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‘Win and You’re In’ Television Schedule Announced

The 2021 “Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In–presented by America's Best Racing” television schedule, consisting of 12 live programs featuring more than 20 automatic qualifying races and other major stakes from six of the nation's premier racetracks on the road to the Breeders' Cup World Championships, was announced by the Breeders' Cup and NBC Sports Wednesday.

Now in its eighth year on NBC Sports, the series showcases the top horses as they vie for a coveted automatic berth, and free entry, into the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled for Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar. The World Championships will be televised live on NBC and NBCSN.

The complete Challenge Series television schedule can be viewed here.

“The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In – presented by America's Best Racing continues to be an excellent way for fans to stay connected to the top horses and races throughout the summer and fall leading up to the World Championships,” said Breeders' Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming. “We thank NBC Sports for their continued commitment to our sport and are grateful for the broadcasting excellence they deliver in their domestic and international Thoroughbred racing coverage. We also thank our Challenge Series partner racetracks around the world along with America's Best Racing for their presenting sponsorship and promotion of the series.”

“We are excited to showcase the world's top horses in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series from Belmont Stakes Day throughout the summer and all the way to the Breeders' Cup World Championships in November,” said Justin Byczek, NBC Sports Senior Vice President of Programming and Rights Management.

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NBC Sports to Present the May 1 Kentucky Derby

With one month to the running of the GI Kentucky Derby, NBC Sports presents live coverage of the GII Wood Memorial, GII Blue Grass S. and GI Santa Anita Derby Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. This weekend's “triplecast” continues NBC Sports' “Road to the Kentucky Derby” coverage on four consecutive Saturday afternoons, which also includes next weekend's GI Arkansas Derby. NBC Sports will present the 147th Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Saturday's live coverage begins from Aqueduct Racetrack with the Wood Memorial, which has registered 11 Derby winners. The 5-2 morning line favorite is Risk Taking, ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. and trained by Chad Brown. Additionally, the Blue Grass S. at Keeneland, is expected to feature undefeated 3-5 morning line favorite Essential Quality, who was named 2020's Champion 2-year-old male. Rounding out Saturday's show is the GI Santa Anita Derby. Headlining the field is Medina Spirit, trained by Hall-of-Famer Bob Baffert, who has won the Santa Anita Derby a record nine times.

Ahmed Fareed hosts Saturday's triplecast coverage, alongside analysts Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss, and insights analyst Steve Kornacki, who will be at his Big Board to analyze the Kentucky Derby points standings as qualifying for the Run for the Roses enters its final weeks. Reporters Laffit Pincay III and Britney Eurton will be on-site in Santa Anita, Matt Bernier will be in New York and Kenny Rice will report from Keeneland. NBCSN will also present highlights of Saturday's “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” races from across the country.

Coverage will be streamed live on www.NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app–NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.

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NBC Racing, Hockey Analyst Eddie Olczyk Joins Writers’ Room

It's busy season for NBC's Eddie Olczyk. One of the few analysts on national television to dabble in multiple sports, the popular former hockey star is gearing up to broadcast the GI Kentucky Derby as well as the NHL playoffs this spring, and he joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland Tuesday afternoon to discuss it all. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Olczyk talked about his handicapping strategies, what horses he's eyeing for the first Saturday in May, his ordeal with colon cancer and much more.

Asked about his racing origins and unique broadcasting perspective, Olczyk said, “Since I was 13 years old here in Chicago at old Arlington Park, for me, it was love at first sight. I think anybody that I either bring to the racetrack or teach them about handicapping or just share stories about horse racing with, once they go [to the track], it seems like they continue to go. So I'd like to think that I've made an impact as far as getting hockey people involved in it. On the other side, I think I've turned a lot of horse racing people into hockey fans. Which both sports, quite frankly, could certainly use. We could use more people, especially young people, getting to know and loving both games. As I love to say, pucks and ponies, there's nothing better. And it's a great time of year with the Triple Crown and the NHL playoffs right around the corner.”

Later, Olczyk opened up about his six-month long chemotherapy battle with stage 3 colon cancer.

