The Breeders’ Cup announced the addition of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint for 2018. (Photo by Jamey Price/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders Cup)
LEXINGTON, Ky. (February 5, 2018)- The Breeders’ Cup announced today the promotion of the undercard Juvenile Turf Sprint to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships program. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint will be a part of this year’s World Championships, November 2-3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville and will carry a $1 million purse. The race will be run at about 5.5 furlongs on the turf and will be open to all 2-year-olds.
The purse of the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint will also be increased to $2 million, a $500,000 increase from last year’s $1.5 million purse. With the addition of the Juvenile Turf Sprint, there will now be 14 races in this year’s World Championships plus an additional $1 million in undercard purses. Total purses and awards for the 2018 event will now exceed $30 million.
There will be five Juvenile races contested at this year’s World Championships, and three of them will be on the turf course. The one mile $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) was established in 2007, and the one mile $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) was added in 2008. The $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), both run at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, have been a part of the World Championships program since the event’s inception in 1984.
“The upgrade of the Juvenile Turf Sprint is in response to the increasing popularity of turf racing in North America and will fill a need for international turf sprint sires,” said Dora Delgado, Breeders’ Cup Senior Vice President of Racing and Nominations. “Each year, the Juvenile Turf and the Juvenile Fillies Turf are oversubscribed at the Championships. We feel that Juvenile Turf Sprint will also be a popular draw among horsemen from North America and overseas stables and will generate interest among North American racetracks to card races in this division.”
About Breeders’ Cup
The Breeders’ Cup administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships. The Breeders’ Cup also administers the Breeders’ Cup Challenge qualifying series, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races. The 2018 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 races (13 Grade 1 events) with purses and awards totaling more than $30 million, will be held November 2-3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group. Breeders’ Cup press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, www.breederscup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
