Classic returns to position as final race on Breeders' Cup Saturday card
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The $7 million Classic will return to its traditional spot as the anchor leg of the nine Breeders’ Cup races to be contested at Keeneland on Oct. 31, it was announced on Tuesday.
The Classic will be run as the last of 12 races - nine of them Breeders’ Cup races - at 6:16 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 31.
It will be the first time the Classic has been run as the final Breeders’ Cup race since 2022, also the last time the event was held at Keeneland, or in the Eastern time zone.
Over the last three years, when the event was held at Southern California tracks, the Classic was held earlier on the card. In 2023, at Santa Anita, it was the ninth of 12 races, run at 3:43 pm. Pacific, with two Breeders’ Cup races and one allowance race run after it.
In 2024, at Del Mar, the Classic was run as race 8 (2:47 p.m. Pacific) with four Breeders’ Cup races afterward. Last year, also at Del Mar, the Classic was run as race 9 (3:27 p.m. Pacific) with three Breeders’ Cup races run after the Classic.
The earlier post times were done to accommodate NBC Sports, which typically airs Big Ten college football games on Saturday evenings.
NBC will broadcast the final five Saturday Breeders’ Cup races - the Filly and Mare Sprint, Mile, Distaff, Turf, and Classic - over a three hour-window from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Eastern.
Overall, NBC and its platforms will televise 10 1/2 hours over the two-day event. USA and Peacock will air all five Breeders’ Cup juvenile races - preceded by three allowance races - from 1-6 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
Though subject to change, the order of the five Breeders’ Cup juvenile races to be run Friday was announced as Turf Sprint, Juvenile Fillies, Juvenile Fillies Turf, Juvenile, and Juvenile Turf, the last going postward at 5:35 p.m.
On Saturday, USA and Peacock will air the first four BC races - the Dirt Mile, Turf Sprint, Sprint, and Filly and Mare Turf - which are slated to go off between 1:10 p.m. and 3:04 p.m. Eastern.
FanDuel TV will broadcast all 22 races run over the two days. First post Friday is 11:55 a.m. while first post Saturday is 11:15 a.m.
The final race order and post times will be finalized on Oct. 21, the day pre-entries are announced.
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