“The first thing I thought was, 'How long do I have to live?'” he said about his reaction when he got the diagnosis. “Colon cancer is very treatable if you can get to it early, but I was at stage 3. I was in one of those situations where it could've gone either way. I started my chemo Sept. 11, 2017. It was every two weeks for 48 hours. I was very lucky to have an incredible team of doctors. My wife Diana–we'll be married 33 years come August–was there every step of the way. I never saw her weak, never saw her down, never saw her worried, but I knew that when I wasn't around or she was by herself, she let her guard down. I was scared, and the side effects brought me to my knees. It tested my will to live. When I was ready to quit, she gave me a greater inspirational speech than I'd ever heard in any locker room or other setting in my life. She grabbed me and said, 'Look, you've got to fight. For me, for our kids, and for all the people that love you.' The conversation lasted 30 minutes. I cried for 35 of it. I said, 'OK, I'm just going to grab my hockey helmet and put it back on and I'm going to go day to day.'”

Elsewhere in the show, the writers reacted to the big racing days at Gulfstream and Dubai, including the tragic breakdown of Zenden (Fed Biz) before celebrating the continued overall progress in reducing racing fatalities in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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‘Home-Court Angle’: Jeff Ruby Has A Shot At His Own Trophy

Prominent restaurateur Jeff Ruby figures to be in the Turfway Park winner's circle for the stakes he sponsors. His partners in King's Ovation just hope their horse is in there as well after Saturday's $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks.

Ruby is a partner in Peacock Stable, headed by a pair of iconic sports personalities in retired NBC Sports broadcaster Tom Hammond and Mike Battaglia, the longtime voice of Churchill Downs and Turfway and who continues to do the morning line for both tracks. Peacock also includes Cris Collinsworth, the Cincinnati Bengals star receiver turned analyst for NBC's Sunday Night Football.

Peacock co-owns King's Ovation with West Point Thoroughbreds, a pairing that trainer Dale Romans put together after West Point bought the horse.

“It's kind of a home-court angle,” Romans said. “If we win, I'm going to make Jeff buy me the Tomahawk steak. He's got about a $400 Tomahawk bone-in ribeye.”

Peacock and Ruby have been in the Jeff Ruby Steaks before in partnership with West Point, with Dabo finishing fifth two years ago.

“We laughed then about having Jeff present the trophy to himself,” Hammond said. “That would be a nice deal.”

Hammond has kept ownership in one or two horses for decades. His Peacock Stable is named for the NBC connection.

“I always tried to get a lot of NBC people involved,” he said. “We'd buy a share so it doesn't cost much, and we just have fun.”

The sportscaster said Ruby is one of Collinsworth's friends, with the Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse menu featuring Steak Collinsworth: an 8-ounce filet topped with fresh asparagus, Alaskan King Crab, Béarnaise and Bordelaise sauces.

King's Ovation, who is 15-1 in Battaglia's morning line, has a maiden win in five starts. He was second in the Grade 3 Swale at Gulfstream before making his two-turn debut in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth (G2). King's Ovation finished a non-threatening sixth that day, with Romans saying the colt quit running for a while after getting his leg stepped on when bumped.

“He just progressed so well from 2 to 3 that Dale decided to run him with the big boys,” Hammond said. “He ran well in the Swale. He ran OK in the Fountain of Youth. He came back with a lots of cuts. (Jockey) Corey Lanerie said that when he got stepped on and cut up, he kind of spit the bit but then picked it back up a bit. I was impressed, too, in the Swale when he came in between horses in a tight spot. Most young, immature horses won't do that, but I thought he showed a lot of guts. He's got three nice works at Gulfstream. All those being said, why not take a shot once more with the big boys to see what we have?”

A Jeff Ruby Steaks victory would be Peacock Stable's biggest to date. And would that lead to taking on the biggest boys on the first Saturday in May down the road at Churchill Downs?

Hammond laughed, adding, “There's no vaccine for Derby fever. So far I haven't caught it. I try to be realistic.”

Romans also has Albaugh Family Stables' Smiley Sobotka in the Jeff Ruby. That son of Albaugh's Grade 1 winner Brody's Cause came out of a maiden win to finish a close second in Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 28. In his only start since, Smiley Sobotka struggled home ninth in Tampa Bay Downs' Sam Davis (G3), a performance Romans is throwing out.

“They're both nice horses,” he said. “I'm trying to figure out where to run them all, give everybody another chance (to make the Derby). It made sense to give Smiley Sobotka another chance. And if he runs well on the surface, he is a Canadian-bred so we could point to the Queen's Plate later.”

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