West Coast Weather Bias? Breeders' Cup back to Santa Anita in 2019, Del Mar 2021
 

After this soggy Saratoga meet it is understandable. But it would be nice to see it at Belmont once in a while. Plus SA is a peculiar track.

What's the problem between the Breeders Cup and NYRA?

Some observations:

1. The obvious one-- Breeders' Cups are mostly in California for the same reason Super Bowls are mostly in warm weather places. You get good weather not only for the event (which is important-- you don't want an off track that screws up the results of all the championship races) but for all the parties and hospitality and corporate stuff and ancillary events that are put on.

2. I was obviously wrong about Keeneland and Del Mar. They must have made money in both places. This suggests that live attendance is not very important to the BC business model.

Long term, I still don't think this is a good thing for the BC. The BC aspires to have the same recognition in the public's mind as the Triple Crown does. But part of that recognition is gigantic live attendance. Wealthy, casual fans travel to the Kentucky Derby just like they travel to the Super Bowl, the NBA All-Star Game, or a big championship fight. Those empty stands at Del Mar looked terrible in person and terrible on television.

Keeneland, of course, drew very well in 2014, but bear in mind that it was the first time and they had American Pharoah running. I am curious what they will draw the second time around.

3. The various bids that were being kicked around, especially Laurel, were obviously rejected. I would guess this is good news for people who want to see the Preakness stay at Pimlico, because I bet part of what happened is that Laurel did not present realistic plans for expanding their plant to handle the BC (which they would have to do in order to move the Preakness too).

4. NYRA, as far as I know, doesn't bid for the BC anymore. The thing everyone needs to know about NYRA is that the least successful BC's were all at Aqueduct and Belmont. The weather is cold, the races get run into the cold and gloom of the late fall afternoon (because television wants that BC Classic post time as late as possible and Belmont doesn't have lights), and New York City is generally uninterested in the event as there is plenty else to do.

5. None of this has anything to do with "fairness" or recognition of particular racing circuits. The BC is a valuable property and Breeders' Cup Limited needs to make money staging the thing. They aren't going to invest a lot of effort in "rotating it around" when they make a boatload of money every time they run it at Santa Anita or Churchill (as they do).

6. What happened to Churchill?

Its at Churchill this year

east coast and ky have the triple crown, i am not sure why its such a big deal to have it on the west coast. seems to even it out a bit, plus the weather advantage.

I am for the west coast tracks so we can have fast and firm. I know some Euros and East Coast horsemen like it but most still come. I actually prefer the Del Mar turf course.



Churchill has most seating but you really run the risk of bad weather not to mention shortened daylight.

Shame there isn't a quality racing venue in Florida anymore.
Warm weather is important in planning these types of events.
No wonder California gets the lion's share of BC dates.

The curse of Monmouth memories remain. It was stupid to hold it there.

Move the Br. Cup up a month and it would change everything

The way trainers rest their horses, it would ruin Saratoga and Del Mar if they did that.

Weather's a real crap shoot for sure, but in defense of the Breeders Cup at Belmont. The last two, 2001 & 2005. 2001 was 30 days after September 11th and the entire country, and NYC metro in particular was flat on its back still.

I was there, it was a sad time.

Its also a lot about money. Its like hosting the Olympics, if you're not careful , it can cost you money for something that comes and go's , while the Event owners make bank.$

Santa Anita and Churchill are much better at Revenue sharing because they have more premium boxes and tents to monetize, while the event owners take the TV money.

I hit the juvy turf super with nownownow.

Wasn’t that stupid, it was rainy not stupid.

Allan

NYRA doesn't want it. Laurel can't handle it. That leaves CA and KY, and that's where it's going to be. Pretty simple.

Yeah, I agree. But in two years neither of those meets will be worth watching.

It was stupid. They were lucky it stayed warm........

Del Mar was great, very well organized, hope to make it there again. I spent a lot of time in the infield and paddock, spoke with a lot of people, really enjoyed it. Glad it's coming back there.

I attended the Monmouth Breeders Cup. It rained mostly on Friday, Saturday was drizzly but the upside was sitting in seats that they were charging an arm and a leg for because no one would sit outside there. Plus watching Midnight Lute and Curlin. The rain didn't bother me, rains at Saratoga all the time.

Speaking of another niche sport I follow, the college hockey championships are in Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Detroit the next few years, and the NCAA charges a good price for tickets there, after they discovered there is a hard core following. I've enjoyed visiting those cities, but I would rather spend my money travelling to California or Lexington.