide world-class coverage of the Breeders' Cup to fans in the U.K. and Ireland.”
ITV
Breeders' Cup will continue to enjoy unprecedented exposure via ITV – the biggest commercial broadcast network in the U.K. and the home of terrestrial horse racing. As part of the multi-year agreement, ITV will provide world-class coverage of the two-day World Championships, airing all 14 Championship races live on ITV channels, including ITV, ITV3 and ITV4. Broadcast coverage times will be announced at a later date.
ITV will also work alongside Breeders' Cup to offer a consumer competition in which winners will receive a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two to the World Championships, including premium tickets and access to the Breeders' Cup, airfare, hotel accommodations and transportation.
“After the success of last year's event, ITV are delighted to again bring the Breeders' Cup to a UK terrestrial audience,” said Niall Sloane, Director of Sport, ITV. “It's a great culmination to the flat season and a truly global event.”
Sky Sports Racing
Sky Sports Racing will continue its long-standing partnership with the Breeders' Cup and provide live coverage of all 14 Breeders' Cup World Championships races. Sky Sports will utilize the acclaimed NBC Sports-produced world feed during its coverage, supplemented by Sky Sports Racing talent on-site at host venues for interviews and reporting.
Alongside the live television broadcast, extensive digital coverage and promotion of the Breeders' Cup World Championships will be available on attheraces.com – the U.K. and Ireland's largest racing website – and via the skysports.com network.
“We are delighted to extend once again our long-term partnership with Breeders' Cup Ltd.,” said Sky Sports Racing Chief Executive Matt Imi. “Sky Sports Racing is the home of US racing coverage here in the UK and Ireland, and on our digital channels we look forward to building on last year's NTRA Eclipse Award winning Breeders' Cup content.”
Racing TV
Racing TV, which broadcasts 90% of all Graded and Group races in the U.K. and Ireland, has extended its rights to broadcast the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Racing TV has also committed to a full, innovative marketing plan to support its coverage of the event across its broadcast and digital platforms on racingtv.com and social media, which number more than 500,000 followers.
Martin Stevenson, CEO of Racecourse Media Group, parent company of Racing TV, said: “We are delighted to team up again with Drew and his team in producing and presenting first-rate, live coverage of the Breeders' Cup and 11 of the 16 Breeders' Cup “Win and You're in” Challenge races in the U.K. and Ireland which will be live on Racing TV. We look forward to telling the Breeders' Cup stories from these races, in addition to relaying all the latest news, comment and features, via our innovative and engaging television, digital and marketing channels, in the build-up to Keeneland in November.”
Limited tickets for the 2022 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. are still available. Please visit BreedersCup.com/tickets for more information.
Tattersalls is to introduce a new select session, named the 'Sceptre Session', which will headline the Tuesday of the Tattersalls December Sale and showcase the highest quality race fillies and broodmares to be offered for sale in Europe.
The select 'Sceptre Session' takes its name from the great race filly Sceptre who was the only horse ever to win four classics outright, and was herself sold for a record 10,000 guineas at Tattersalls in 1900. The 'Sceptre Session' will feature up to 75 elite fillies and mares focussing on high class racing prospects and well – covered, well bred broodmares with pedigrees which will appeal to the international buyers who annually descend upon Tattersalls Park Paddocks for Europe's premier sale of breeding stock.
The all new 'Sceptre Session' will be the highlight of day two of the Tattersalls December Mares Sale which has traditionally featured the most coveted fillies and mares at the four day finale to the Tattersalls sales season. Notably, the highest priced Thoroughbred ever sold at European public auction was Marsha whose 6 million guineas price tag was the extraordinary climax of the 2017 December Mares Tuesday session which in a run of 75 lots saw 10 lots sold for 1 million guineas or more and a further 11 sold for between 500,000 and a million guineas.
Commenting on the new initiative, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony said;
“Sceptre was one of the most outstanding fillies ever to grace the turf and is inextricably linked with the rich history of Tattersalls and specifically Somerville Tattersall who himself owned the great mare for a short while. The new 'Sceptre Session' will feature the very best race fillies and broodmares and add a new dimension to a sale which is already long established as the most prestigious showcase of world class breeding stock in Europe.”
