FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 5th, 2017

FINAL AUTOMATIC QUALIFYING POSITIONS AT STAKE FOR BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS SAT. LIVE AT 5 PM ET ON NBC & SUN. LIVE AT 5 PM ET ON NBCSN

Shadwell Turn Mile and Juddmonte Spinster from Keeneland Race Course Headline This Weekend’s “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Win And You’re In – Presented By Lane’s End Farm And America’s Best Racing”

  NEW YORK (October 5, 2017) – Final automatic qualifying positions for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be at stake at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., during two live “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series Win and You’re In – presented by Lane’s End Farm and America’s Best Racing” events this weekend. Coverage begins this Saturday, October 7, at 5 p.m. ET on NBC with the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile and the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity. The $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes highlights live programming this Sunday, October 8, at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

This weekend’s one-hour programs are the 10th and 11th telecasts, respectively, concluding the 2017 “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In – presented by Lane’s End Farm and America’s Best Racing,” on NBC and NBCSN, featuring 17 “Win And You’re In” races plus other major stakes on the road to the Breeders’ Cup. Both shows also will be streamed live on NBCSports.com and on the NBC Sports app. Winners of these Challenge races, which combined offer more than $10 million in purses, automatically qualify for a spot in the Breeders’ Cup, which will be held at the Del Mar racetrack on November 3-4, and will be televised live on NBC and NBCSN.

Saturday’s show will also include live coverage of the 1 ¼ mile, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup from Belmont Park in New York. The Jockey Club Gold Cup is the final “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Laffit Pincay III hosts NBC’s coverage on Saturday, and will be joined by Hall of Fame jockey and analyst Jerry Bailey, analyst Randy Moss, and reporters Donna Brothers and Kenny Rice. Daily Racing Form’s Matt Bernier will be the Handicapper.

Saturday’s Shadwell Turf Mile, a “Win and You’re In” for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile, has an excellent 14-horse field led by the 5-year-old mare MISS TEMPLE CITY, the defending champion, for trainer Graham Motion. Miss Temple City has been a superstar over the Keeneland turf, with two firsts and two second-place finishes in four starts. The dark bay daughter of Temple City comes into Saturday’s race with a win in the Kentucky Cup Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 9. She finished fifth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile, beaten only by 1 ¼ lengths.

HEART TO HEART, a 6-year-old Canadian-bred horse with 13 career wins for trainer Brian Lynch, has won two of five starts this year, including a dominant, front-running victory in the Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga on Sept. 4. Also entered are the 4-year-old AMERICAN PATRIOT, who won Keeneland’s Maker’s 46 Mile Stakes in the spring for trainer Todd Pletcher, the 5-year-old DIVISIDERO, winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs in May and the veteran 7-year-old MONDIALISTE (IRE), who was second in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland, won the 2016 Arlington Million and was then fourth in the Shadwell Turf Mile.

The $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity is a 1 1/16-mile test for an automatic berth into the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and will offer a slew of lightly raced 2-year-olds their first chance at racing around two turns on the main track. The Breeders’ Futurity is headlined by THE TABULATOR, who already earned a berth into the Juvenile with his victory in Churchill Downs’ “Win and You’re In” Iroquois on Sept. 16 for trainer Larry Rivelli. The 2-year-old son of Dialed In is 3-for-3 lifetime, which includes a win in Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows in July.

FREE DROP BILLY, who was second in two Saratoga stakes starts this summer for trainer Dale Romans, including a neck beat in the Hopeful (GI) September 4, will make his two-turn debut, as GIVEMEAMINUTE, who was just a neck behind when third in the Hopeful for trainer Dallas Stewart, should also contend in the Breeders’ Futurity.

Romantic Vision Leads Juddmonte Spinster

Laffit Pincay III hosts NBCSN’s coverage on Sunday, and will be joined by Hall of Fame jockey and analyst Jerry Bailey, analyst Randy Moss, and reporters Donna Brothers and Kenny Rice.

Sunday’s Juddmonte Spinster Stakes, the final “Win and You’re In” for the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, has drawn 13 fillies and mares, with ROMANTIC VISION leading the way off her win in the Locust Grove Stakes on Sept. 16 for trainer Rusty Arnold. The 5-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid is 5-for-18 lifetime and won her first career graded stakes at Churchill when she beat BLUE PRIZE (ARG), who has been second in all four U.S. starts this year for trainer Ignacio Correas. The 4-year-old daughter of Pure Prize was a dual-grade I winner in her native Argentina before coming to the U.S. late last year and is 2-for-8 lifetime.

The $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon, run at 1 1/16 miles, will award an automatic starting berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. The race drew an overflow field of 15 2-year-olds looking to give definition to a division that is always wide open at this point in the year. The Bourbon is led by BUDRO TALKING, who is undefeated in two starts for trainer Danny Pish, including a win in his turf debut in Louisiana Downs’ Sunday Silence Sept. 9, which gives him a leg up on a group that figures to be made up of mostly maiden turf winners.

Hoolie Racing Stable’s ADMIRALTY PIER, who was third in another “Win and You’re In” for the Juvenile Turf, Woodbine’s September 17 Summer Stakes, and Run For The Cross’ HIGH PROVIDENCE, second in the Sunday Silence Stakes at Louisiana Downs for trainer Jason Meaux, are also among the favorites for the Dixiana Bourbon.

About Breeders’ Cup

The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships. The Breeders’ Cup also administers the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 13 Grade I races with purses and awards totaling more than $28 million, will be held November 3-4 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., and will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. The Breeders’ Cup culminates with the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, which was rated No. 1 in the world in the final 2016 Longines World’s Best Horse Race rankings. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup Web site, www.breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About NBC Sports Group

When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, nine NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and NBC Sports Digital. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, Royal & Ancient, Churchill Downs, NYRA, Breeders’ Cup, Premier League, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–