Inside the Numbers: Breeders’ Cup 2013
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The world’s greatest have to start somewhere. And for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, that somewhere was Hollywood Park, 30 years ago.
What began as a one day, 7-race event has grown into a two-day, $27 million extravaganza attracting the best horses, trainers, and owners from across the globe. It has also become the unofficial end and culmination of the Thoroughbred-racing season, often with the Breeders’ Cup Classic being the deciding factor in Horse of the Year.
The Breeders’ Cup is Thoroughbred racing’s penultimate event, where lifestyle, high-end fashion, celebrities, drinks/cocktails, gambling, racing and the world’s best horses all convene for the best 2-day sports and entertainment event on the planet.
Inside the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championship numbers:
1.5 ounces - The amount of Tito's Handmade Vodka found in The Classic, the official drink of the Breeders’ Cup
1.25 miles - The distance of the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic race
1:59:02 - The record time for the Breeders' Cup Classic, set in 2004 by Ghostzapper at Lone Star Park (Texas)
2004 BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC
2 - Most wins by one horse of the coveted Breeders' Cup Classic (Tiznow in 2000 and 2001)
4-8 p.m ET- Friday, Nov. 1, the hours of coverage of day one of the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships provided by NBC Sports Network
3:05 p.m. ET - Post time of the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies race which will be shown live during the Notre Dame-Navy pregame show
3:30-8 p.m. ET - Saturday, Nov. 2, the hours of coverage of the second day of the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships provided by NBC Sports
5 - Most Breeders' Cup Classic wins by a jockey (tie between Chris McCarron and Jerry Bailey)
6 - Number of Grammy Awards won by Toni Braxton who will sing the national anthem Saturday on NBC Sports Network at the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships
8-9 p.m. ET - Saturday, Nov. 2, the primetime hour of coverage of the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic race
9 1/2 - The amount of hours of national television coverage of the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships provided by NBC Sports and the NBC Sports Network
11 - The most horses pre-entered for the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships by a trainer (Chad Brown)
14 - The number of Breeders' Cup races over the 2-day event on Nov. 1-2 at Santa Anita Park
17 - Most Breeders' Cup races won - overall - by a jockey (Mike Smith)
SMITH AFTER GUIDING ROYAL DELTA TO VICTORY IN 2012 LADIES' CLASSIC
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
30 - Years the Breeders' Cup has been in existence
35 - The number of Thoroughbred millionaires; horses entered for the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships with earnings in excess of $1 million
36 - The number of foreign-bred race horses preentered for the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships
79% - The percentage of horses pre-entered for the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships bred in the United States
172 - The number of horses preentered in the 2013 Breeders' Cup World Championships
1984 - The year of NBC's inaugural broadcast of the Breeders' Cup World Championships
98,599 - The average attendance for the Breeders' Cup World Championships over the last 5 years
$525,941 - combined amount won by Patrick McGoey, a 41-year-old commercial litigation lawyer from New Orleans, La., after winning back-to-back Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge titles (2011 and 2012)
$5 million - The purse for the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic, the richest horse race on American soil
$157,730,880 - The average amount gambled on the Breeders' Cup World Championships over the last five years. By comparison, $98.9 million was legally bet on the 2013 Super Bowl and between $80-90 million was legally bet on this year's NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.
Experiencing is believing. Click here for a quick peek at the Breeders' Cup World Championship experience.