Simon Marsh, General Manager of Lord and Lady Lloyd – Webber's Watership Down Stud, added his praise saying;
“Over the last 30 years Watership Down Stud has purchased some of its most important mares at the Tattersalls December Sale including Sumoto, the granddam of champion racefilly The Fugue and Gale Force, the dam of 2021 Classic winner Hurricane Lane. So many legendary broodmares have been purchased at the Tattersalls December Sale and the new 'Sceptre Session' will undoubtedly capture the imagination of breeders from throughout the world.”
A month shy of the two-year mark as a full-time rider in Southern California, Juan Hernandez, a 30-year-year old native of Veracruz, Mexico, who had been a dominant force at Golden Gate Fields, is currently on a tremendous roll with veteran agent Craig O'Bryan as Santa Anita's leading jockey heading into closing weekend at the Arcadia, Calif., track.
With three racing days remaining, Hernandez has 100 wins through 73 racing days and perhaps most importantly, he has 22 stakes victories, six clear of the now-departed Flavien Prat. In June of 2020, Hernandez, who had just won 135 races at Golden Gate, 77 clear of his nearest competitor, made the decision to relocate to Southern California on a full-time basis. Married with two young boys, Hernandez contacted O'Bryan, at the suggestion of Golden Gate-based trainer Blaine Wright. O'Bryan had been idle for several months
With 50 years of on the job experience that includes success with Hall of Famers Eddie Delahoussaye, Gary Stevens and Alex Solis as well as a number of other riders, O'Bryan and Hernandez hit the ground running in the summer of 2020 at Del Mar. If Santa Anita's 2021-'22 Winter Spring Meet is any indication, they're just getting warmed up.
The son of the late George O'Bryan, a legendary agent who worked through five decades dating back to the 1950s for Hall of Famers such as Johnny Adams, Ralph Neves, Manuel Ycaza, Laffit Pincay, Jr. and Donald Pierce, Craig O'Bryan, not surprisingly, has an instinctive feel for the business and relationships that produce live mounts—with regularity.
Q. Before we address the success Juan and you are having, I know as a kid, you often accompanied your dad to the racetrack in the mornings and afternoons. Can you describe the impact he had on you and on the way you've conducted your business all these years?
A. He was a man's man. His word was his bond. He earned his nickname, “Black Heart,” when he took Manny Ycaza back to New York (circa 1961). The other agents told him, “Don't get unpacked, you won't last long.” Well, Ycaza lasted 10 years as the number one rider on the East Coast. As a kid, you just accumulate (knowledge), almost through osmosis. It's just being around somebody as good as my dad was, it has to have a positive impact. The same thing with Scotty McClellan. His dad, Chick was a tremendous agent and we were also fortunate to be around some other great, great agents. Guys like Harry Silbert, Ivan Puhich, George Hollander, Vince DeGregory, they were all in action when I first came around and they all made you better.
Q. Juan Hernandez has now established himself as Santa Anita's top rider. In addition to having tremendous ability, he appears to be the complete package. His temperament is even, he's polite and hard working. He was born on a farm in Veracruz and he pretty much grew up in racing. What's he been like to work for?
A. Next month, it'll be two years since he came down from Golden Gate, When he came down here to ride full-time, the first week at Del Mar, my wife and I had Juan, his brother Jonathan and (jockey) Ricky Gonzalez over for dinner. When they left, Sharon said “All three of those boys, you can tell, were really well raised.” That foundation carries you a long way. When I tell someone Juan is going to work a horse at 6:30, he's not there at 6:35, he's there at 6:20. He's very professional. As far as riding, he's been tremendous, obviously. I know Prat was in front when he left a couple months ago (April 3, 72-53), but Juan beat him this past fall at Del Mar (17-14) and for him to have won 22 stakes and a 100 races here at this meet is just phenomenal.
People of course notice that he's a strong finisher and that he wins a lot of races from behind, but he's tremendous out of the gate as well. Bob Baffert came up to me a little over a year ago and he said he wanted to start using Juan a little more. He said, “That jock's really, really good out of the gate.” When Juan's in front, much like Eddie and Shoemaker and some of those guys…Those jocks are awfully tough to get by. He's quiet on a horse, a great judge of pace and from the quarter pole home, he wins. Look at the prices a lot of his horses have paid since he came down here. He wins on the dirt. He wins on turf, he wins long, short, stakes, claiming horses and he goes out to the paddock with a fresh approach every single time he gets a leg up.
