By Jim Gazzale
The Breeders’ Cup Classic won’t be the final betting race for the second consecutive year as the headline event is sandwiched in the middle of Saturday’s World Championship card.
Last year, with the Classic being the third-to-last race several ADW platforms saw a drop in handle once White Abarrio crossed the finish line and NBC switched over to college football.
With that in mind, Breeders’ Cup President Drew Fleming changed things this year.
“This year the Classic is right in the middle of the nine Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday,” he said. “We’ll have four championship races before and four championship races after. Centering the Classic between the eight races provides a whole new and exciting way for bettors to think about the Saturday card. In particular, the Classic and the Pick Five along with, many other wagering opportunities before and after. From a pure betting perspective, I think it, offers a variety of really good bets.”
Recent Breeders’ Cup betting handle
Overall Breeders’ Cup betting produced the third most common pool handle ever in 2023. However, it was down from back-to-back years of record-setting volume in 2021 and 2022.
- 2023: $176.3 million
- 2022: $189.1 million
- 2021: $182.9 million
Fleming added total wagering, including separate international pools, reached $201 million last year, which was the second most all-time.
The $176 million in the common pool was also a record for the Breeders’ Cup when hosted at Santa Anita.
By ending a Pick Five and beginning another with the Classic, Fleming believes horseplayers will follow TV coverage to USA Network and keep playing the remaining races after NBC switches to college football.
“After the Classic, you still have the Breeders’ Cup Turf. You’ve got the Sprint, the Turf Mile, the Dirt Mile. It is going to be great competition this year and I’m personally really excited about it.”
Breeders’ Cup focused on international flare
In 2024, the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series featured 82 races in 12 countries across five continents. Half were in the US with the rest across Europe, Asia, and South Africa.
The Breeders’ Cup has seen significant expansion in the Asian market in recent years, which has helped boost Japanese handle despite Japanese betting rules limiting bettors to just a handful of races.
There was no Japanese wagering in 2022. However, in 2023 Japan’s handle approached $19.2 million on just four races. Breeders’ Cup betting from Japan made up the bulk of the $24.7 million total international handle last year.
Japan will be limited to four races of Breeders’ Cup betting this year, too.
“We’re seeing record levels of participation (internationally),” Fleming told Past the Wire. “When (international horses) come to the Breeders Cup, you know there is going to be great action.”
The Breeders’ Cup will take wagers from 36 countries this year. Of those, 27 will be through the Breeders’ Cup global pool while another nine countries will bet through separate pools.
Recent horse betting trends
There have been two major trends in horse racing recently.
One is marketing big race days as sporting events rather than betting events. The other is online sportsbooks entering the horse betting marketplace, which Fleming called, “the single most important marketing opportunity (horse racing) will ever have.”
FanDuel, a key Breeders’ Cup betting partner, has horse betting woven into its company fabric. However, competition is getting tougher with DraftKings launching its DK Horse app last year.
Horse racing’s marketing plan
Churchill Downs bills the Kentucky Derby as an experience. 1/ST Racing promotes the Preakness Infield Fest, and NYRA pushed the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival as a can’t-miss moment in New York sports with the race held at Saratoga Race Course this year.
From a wagering standpoint, the strategy appears to be working. The Kentucky Derby broke all kinds of handle and attendance records. Preakness Day handle rebounded after a few down years. Belmont Day at Saratoga saw a record crowd and high-volume wagering for a non-Triple Crown year.
Breeders’ Cup marketing has followed suit, promoting the world championships as a high-class lifestyle event.
“The Breeders’ Cup needs to deliver a first-in-class, one-of-a-kind experience, and that starts with the on-site experience,” Fleming said. “It is the most effective way to illustrate the excitement and lifestyle of racing, and encourage those participants to wager and maybe purchase a horse. The trends in racing are these big day events because we’re getting fans to come to the track and see how great the sport is particularly on the higher end days.”
With the Classic ending and beginning a Pick Five on Saturday, a bevy of Japanese horses and other international shippers, an event and lifestyle marketing push, plus horse racing sitting on the same shelf as sports betting in certain online wagering apps, Fleming expects Breeders’ Cup betting to continue an upward trajectory.
“FanDuel and Del Mar are great partners of ours,” he said. “Let’s have a wonderful week of racing.”
