The Breeders’ Cup, horse racing’s annual fall championship series, is coming Oct. 30 and 31 to Keeneland in the heart of Kentucky’s Bluegrass, and in Lexington, the days, hours, minutes and seconds until it begins are counted down on a branded Longines digital clock suspended over Main Street.
Thousands of visitors, national and international, are expected in town. Hotel rooms are booked. Locals are decamping their houses for the event and renting them out, it’s said, for Mardi Gras prices. Blue Grass Airport will be giving arriving passengers complimentary bourbon balls, courtesy of Maker’s Mark. There’s a weeklong festival featuring food trucks and free music, art exhibits and fi lm screenings, and a $100 master distillers bourbon tasting.
The anticipation and whirlwind has been fueled by a full-blown, months-long lead-up – in ad agency campaigns and in exhortations by civic leaders, businesses and culture boosters – and guided by the invisible hand of a signature industry that has cultivated a landscape of pristine horse farms and produced an attendant cadre of employees, followers and fans.
At the center of the matrix are Breeders’ Cup Ltd., the racing industry organization administering the Breeders’ Cup championships for the 32nd year, and Keeneland, the historic Lexington racetrack hosting it for the fi rst time.
“Our two organizations share common goals and a common vision,” said Breeders’ Cup CEO Craig Fravel. “We made the decision to hold Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland with a great deal of lead time. That was an advantage.”
The company and the track have been planning and organizing the event for a year and a half. In addition to issues common to any of the 10 tracks that have hosted previous Breeders’ Cups, Keeneland as a site presented a distinct challenge: how to accommodate a large two-day crowd in a space considerably smaller – in physical plant, floor area and seating capacity – than most previous Breeders’ Cup venues.
The answer was to cap general admission – a first for any Breeders’ Cup and a rarity in American racing – at 10,000 and build temporary structures, grandstand boxes and hospitality areas to increase reserved seating from about 8,000 for normal racing meets to 18,000. (These constructions cost $5 million and were financed by Breeders’ Cup as an investment it says it will recoup from record high ticket revenues this year.)
The result of the admission cap and temporary additions will be on-track attendance – fans who enter the admission gates and have access to the track – of 28,000. There will also be ticketed, off-track attendance in dining and tailgating areas on Keeneland’s grounds for 14,000-17,000. (All tickets are advance-purchase only. Saturday’s on-track tickets are sold out.)
At 45,000 a day, Keeneland’s Breeders’ Cup attendance will be only marginally lower than the event’s 93,000 average two-day on-track attendance since 2007, when it was expanded from one day. At the 28,000 on-track number, however, it will be about 40 percent lower than average. (Last year, at Santa Anita, two-day attendance was 98,000, including 61,000 on Saturday.) Attendance comparisons haven’t been a public concern for Keeneland or Breeders’ Cup.
“Our emphasis was on providing a great experience for everyone who attends,” said Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason. “We want to do it right.”
“Our view has been that Keeneland is capable of presenting a great customer experience,” said Fravel. He added that, although total attendance will be lower, there will be more trackside seating for Breeders’ Cup this year at Keeneland than there was last year at Santa Anita.
Fravel said a Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, in the center of Kentucky’s Thoroughbred breeding country, will be “extraordinary” for racing.
“You have close proximity to horses. It combines history, tradition and experience,” he said. “It’s a great, positive branding message for our sport.”
The Breeders’ Cup this year will encompass 13 races with total purses of $26 million. (The event began in 1984 as one day of seven races worth $10 million.) The richest, final and headline race is the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, which this year is expected to generate record media coverage and fan interest with a field headed by Triple Crown-winner American Pharaoh and champion mare Beholder.
Supporting the event are 35 corporate partners and four media ones, including NBC, which will broadcast the Classic and two preceding races Saturday afternoon, and NBCSN, which will show the other Friday and Saturday races. And there are 15 celebrity “ambassadors” – from Kate Upton and Toby Keith to Bobby Flay and James Carville – who help with promotion.
In addition to the in-house resources of Breeders’ Cup and Keeneland, Fravel said the event will benefit from the commitment of the Lexington community. Politicians, businesses and the local host committee have been very supportive and have “engaged” the public and created a special atmosphere. “The breadth of community and corporate involvement is better than any event we’ve ever had.”
With all seemingly in order, the remaining question is how the event – racing’s biggest after the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown – will play when the curtains open?
“Everything has come together extremely well,” said Thomason. “There’s a sense of excitement about this Breeders’ Cup. You can feel it in the community. You can feel it here at Keeneland.
“People are going to be rewarded. The event will be spectacular. The line-up of horses is exceptional. If we get a couple of nice, sunny late October days, I think it will be a weekend to remember.”