The Breeders' Cup has announced the creation of a new “Classic Pick 'Em” Contest in which fans will have a chance to compete for a $10,000 grand prize by selecting their pick to win the 2022 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on Saturday, Nov. 5.
The contest will allow fans to select one horse to win the Classic, with the winner of the $10,000 cash prize to be randomly selected from among those who choose the correct horse. Additional winners will be selected for a $5,000 and $2,500 prize.
“We're always looking to engage our fans in innovative ways and to bring the fun and passion of racing to new audiences,” said Breeders' Cup Chief Marketing Officer Justin McDonald. “This new contest will provide another element of excitement and raise the stakes for fans ahead of the 2022 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.”
The Longines Breeders' Cup Classic is the premier Thoroughbred horse race of the year, featuring the best horses, jockeys, and trainers from around the world competing for $6 million in purse money.
Fans will be able to select their entry for the “Classic Pick 'Em” starting now until post-time for the Breeders' Cup Classic at 5:40 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 5. For more information, and to make a pick, visit BreedersCup.com/Contest.
The 39th running of the Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 4 and 5 will be televised live across NBC, Peacock, USA Network and FanDuel TV.
NBC Sports and Peacock present nine hours of live coverage of the 2022 Breeders' Cup World Championships this weekend — the richest two days in horse racing — with a total of $31 million in prize money at stake in 14 races. Headlining the weekend's coverage is the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock live from Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.
Highlighting Saturday's star-studded Breeders' Cup Classic field is:
Flightline: undefeated in five starts by a combined margin of 62 ¾ lengths, including a 19 ¼ length victory in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, his most recent race;
Epicenter: runner-up in the first two legs of this year's Triple Crown who won the Grade 1 Travers in his most recent race and has finished second-or-better in every race since his debut 10 starts ago;
Rich Strike: this year's 80-1 longshot Kentucky Derby winner who is trained by Eric Reed and ridden by jockey Sonny Leon;
Taiba: three-year-old who is a two-time Grade 1 winner and is trained by four-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bob Baffert;
Life is Good: four-time Grade 1 winner who was victorious in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.
Live racing coverage of the 39th Breeders' Cup World Championships begins this Friday featuring the Juveniles in action at 2 p.m. ET on USA Network. Five hours of live coverage on Saturday begins at 1 p.m. ET on USA Network and continues on NBC and Peacock at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Breeders' Cup Classic has a post time of 5:40 p.m. ET. In addition to the Classic, the Breeders' Cup Distaff (3:55 p.m. ET post time) and Breeders' Cup Turf (4:40 p.m. ET post time) will be presented live Saturday on NBC and Peacock.
COMMENTATORS: Ahmed Fareed hosts coverage on Friday and Saturday alongside analyst and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, who owns 15 Breeders' Cup wins; analyst Randy Moss; reporters Britney Eurton, Kenny Rice, and Nick Luck; handicappers Eddie Olczyk and Matt Bernier; insights analyst Steve Kornacki; and Donna Brothers, who will report on horseback. Larry Collmus will call all of the Breeders' Cup races.
NBC Sports' handicapping “Betting the Breeders' Cup” series previewing each of the 14 World Championship races will be presented across NBC Sports digital platforms beginning on Thursday. Eurton, Luck, Olczyk, Bernier, and Kornacki will be featured in the digital series.
NBC Sports' weekend presentation will also feature:
Breeders' Cup “Contender Cam” footage. Each Breeders' Cup horse will have a camera following them from the paddock out onto the track to allow viewers unique, one-of-a-kind access. Comprehensive coverage will be available to stream here
A pair of jockey cam systems with audio
A megalodon camera to share live-action footage of the fashion and flavors surrounding the Breeders' Cup World Championships
An outrider camera capturing intimate moments with the winning jockey immediately following races
Backstretch cam on the Keeneland track
An essay narrated by Tim Layden on the uniqueness surrounding Flightline and his relatively unheralded historic success throughout 2022
A feature on Dirt Mile morning-line favorite Cody's Wish and the story between human and horse connections
Britney Eurton interviewing Lisa Lazarus, the CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority
Celebrities making their Breeders' Cup Classic picks
Access to approximately 75 video sources, including cameras and feeds
NBC Sports' coverage of the Breeders' Cup World Championships is produced by Lindsay Schanzer on Saturday, Billy Matthews on Friday, and directed by Kaare Numme. Executive producer and president, NBC Sports Production is Sam Flood.
