Breeders' Cup adjusts race order, wagering menu
?q=100)
Breeders’ Cup has switched the positions of three races in its previously announced Saturday race order on Nov. 2 at Del Mar, according to a list of the races released on Wednesday.
The switches do not impact the most prominent races on the card, but they will have a significant effect on multi-race wagers for the Saturday lineup. Breeders’ Cup frequently alters the Saturday lineup after the initial race order is announced after assessing whether the races are better positioned earlier or later in the order based on their field sizes and the presence of strong favorites.
Under the new order, the Dirt Mile, which was initially placed first of the nine Breeders’ Cup races on the Saturday card, will instead be the last race. The Sprint, which was previously announced as the last Saturday race, has been moved to the seventh position in the Breeders’ Cup lineup. The Filly and Mare Sprint, which was in the seventh position, has been moved to the first Breeders’ Cup race.
When the lineup was first announced three weeks ago, the race order already had a significant new wrinkle, with the Classic scheduled as the fifth Breeders’ Cup race in the Saturday lineup. The Classic had been the final Saturday race for the first 38 years of the event, but last year, it was moved to the seventh position because of a lack of available prime-time broadcast windows on NBC’s flagship network after NBC signed an expensive broadcast agreement with the Big 10 college-football conference.
This year, the Classic will anchor a 2 1/2-hour broadcast on NBC starting at 3:30 p.m. Eastern and ending at 6 p.m. Eastern. Three races preceding the Classic – the Turf Sprint, the Distaff, and the Turf, will be also shown live during the NBC broadcast.
The first three races after the Classic will be broadcast live on USA Network, which is owned by NBC. The first Breeders’ Cup race on the 12-race card, the Filly and Mare Sprint, will also be on USA. The final Breeders’ Cup race, the Dirt Mile, will only be broadcast on Peacock and FanDuel TV.
Breeders’ Cup on Wednesday also announced the races that will be included in three multi-day daily doubles.
On Friday, the Juvenile Fillies will be linked to the Distaff on Saturday. The Friday Juvenile will be linked to the Saturday Classic. Finally, Friday’s Juvenile Turf will be linked to Saturday’s Turf.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.