News and Notes on the Breeders' Cup Classic

By: Courtesy of National Thoroughbred Racing Association

 

Arcadia, CA (Sports Network) - The following is the official race order for the 25th Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious global event, to be held on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 at Santa Anita Park.

Championship Friday will be a 10 race program, beginning at 2:05 p.m. (et) 11:05 a.m. (pt) with two Santa Anita allowance races followed by five Breeders' Cup races (ESPN2, 3:30-6:30 p.m. et) on the first ever major racing card devoted exclusively to female horses: Sentient Flight Group Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint; Grey Goose Juvenile Fillies Turf; Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic. Friday's program concludes with the Las Palmas Handicap and two Santa Anita allowance races.

Championship Saturday (ABC 1:00-3:30 p.m.; ESPN 3:30-7:00 p.m. et) features nine open Breeders' Cup races on an 11 race card, starting with the Breeders' Cup Marathon at 1:10 p.m. et (10:10 a.m. pt), followed by the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, TVG Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Breeders' Cup Mile, Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Sentient Flight Group Breeders' Cup Sprint, Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Turf and the Breeders' Cup Classic. Post time for the Classic will be 6:45 p.m. et. The Damascus Stakes and Oak Tree Derby follow the Classic.

Edgar Prado, the Hall of Fame jockey who has more than 5000 races in his career and three at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, will donate five- percent of winnings from his mounts in this month's World Championships to Breeders' Cup Charities and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

Prado is dedicating his potential Breeders' Cup earnings to his mother, Zenaida Prado, who died of breast cancer in February of 2006, prior to his victory aboard Barbaro in the Kentucky Derby and subsequent induction into Racing's Hall of Fame in August.

The primary beneficiaries of Breeders' Cup Charities are: Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Breeders' Cup Charities also will support causes in southern California and Thoroughbred industry charities.

"We are grateful for Edgar's generous pledge in the name of his late mother at this year's Breeders Cup," said Greg Avioli, president and chief executive officer of the Breeders' Cup. "Over the years, Edgar has been the epitome of talent and class on and off the racetrack, and we welcome his support to these important causes."

The pledge by Prado is the fourth commitment from the Thoroughbred industry to Breeders' Cup Charities, which was established this year to further community outreach efforts in conjunction with the 2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships. Pamela and Martin Wygod, on behalf of WebMD Health Foundation, made the first contribution to Breeders' Cup Charities, donating $250,000. Earlier this month, IEAH Stables, owners of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, pledged a portion of all of its starters' earnings at the Breeders' Cup, to Breeders' Cup Charities. Former Hollywood Park President and current Breeders' Cup Vice Chairman R.D. Hubbard, on behalf of the R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard Foundation, last week donated $50,000 to Breeders' Cup Charities.