Newmarket upset over Cup dates

Lydia Hislop13 April 2012

America's gain will be British racegoers' loss after it emerged that at least the next three Breeders' Cups will be staged a week earlier than in previous years, damaging Newmarket's attempts to establish its October Champions' Day meeting as Europe's premier event.

News that the Breeders' Cup Committee has signed a new contract with US TV channel NBC Sports, committing their event to the last Saturday in October instead of the first in November, has prompted an angry response from Newmarket officials.

Although there is negotiation within Europe on each country's racing calendars, none exists on a transcontinental basis. It has come as a total surprise to the British Horseracing Board (BHB) that the new Cup date - which will inevitably have a detrimental impact on late-season European races - are a permanent fixture.

"We're very shocked that our own governing authority was not made aware of the situation and our executive will be taking up the matter with the BHB today," said John Smee, racing director for Racecourse Holdings Trust, Newmarket's owners.

"The Breeders' Cup Committee has not had the courtesy to speak to the British authorities about what is now a done deal, yet has major implications for our racing.

"Our sport is now played in a global arena. It is in no country's interest to act in isolation. The world's governing authorities need to get together about this problem."

Newmarket had already sought assurances from the International Pattern Panel that there would be at least two weeks between Champions' Day and future Breeders' Cups. Just seven days separated the two events this year, which Smee claims robbed them of at least two stars.

He argues Johannesburg, who beat America's best two-year-olds in last Saturday's Juvenile, and Sakhee, who lost his audacious bid for the Classic on the nod to defending champion Tiznow, could have first respectively raced in the Dewhurst and Dubai Champion Stakes had the Breeders' Cup stuck to its November date.

When the two events were a fortnight apart last year, Kalanisi was able to annex Breeders' Cup Turf triumph to his Champion Stakes success.

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