The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series - the slate of designated races that offer guaranteed berths to the winners for one of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races to be held in November - will consist of 82 races this year, one more than last year, according to the finalized schedule of the series released by Breeders’ Cup on Wednesday. The 82-race slate is a five-race increase over the number of challenge races held in 2016. While the number of Challenge races at U.S. tracks has held steady for the past three years at 49, the number of races held at foreign tracks has increased from 28 in 2016 to 33 this year, including the designation this year of four races at Royal Ascot in England as so-called Win and You’re In races. :: Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Race schedule and results The Breeders’ Cup has been aggressively seeking to draw more foreign horses to its annual two-day event for the past decade, in part by expanding the Challenge series to more and more countries and events. In addition, its broadcast partner, NBC Sports, has been steadily adding live racing content to its video platforms, including the prestigious, image-rich Royal Ascot meet for the second consecutive year this year. This year’s Breeders’ Cup is scheduled for Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Winning a Challenge race not only gets the winner an automatic berth. Winners of North American Challenge races that are stabled outside of Kentucky will be awarded a $10,000 stipend to travel to the event this year, while winners of foreign Challenge races will be awarded a $40,000 travel stipend. Entry fees for the Breeders’ Cup races are also waived for the Challenge winners, provided the horses are nominated to the Breeders’ Cup. Sixty-six of the 82 races in the Challenge series this year are Group 1 or Grade 1 races. The races will be held in 12 countries. Five of the races have already been held, including the Group 1 February Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse on Feb. 18, won by Nonkono Yume, to earn a spot in the Classic. The other six Challenge races offering a Classic berth will be held later this year at U.S. racetracks. NBC Sports has planned 11 broadcasts for the Challenge races, running from June to October, with a total of 22 stakes races scheduled to be shown live during the programs.