from Breeders' Cup
The Breeders’ Cup and ESPN announced June 2 that the Oct. 24-25 Breeders’ Cup World Championships from Santa Anita Park will receive an unprecedented nine hours of live coverage including, for the first time, 2.5 hours of live coverage on ABC.
The 25th running of the Breeders’ Cup will feature 14 races over two days with record purses of $25.5 million and air on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 beginning Oct. 24 on ESPN2. The ABC and ESPN combination marks the first-ever network and cable telecast of the Championships.
Coverage of the Breeders’ Cup will begin with the Breeders’ Cup selection show Oct. 22 on ESPN2 at a time to be announced. ESPN2 will begin coverage of racing with Championship Friday Oct. 24 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. EDT and feature five Breeders’ Cup Championship races for female horses with purses totaling $8 million.
It marks the first time a major Thoroughbred event in North America will run an entire day of female Thoroughbred racing, culminating with the grade I Ladies’ Classic (formerly the Distaff).
On Oct. 25, the racing action will continue with ABC airing the Championships from 1-3:30 p.m. EDT before switching to ESPN from 3:30-7 p.m.
“Our partnership with ESPN and its family of networks, distribution channels and promotional platforms continues to build our audience at home and abroad,” Breeders’ Cup president and chief executive officer Greg Avioli said.
“In ESPN’s third year with the Breeders’ Cup, our relationship continues to grow across all our outlets,” said Len DeLuca, ESPN senior vice president of programming and acquisitions. “Now we’re at two days, nine hours, and 14 World Championship races. We're happy to work with our partners to serve horse racing fans globally.”
In addition to the live television coverage, both days of the Breeders’ Cup will be simulcast live on www.ESPN360.com and www.breederscup.com. Also, ESPN.com will provide full coverage of the races, including the days leading up to the big event. The races will be broadcast on ESPN International in more than 120 countries.