Date
Event
Platform
Time (ET)
Fri., Nov. 4
Breeders' Cup World Championships
USA Network
2 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 5
Breeders' Cup World Championships
USA Network
1 p.m.
Breeders' Cup Classic
NBC, Peacock
3:30 p.m.
The Breeders' Cup Classic is part of NBCUniversal's “Big Event Weekend” featuring numerous high-profile events across NBC and Peacock this Saturday and Sunday (programming details below). For more on “Big Event Weekend,” click here.
Fans will have their first of six opportunities to bet on the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby (G1) Tuesday-Thursday where Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Breeders' Futurity (GI) winner Forte was made the 15-1 individual betting favorite while the pari-mutuel field of “All Other Colts and Geldings” not listed within the 38 individual betting interests was tabbed as the heavy 3-5 choice.
The new three-day pool, which features $2 Win and Exacta wagering, will open Tuesday at noon (all times Eastern) and close Thursday at 6 p.m. in advance of the Breeders' Cup World Championships' Future Stars Friday.
New for 2022, the Kentucky Derby Future Wager can have up to 40 betting interests. Pool 1 will have 38 individual horses, a betting interest for “All Fillies from the 2020 Foal Crop” and the popular “All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2020 Foal Crop.”
Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Forte has won three of four career starts and is a two-time Grade I winner with his other score coming in the Hopeful (GI) at Saratoga. Forte is slated to compete in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) Friday at Keeneland.
Other intriguing prospects that were included in the first pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager include Winchell Thoroughbreds' 9 ½-length maiden special weight winner and $1.35 million purchase Extra Anejo; Rodeo Creek Racing's Champagne Stakes (GI) winner Blazing Sevens; and Spendthrift Farm, Steve Landers Racing, Martin Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Ten Strike Racing, Jim Bakke, Titletown Racing Stables, Kueber Racing, Big Easy Racing and Winners Win's Breeders' Futurity runner-up Loggins.
As was the case last year, Pool 1 will assume that horses under the care of trainers suspended from competing in the 2023 Kentucky Derby will not be under consideration. Instead, they will be included within the pari-mutuel field.
In total, 2021 Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Brad Cox has six of his trainees in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager: Hit Show, Instant Coffee, Loggins, Tapit's Conquest, Verifying and Victory Formation.
Here is the complete field with morning line odds: #1 Andthewinneris (99-1); #2 Awesome Strong (99-1); #3 Blazing Sevens (30-1); #4 Congruent (99-1); #5 Curly Jack (99-1); #6 Cyclone Mischief (99-1); #7 Damon's Mound (80-1); #8 Echo Again (60-1); #9 Expected Value (99-1); #10 Extra Anejo (20-1); #11 Forbidden Secret (99-1); #12 Forte (15-1); #13 Frank's Honor (99-1); #14 Full Moon Madness (99-1); #15 General Jim (99-1); #16 Gulfport (80-1); #17 Hayes Strike (99-1); #18 Hit Show (99-1); #19 Hurricane J (99-1); #20 Instant Coffee (99-1); #21 Joking Way (99-1); #22 Loggins (30-1); #23 Lost Ark (50-1); #24 Mr. Ripple (99-1); #25 Ohana Honor (99-1); #26 Post Time (99-1); #27 Protege (99-1); #28 Rocket Can (80-1); #29 Rudder's Men (60-1); #30 Signator (60-1); #31 Tapit's Conquest (99-1); #32 Ten Days Later (80-1); #33 Tres Soles (99-1); #34 Tuskegee Airmen (99-1); #35 Two Phil's (99-1); #36 Tyler's Tribe (99-1); #37 Verifying (60-1); #38 Victory Formation (80-1); #39 All Fillies from the 2020 Foal Crop (80-1); and #40 All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2020 Foal Crop (3-5).
