When it comes to crafting the programs for the Breeders' Cup events, it's all about time—television time, that is, the driving force behind the presentation of 14 races over the two days. The formula is intricate, born from a carefully crafted template that has served the Cup so well since its inception in 1984, when the first NBC telecast from Hollywood Park began promptly at 11 a.m. and ended breathlessly at 3 p.m. after a long inquiry into the final race of the day that had show producers tearing out chunks of hair.
That race, of course, was the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), a drama among Wild Again, Slew o' Gold, and Gate Dancer seared into the memory not only because it was first, but also because it came last on the program, crowning an historic day of racing, the likes of which had never been seen. The race went off at 2:40 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.
Four years later, this reporter stood with colleague Bill Mooney inside the Galt House lobby on the Friday before the 1988 Breeders' Cup and peered out into the Louisville, Ky., night.
"What time is it?" Bill said, knowing the answer. It was 5:30.
"What's post time for the Classic tomorrow?" he asked.
"Like, um, right now," came the reply.
When the Cup returned to Churchill Downs in 1990 there was a minor adjustment, and the Classic went off at a sunny 3:39 p.m.
Quite by chance, post time for the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar is scheduled for 2:41 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time. Visibility will not be an issue. The race promises to be an international doozy, with Ireland's City of Troy facing a gaggle of United States stalwarts, plus a trio from Japan that answer to Ushba Tesoro, Derma Sotogake, and Forever Young. This Classic could live up to the best of its predecessors, the kind of race that would send the crowd home dizzy with the joy of bearing witness in the flesh, while home viewers polished off the last of the hot wings and changed the channel after a racing day well done.
Except, no, not anymore. Last year, for the first time, the Classic was not the final race of the weekend. That honor went to the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), one of two Breeders' Cup races run after the Classic. This year, the Classic will be offered as the fifth of nine Breeders' Cup races, planted in the middle of a Saturday line-up at a time dictated by the most powerful economic force this side of the Federal Reserve: college football.
Offering the Classic midway through the day is like Michael Corleone settling all family business an hour and a half into "The Godfather," or Hamlet skewering Laertes in Act II. Who would want to follow Cigar in 1995 or Zenyatta in 2009? But Nov. 2 is week 10 of the collegiate schedule, and NBC—the home of the Breeders' Cup along with its corporate cousins, Peacock and USA—is paying $350 million a year to broadcast a Big Ten game during prime time on Saturday nights. That means, if the good people at Breeders' Cup wanted their $7 million marquee race to be aired during the available window on the flagship NBC network, the Classic has to be home and dry by 6 p.m., Eastern Time.
There is also coverage of the national elections to be considered, according to a statement from Breeders' Cup Ltd.
"The Breeders' Cup received 3 1/2 hours of coverage on NBC in 2023 and was able to showcase five Championship races to a national network audience," said Claire Crosby of Breeders' Cup. "For 2024, due to the Presidential election on the Tuesday after Breeders' Cup, NBC must end its sports coverage at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (in favor of national news) and therefore Breeders' Cup will have 2 1/2 hours of network coverage featuring four Breeders' Cup races this year."
Out West, where a Del Mar crowd of some 40,000 will be serving as studio audience for the Classic, fans will be reminded to please remain in their seats until the afternoon's program has come to a complete stop. If they leave thinking the Classic victory of Fierceness, Highland Falls, Subsanador, Arthur's Ride, or Seize the Grey put a cherry on the day, they will miss four subsequent races that are likely to have championship ramifications. They are the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), and, as the coastal California twilight deepens, the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). Post time is 5:25 p.m. Sunset is 5:56.
By then, only FanDuel TV and the Peacock streaming service will be on the job. The USA Network (my go-to for Chicago Fire marathons) will show the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), leave for a while, then return for the first three of the last four after the Classic. NBC itself will cover the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), and Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) before it does the Classic. Peacock will have everything but the Sprint. FanDuel TV can cover everything but the Classic.
This is the world we live in, interlocking platforms requiring viewer preparation and on-air talent to remember who they are talking to and when. If the Breeders' Cup was as important to NBC as, say USC vs. Washington or Ohio State vs. Penn State, there would be a full-throated, six-hour telecast from 3-9 p.m. Eastern Time. But it's not, and so the richest, most important Thoroughbred race of the North American season will be off and running before many fans have settled into their second margaritas.
The pressure is off for Breeders' Cup day one Nov. 1. FanDuel TV and Peacock will offer all five Breeders' Cup races, all of them for 2-year-olds. NBC takes a pass, which is too bad, but at least USA will join the party for four of the five races, and a lot of people are still hooked into basic cable service—for now.
Before NBC snagged a piece of the Big Ten football schedule, time was not the enemy of a West Coast Breeders' Cup. Seven times between 2012 and 2021, when the event took place at Santa Anita Park or Del Mar, the Classic was broadcast on NBC in prime time at around 8:45 p.m. in the East, give or take a couple minutes. This gave the winners—Fort Larned, Mucho Macho Man , Bayern, Arrogate, Gun Runner , Vino Rosso , and Knicks Go —the largest TV audience possible, along with the final word of the two-day festival.
Now, the best case scenario this Nov. 2 will be a renewal of the Breeders' Cup Classic memorable enough to last the rest of a long afternoon.
