The Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint will follow the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the Saturday, Nov. 4, card at Santa Anita Park in Southern California, Breeders’ Cup said on Wednesday.
The 2023 edition will be the first time in its 40-year history of the Breeders’ Cup in which the Classic was not the final Breeders’ Cup race. NBC Sports, Breeders’ Cup’s broadcast partner for the event, has made a major commitment to college football in prime-time on Saturdays this fall, and, in order for the Classic to get major-network coverage, it was moved this year to the seventh spot in Saturday’s nine-race Breeders’ Cup lineup.
According to Breeders’ Cup, NBC’s broadcast coverage of the Saturday Breeders’ Cup will end 20 minutes after the Classic is run, and the two final Breeders’ Cup races will only be available on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service, or the Breeders’ Cup website. The final two races serve as the final legs in a pick 6 that includes the Classic.
The Classic will have a 3:40 p.m. local post time, or 6:40 p.m. on the East Coast.
The first Breeders’ Cup race on Saturday, the Dirt Mile, will have an 11:30 a.m. Pacific post time, 2:30 p.m. in the Eastern time zone. The Dirt Mile will be followed, in order, by the Filly and Mare Turf (12:10 p.m. Pacific), the Filly and Mare Sprint (12:50), the Mile (1:30), the Distaff (2:10), the Turf (2:50), the Classic (3:40), the Turf Sprint (4:25), and the Sprint (5:00).
In total, there will be 12 races on the Saturday card, with two races preceding the first Breeders’ Cup race, starting at 10:10 Pacific. A race will follow the Sprint at 5:30.
The Breeders’ Cup lineup on the Friday card will continue to be comprised entirely of 2-year-old races, beginning with the Juvenile Turf Sprint at 2:00 p.m. Pacific and followed by the Juvenile Fillies (2:40), the Juvenile Fillies Turf (3:20), the Juvenile (4:00), and the Juvenile Turf (4:40). A total of ten races are scheduled for the Friday card, with a first post of 11:30 a.m. Pacific.
Coverage of the Breeders’ Cup races on Friday will be provided by both FanDuel TV, previously known as TVG, and the USA Network. FanDuel TV will offer full-card coverage on Friday, while USA will broadcast all five Breeders’ Cup races and the race preceding the first Breeders’ Cup race.
On Saturday, USA will begin coverage at 10:30 a.m. Pacific and will broadcast the first two Breeders’ Cup races, the Dirt Mile and Filly and Mare Turf. Coverage will switch at 12:30 p.m Pacific to NBC for live coverage of five Breeders’ Cup races, beginning with the Filly and Mare Sprint and running through the Classic.
Breeders’ Cup will offer two special daily doubles that link a race on the Friday card and a race on the Saturday card: the Juvenile Fillies and the Distaff; the Juvenile and the Classic; and the Juvenile Turf and the Turf. An all-turf pick 3 on Friday will link the Juvenile Turf Sprint, the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and the Juvenile Turf.
Breeders’ Cup has also added two new pick 4s to the Saturday menu, both with a 50-cent minimum and a 15 percent takeout. One will link all four turf races on Saturday, and the other will link four dirt races: the Filly and Mare Sprint, the Distaff, the Classic, and the Sprint.
The other multi-race bets for the two-day event will have the takeout rate of the host track, 23.68 percent.
Breeders’ Cup will offer three pick 5 bets on the Saturday card, linking races 1 through 5, races 3 through 7, and races 7 through 11.
Any pick 5 carryover from Friday or the early pick five on Saturday will carry over to the final pick five on Saturday. The middle pick 5 on Saturday will have a mandatory payout. The pick 6 on Saturday will have a mandatory payout.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.