All told, there are six Future Wager pools scheduled in advance of the 2023 Kentucky Derby: Nov. 1-3 (Pool 1); Nov. 24-27 (Pool 2); Jan. 20-22 (Pool 3); Feb. 10-12 (Pool 4); March 10-12 (Pool 5); and March 30-April 1 (Pool 6). The Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager, which debuted in 2015 and requires bettors to wager on the winning sire for next year's Kentucky Derby winner, will be held concurrently with Pool 2 on Nov. 24-27. The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5 on March 10-12.
A record total of $2,060,691 was bet on future wagers for the 2022 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.
There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of this week's four-day pool that one of the wagering interests has experienced an injury, illness or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby or Oaks, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately.
More information, Brisnet.com past performances, and real-time odds on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be available before the pool opens Tuesday online at https://www.kentuckyderby.com/wager/future-wager.
Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy is riding for history, as he seeks a record-equaling fourth Melbourne Cup win on Monday night. McEvoy will partner 5-2 favorite Deauville Legend, under strikingly similar circumstances to his previous victory four years ago.
Melbourne Cup Day is an annual public holiday in the state of Victoria, and a post-pandemic party of more than 100,000 people will flood Flemington Racecourse. The crowd will give the Cup field two raucous cheers, as the 24 runners pass the stands twice during their two-mile odyssey. First post in the U.S. is 7:45 p.m. Eastern / 4:45 p.m. Pacific, and the wonderful spectacle of Australia's most famous race is scheduled for 8 p.m. Pacific / 11 p.m. Eastern.
In 161 Melbourne Cups, only two jockeys have managed four wins: Bobby Lewis in the early decades of last century, and Harry White in the 1970s (White died 11 days before this year's Cup).
In 2000, 20-year-old Kerrin McEvoy became the second-youngest rider to win the race. A third-place finish two years later on a Godolphin-owned horse led to McEvoy being contracted as the stable's number two European rider (behind Frankie Dettori). The young Aussie's successful stint yielded 120 winners in Europe, including six at Group 1 level. He has since carved out a highly successful freelance career in his homeland, winning a second Melbourne Cup in 2016 and the first two runnings of The Everest in 2017-'18. In the 2018 Melbourne Cup, McEvoy delivered his old employer a global prize that Godolphin had coveted and pursued for two decades, as Cross Counter became the first English-trained winner.
On Monday night, McEvoy will get a leg up on another British invader, whose profile is almost a mirror image of his rider's 2018 winner.
Like Cross Counter, #8 Deauville Legend is a lightly raced 3-year-old (classified as 4 in the southern hemisphere, where the season begins on Aug. 1). Deauville Legend has contested the same races at Royal Ascot, Goodwood and York. The parallels with Cross Counter are less surprising when one considers that Deauville Legend's trainer, James Ferguson, is a son of former Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson – and worked as an assistant to trainer Charlie Appleby, who conditioned Cross Counter!
Tellingly, Deauville Legend left a horse named El Bodegon four lengths in his wake at York; El Bodegon recently made his Australian debut with an excellent third-place finish in a top-quality weight-for-age race, the Cox Plate. The only query against Deauville Legend is his lack of experience on a wet track (guaranteed for Monday night). After the Melbourne Cup, Ferguson will turn his attention to Keeneland, where he has Mise En Scene pre-entered as the also eligible in both the Breeders' Cup Turf and the Filly & Mare Turf.
