Relating to crafting the packages for the Breeders’ Cup occasions, it is all about time—tv time, that’s, the driving power behind the presentation of 14 races over the 2 days. The method is intricate, born from a rigorously crafted template that has served the Cup so nicely since its inception in 1984, when the primary NBC telecast from Hollywood Park started promptly at 11 a.m. and ended breathlessly at 3 p.m. after a protracted inquiry into the ultimate race of the day that had present producers tearing out chunks of hair.
That race, after all, was the Breeders’ Cup Traditional (G1), a drama amongst Wild Once more, Slew o’ Gold, and Gate Dancer seared into the reminiscence not solely as a result of it was first, but in addition as a result of it got here final on this system, crowning an historic day of racing, the likes of which had by no means been seen. The race went off at 2:40 p.m., Pacific Normal Time.
4 years later, this reporter stood with colleague Invoice Mooney contained in the Galt Home foyer on the Friday earlier than the 1988 Breeders’ Cup and peered out into the Louisville, Ky., evening.
“What time is it?” Invoice mentioned, understanding the reply. It was 5:30.
“What’s put up time for the Traditional tomorrow?” he requested.
“Like, um, proper now,” got here the reply.
When the Cup returned to Churchill Downs in 1990 there was a minor adjustment, and the Traditional went off at a sunny 3:39 p.m.
Fairly by likelihood, put up time for the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Traditional at Del Mar is scheduled for two:41 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time. Visibility is not going to be a problem. The race guarantees to be a world doozy, with Eire’s Metropolis of Troy dealing with a gaggle of United States stalwarts, plus a trio from Japan that reply to Ushba Tesoro , Derma Sotogake , and Ceaselessly Younger . This Traditional may reside as much as the most effective of its predecessors, the sort of race that may ship the group house dizzy with the enjoyment of bearing witness within the flesh, whereas house viewers polished off the final of the new wings and altered the channel after a racing day nicely finished.
Besides, no, not anymore. Final 12 months, for the primary time, the Traditional was not the ultimate race of the weekend. That honor went to the Breeders’ Cup Dash (G1), one in every of two Breeders’ Cup races run after the Traditional. This 12 months, the Traditional can be provided because the fifth of 9 Breeders’ Cup races, planted in the midst of a Saturday line-up at a time dictated by essentially the most highly effective financial power this facet of the Federal Reserve: faculty soccer.
Providing the Traditional halfway via the day is like Michael Corleone settling all household enterprise an hour and a half into The Godfather, or Hamlet skewering Laertes in Act II. Who would wish to comply with Cigar in 1995 or Zenyatta in 2009? However Nov. 2 is week 10 of the collegiate schedule, and NBC—the house of the Breeders’ Cup together with its company cousins, Peacock and USA—is paying $350 million a 12 months to broadcast a Huge Ten sport throughout prime time on Saturday nights. Which means, if the great individuals at Breeders’ Cup wished their $7 million marquee race to be aired through the out there window on the flagship NBC community, the Traditional must be house and dry by 6 p.m., Japanese Time.
Zenyatta wins the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Traditional at Santa Anita
There’s additionally protection of the nationwide elections to be thought-about, in keeping with a press release from Breeders’ Cup Ltd.
“The Breeders’ Cup obtained 3 1/2 hours of protection on NBC in 2023 and was in a position to showcase 5 Championship races to a nationwide community viewers,” mentioned Claire Crosby of Breeders’ Cup. “For 2024, because of the Presidential election on the Tuesday after Breeders’ Cup, NBC should finish its sports activities protection at 6 p.m. ET (in favor of nationwide information) and due to this fact Breeders’ Cup can have 2 1/2 hours of community protection that includes 4 Breeders’ Cup races this 12 months.”
Out West, the place a Del Mar crowd of some 40,000 can be serving as studio viewers for the Traditional, followers can be reminded to please stay of their seats till the afternoon’s program has come to a whole cease. In the event that they go away pondering the Traditional victory of Fierceness , Highland Falls , Subsanador , Arthur’s Trip , or Seize the Gray put a cherry on the day, they may miss 4 subsequent races which might be prone to have championship ramifications. They’re the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Dash (G1), the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T), and, because the coastal California twilight deepens, the Breeders’ Cup Dash (G1). Publish time is 5:25 p.m. Sundown is 5:56.
By then, solely FanDuel TV and the Peacock streaming service can be on the job. The USA Community (my go-to for Chicago Hearth marathons) will present the Breeders’ Cup Filth Mile (G1), go away for some time, then return for the primary three of the final 4 after the Traditional. NBC itself will cowl the Breeders’ Cup Turf Dash (G1T), Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), and Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T) earlier than it does the Traditional. Peacock can have the whole lot however the Dash. FanDuel TV can cowl the whole lot however the Traditional.
That is the world we reside in, interlocking platforms requiring viewer preparation and on-air expertise to recollect who they’re speaking to and when. If the Breeders’ Cup was as essential to NBC as, say USC vs. Washington or Ohio State vs. Penn State, there could be a full-throated, six-hour telecast from 3-9 p.m. ET. However it’s not, and so the richest, most essential Thoroughbred race of the North American season can be off and operating earlier than many followers have settled into their second margaritas.
The strain is off for Breeders’ Cup day one Nov. 1. FanDuel TV and Peacock will provide all 5 Breeders’ Cup races, all of them for 2-year-olds. NBC takes a cross, which is simply too unhealthy, however not less than USA will be a part of the occasion for 4 of the 5 races, and lots of people are nonetheless hooked into primary cable service—for now.
Earlier than NBC snagged a chunk of the Huge Ten soccer schedule, time was not the enemy of a West Coast Breeders’ Cup. Seven occasions between 2012 and 2021, when the occasion befell at Santa Anita Park or Del Mar, the Traditional was broadcast on NBC in prime time at round 8:45 p.m. within the East, give or take a pair minutes. This gave the winners—Fort Larned , Mucho Macho Man , Bayern , Arrogate, Gun Runner , Vino Rosso , and Knicks Go —the biggest TV viewers attainable, together with the ultimate phrase of the two-day competition.
Now, the most effective case situation this Nov. 2 can be a renewal of the Breeders’ Cup Traditional memorable sufficient to final the remainder of a protracted afternoon.
Vino Rosso wins the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Traditional at Santa Anita
