Breeders' Cup sets tentative race schedule and wagering menu

With the Breeders’ Cup having been expanded this year to 15 races, six of the races will run Friday and nine – including the Classic – on Saturday, when the event is run for the 28th time Nov. 4-5 at Churchill Downs, the Breeders’ Cup announced Thursday.

In addition, the Breeders’ Cup announced an expanded menu of wagers, most notably a new pick five with a 50-cent minimum both days, 10-cent superfectas, and a pick six for both days that can carry over to Saturday is no one hits it Friday.

The races that will be run those days are certain, but their order each day is not. A tentative order of races was released Thursday, but the final order will not be determined until after pre-entries are announced Oct. 26.

The Friday card is largely female focused, ending with the Ladies’ Classic. Preceding it, in tentative order, are the newly created Juvenile Sprint, followed by races exclusively for females – the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Filly and Mare Sprint, Juvenile Fillies, and Filly and Mare Turf.
The Saturday card is highlighted by the Classic. The eight Breeders’ Cup races preceding it, in tentative order, are the Marathon, Juvenile Turf, Sprint, Turf Sprint, Juvenile, Mile, Dirt Mile, and Turf.

There will be 10 races on the Friday card, which will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time and end under the lights. The four non-BC races will precede the six BC races.

Saturday’s card is 12 races, beginning at 12:05 p.m. There will be two races before the nine Breeders’ Cup races, then one race following the Classic.

The $2 pick six will have a guarantee of $750,000 on Friday and $2 million on Saturday. There is a mandatory payout Saturday. Last year, the Friday card produced a carryover of $817,000 that led to a pool of more than $6 million on Saturday.

The pick five will encompass the first five races both days. The 50-cent minimum on that wager also will be in effect for pick fours each day, as well as for the rolling pick threes throughout both cards. There is one pick four Friday, ending with the Ladies’ Classic, and two on Saturday, the second ending with the Classic. All three pick fours have guaranteed pools, the largest, the one ending with the Classic, set at $1.5 million.

There will be a double wager linking the Ladies’ Classic and the Classic. There also will be a $1 super high five wager on both the Ladies’ Classic and the Classic, and if no one hits the Ladies’ Classic super high five, it will carry over to the Classic, which has a mandatory payout.