Breeders' Cup board declines to split up event

The Breeders’ Cup board at a meeting on Thursday in Lexington, Ky., passed over a proposal to split its event into cards held in November and December, the organization said in a statement.

According to the statement, the board “decided not to proceed” with the concept, which would have shifted the Classic, Juvenile, Juvenile Fillies, and Sprint to a card on the second Saturday in December.

“While the board determined not to proceed with the concept under consideration, we continue to welcome and encourage the consideration of new ideas and affirm that healthy debate on those ideas will be a positive for both the Breeders’ Cup and international Thoroughbred racing,” the statement read.

The statement said the Breeders’ Cup would have no further comment on the proposal.

The decision on Thursday followed lobbying by several prominent directors, including celebrity chef Bobby Flay, to gain support for the bifurcation concept, which was first broached in a simpler form prior to a board meeting in January. But the proposal was also viewed negatively by other directors and some staff members at the Breeders’ Cup, setting up the potential for a contentious discussion at the Thursday meeting.

Supporters of the concept, which was advanced by the board’s Innovation Committee several weeks ago, believed that moving the Classic to the December date and adding a race restricted to 3-year-olds to the November card would generate additional interest in the event. The supporters also felt that ratings and handle for the current two-day event suffer from being scheduled in competition with college football broadcasts.

Daily Racing Form outlined the concept in an article Wednesday, and the reaction on social media was decisive and swift, with many racing fans intensely critical of the proposal.

Though the bifurcation concept is likely dead for now, the board is expected to discuss other potentially significant changes in the future, given that some directors believe the event needs to be shaken up in order to lift its profile in the sporting world.