The New York Racing Association and NBC Sports Group have extended a deal giving the network exclusive broadcast rights to the Belmont Stakes, the two groups said on Wednesday.
Though terms were not disclosed, an NBC official said the extension will give the network the broadcast rights “through at least 2020.” NBC has held the broadcast rights to the Belmont since 2011, taking over at that time from ESPN, which held the rights from 2006-10. NBC had the broadcast rights from 2001-05.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland in late October will be just that – a dirt mile.
Breeders’ Cup officials met with a number of jockeys and trainers on the main track here Thursday morning before announcing that the BC Dirt Mile, which has undergone numerous variations since its inaugural running in 2007 – will indeed be run as a two-turn mile despite Keeneland never having run such a race because of the relatively short run into the first turn on its 1 1/16-mile main track.
The Breeders’ Cup has designated eight new stakes as Win and You’re In races for the 2015 event, the organization announced on Friday, bringing the total number of 2015 stakes races guaranteeing a berth in the event’s 13 races to 78.
Adelaide, the winner of the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park last summer and the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia last October, is among 13 runners in Saturday’s $3,076,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia.
The winner of the race receives an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31, provided the horse is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program.
NBC and its sister network NBCSN will televise 18 graded stakes races this summer and fall in 10 telecasts as part of its coverage of prep races guaranteeing spots in the Breeders’ Cup event, the network and the Breeders’ Cup announced on Thursday.
Automatic berths for two Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland in October will be awarded to the winners of seven-figure stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia on Saturday.
The winner of the $2,292,000 Doncaster Mile on turf will get an automatic berth for the BC Mile, while the winner of the $1,910,000 Darley T.J. Smith Stakes will earn a spot in the BC Turf Sprint.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A bill exempting wagers from any state taxes during the two-day Breeders’ Cup event at Keeneland in Lexington on Oct. 30-31 was passed late Wednesday in the Kentucky Senate and sent to Gov. Steve Beshear.
Following a House vote to approve the legislation last week, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 30-5, and Beshear is widely expected to sign it. The legislature had previously passed legislation exempting wagers from states taxes during the Breeders’ Cup events held at Churchill Downs, and other Breeders’ Cup host states have approved similar bills.
West Point Thoroughbreds, the racing partnership company, has signed a deal giving it presenting sponsorship rights to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, and the company will award financial interests in a West Point Thoroughbreds horse to the top two finishers in the handicapping contest, the Breeders’ Cup and West Point Thoroughbreds announced Friday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Kentucky committee approved a bill on Thursday night that would exempt from state taxes all bets made during the two-day Breeders’ Cup event at Keeneland on Oct. 30-31.
The Breeders’ Cup has been regularly granted tax breaks by legislatures in the states where the event has been held, including in Kentucky. The bill, approved Thursday by the House Budget Committee, would exempt wagers from a 1.5 percent tax that is typically applied to bets at Keeneland, with the track and the Breeders’ Cup retaining the cut that is usually sent to the state.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The mad dash to secure the limited number of tickets for the two-day Breeders’ Cup event at Keeneland in horse-crazy Lexington will begin at noon March 4, when the Breeders’ Cup opens ticket sales for the Oct. 30-31 event.
