Breeders' Cup World Championships Simulcast at Churchill Downs Nov. 6-7

Nov 03, 2009 Darren Rogers

For the first time since 1999, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be simulcast during Churchill Downs’ Fall Meet. Racing’s year-end global championship event, which consists of 14 races and $25.5 million in prize money, will be run at Southern California’s Santa Anita on Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7.
 
Churchill Downs admission gates will open at 11:30 a.m. (all times Eastern) on Nov. 6-7 with the first of 10 live races scheduled for 12:40 p.m. each day.

Led by the undefeated Zenyatta, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Summer Bird, and European standouts Goldikova-IRE and Rip Van Winkle-IRE, 166 horses, including 10 defending or former Breeders’ Cup Champions, were pre-entered for the 26th Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

A simulcast of the nine-race Championship Friday card from Santa Anita will begin at 2:15 p.m. and the Breeders’ Cup will cover Races 3-8. Championship Saturday’s 10-race program will commence at 1:05 p.m., cover Races 2-9 and culminate with the Grade I, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at 6:45 p.m.

The Championship Friday program will consist of six Breeders’ Cup races, beginning with the $500,000 Marathon, and will be followed by five consecutives races for females, culminating with the Grade I, $2 million Ladies’ Classic.

In addition to the simulcasts interspersed between live races, Churchill Downs will present a stakes race each day. Older horses will be showcased Friday in the 17th running of the Grade III, $100,000-added Ack Ack Handicap at one mile. Saturday’s card is topped by a stakes doubleheader for fillies and mares: the 24th edition of the Grade II, $150,000-added Chilukki at one mile and the $60,000-added Dream Supreme, an overnight stakes at six furlongs.

Customers who attend Churchill Downs on Friday will be able to advance wager on the entire Championship Saturday program from Santa Anita. There is no advance wagering on-track Thursday for the Championship Friday program.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships is scheduled to return to Churchill Downs for the first time since 2006 and an unmatched seventh occasion in 2010.

    Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 1, 2010. The track will conduct its 2009 Fall Meet from Sunday, Nov. 1 through Saturday, Nov. 28. Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on November 5 and 6, 2010. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

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