Q. You've had some outstanding riders in addition to Eddie D., Stevens and Solis. Guys like Paco Mena, David Flores and Tyler Baze. Beyond getting live mounts, what makes a top rider?
A. Good question. Everybody says the best riders are strong and they're good finishers. I would say that in any sport, the guys that are a little smarter are a little better. You think Tom Brady is the most athletic guy? Probably not. But he's awfully smart and I think just being smart, on the track and off the track, too. The top riders know what to do…You know, Gary Stevens, if you look back, some of those guys, like Shoemaker, they seldom got in trouble.
Juan doesn't get in trouble very often. These kinds of guys are smart on the track and everywhere else. Juan's a smart guy. He gets it, day in and day out. And on top of it, he's a very nice person. He reacts well to everything, he doesn't get flustered and that helps. He's always calm, cool and collected, much like Eddie in that respect.
Q. Juan won the Grade 1 American Oaks with a filly trained by Michael McCarthy named Queen Goddess on opening day, Dec. 26 and from there, he's been remarkably consistent. You won four stakes at this meet with Craig Lewis' Brickyard Ride and you won four stakes on May 28 for four different trainers. How amazing is all of this?
A. Pretty amazing, but this jock is amazing. The Oaks on opening day got shifted from the grass to a wet/fast track and that filly really wasn't expected to do well. Juan put her on the lead and she was gone. A mile and a quarter and she pays $31.20. Brickyard Ride is just an incredibly fast horse that Juan gets along with. I've got a great relationship with Craig and we ride a lot for him because he wants Juan whenever he can get him. What Brickyard Ride did at this meet, winning four stakes, was phenomenal and I really want to thank Craig and the owner, Mr. Pais.
That day we won four stakes, Juan won five races total. All of those horses figured, but again, Juan showed his versatility. He won the Crystal Water for Dean Pederson going a mile on the grass (Carmelita's Man). He won the Thor's Echo for Steve Miyadi going six furlongs (Desmond Doss). He won the Melair going a mile and a sixteenth on dirt for John Sadler (Big Switch) and he won the Fran's Valentine for Phil D'Amato going a mile on turf (Alice Marble).
Queen Goddess and Juan Hernandez take the off-the-turf American Oaks
Q. Have you ever had another jock win four stakes in one day?
A. One other time. Gary did it here on one of those Breeders' Cup prep days in 2013, the year Mucho Macho Man won the Classic. To be fair, we never used to have these colossal, multiple stakes days 30 or 35 years ago. Very seldom did we have more than one stake a day.
Q. You got your 22nd stakes win with Under the Stars last Sunday in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks. Juan had never ridden her, but he obviously knew quite a bit about her?
A. Yes, we had been in communication with Sean (McCarthy) and he said they had backed off her a little bit and that they'd been schooling her a lot. Juan had watched her previous races and as you saw, he rode a great race. You couldn't ride a filly any better than that. He put her in the race out of the gate, but then he sat just off her stablemate (Ganadora) and when it was time to go, Lady T couldn't catch her.
Q. Juan is currently ranked ninth nationally by money-won with nearly $6 million and 10th nationally coming into this Friday with 100 wins. Given the fact that we're operating with fewer race dates, can he move up the ladder in either one of the categories?
A. He's only been here, it'll be two years in July and he wins 22 stakes at this meet, so there's no telling. He's riding for all the right people and truthfully, he sure doesn't shy away from the moment. He brings it when the big money's down, that's pretty obvious…Riding three days a week as opposed to four and five back east, it's a challenge, but purse-wise, we have our best meet coming up, so with a good Del Mar, yes, he could move up the ladder.
With entries for Saturday, June 18, being taken Wednesday morning at Santa Anita, Hernandez appears to be well armed, as he'll ride impressive first-out maiden winner Tahoma, a son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, for Doug O'Neill in the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Futurity. He's also named to ride the multiple graded stakes-winning filly Private Mission for Sean McCarthy in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes on Saturday.
According to O'Bryan, Hernandez is scheduled to ride all three closing day stakes on Sunday: Avenue for trainer Michael McCarthy in the Grade 3 American Stakes at one mile on turf, Tarantino for Ed Moger in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano at a mile and three quarters down the hillside turf, and French-bred Neige Blanche, a two-time graded stakes winner at the meet for Leonard Powell in the $100,000 Possibly Perfect for fillies and mares at a mile and one quarter on turf.