Kerrin McEvoy onboard Deauville Legend during trackwork at Werribee Racecourse on October 25, 2022, in Werribee, Australia. (Jay Town/Racing Photos)
As a two-mile handicap, contention runs deep in every renewal of the Melbourne Cup. Here are some other horses of interest:
#1 Gold Trip (14-1): Only win was more than two years ago, but has earned $1.5 million and the highweight of 127 pounds (the Melbourne Cup is a handicap race). Finished fourth in the 2020 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe; based in Australia for the past year. Luckless last start after a good second in the G1 Caulfield Cup, traditionally Australia's most important and productive prep race.
#4 Montefilia (10-1): Her fourth placing in the Caulfield Cup, at 1 1/2 miles, was unlucky and eye-catching – the best performance in the race. Multiple G1 winner whose only query is the distance.
#6 Without A Fight (10-1): British gelding; brings a pleasing 17:7-3-4 record to his Australian debut. Consecutive wins at 1 3/4 miles during the summer at York; William Buick rides for the Newmarket-based Crisford stable.
#7 Camorra (50-1): Irish gelding, victorious in the G2 Curragh Cup – a race won by two of the last five Melbourne Cup winners. Debuts for an Australian stable.
#10 Vow And Declare (20-1): 2019 Melbourne Cup winner who lost all form … until this campaign. Several recent efforts have been most encouraging. Since he's been in the wilderness for so long, he has dropped way lower in the weights (119 pounds) than a past Melbourne Cup winner would normally be.
#13 Serpentine (80-1): Another whose last win is a distant memory, but oh-so-significant. The 2020 English Derby winner has been lightly raced since; could be trending the right way with an improved last-start second.
#24 Realm of Flowers (11-1): It's also a long time between drinks for this mare, whose last win was 18 months ago. However, it came in a Flemington stakes race at 1 3/4 miles and she was forced to miss almost a year. Has placed at this distance and is effective on wet tracks. Carries a featherweight of 110 pounds.
While the Melbourne Cup crowd drinks bottomless mimosas, “country battlers” will drink from Sydney racing's bottomless well of rich innovations. Australian racing has three tiers: metropolitan (major city tracks), provincial and country. A staggering $2 million purse is up for grabs at Royal Randwick in the inaugural running of The Big Dance (Race 5), for horses who finished first or second in any of 25 Country Cups within the state of New South Wales. (It is barely an exaggeration to say that every Aussie town has a pub, a post office and a racetrack!) Favoritism rests with #5 Hosier (4-1), whose jockey has danced on the sport's biggest stages globally. Frankie Dettori rode for the first time in Sydney this past Friday night, and will ride Monday night's card before jetting off to the Breeders' Cup. Hosier won the Coffs Harbour Cup (300 miles north of Sydney's world-famous harbour) at The Big Dance's one-mile distance, then repeated the result at Randwick.
Apart from Flemington, no fewer than 30 Australian tracks will conduct live Thoroughbred racing on Melbourne Cup Day. The majority will be bucolic settings that race only a handful of days per year, but which draw colorful, enthusiastic crowds to celebrate “the race that stops a nation.” The sheer volume of venues translates into opportunities for up-and-coming race callers. One of the first full cards I announced was on Melbourne Cup Day in 1983, and it pleases me to see that Kumbia (100 miles from my hometown of Brisbane) is still welcoming fans almost four decades later. The buoyancy of Australian “country” racing lies in stark contrast to the disappearance of most small tracks in the United States, which is to the detriment of communities and of people aspiring to gain experience in the sport – whether it be in the tack room, the racing office or the announcer's booth.
The Flemington card (AUS-A) Randwick card (AUS-B) and will be broadcast on FanDuel TV this Friday night (First Post: 7:45 p.m. ET / 4:45 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Kembla Grange (AUS-C) and Eagle Farm (AUS-D), and. All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.
About Michael WronaA native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Michael's vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Michael also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.
