Is there life after the Breeders’ Cup? Except for New York’s Thanksgiving HolidayFest and a few stakes in California, not really. Horse racing, as a major-league sport, pretty much folds its tent after the BC Classic is run.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is trying to change that with a new single-day series of six races, modeled after the Breeders’ Cup, called the “Great State Challenge,” which will be inaugurated today at Sam Houston Race Park outside of Houston.
The races, each with a purse of $275,000, are the Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile at seven furlongs, the six-furlong Sprint, the mile-and-a-sixteenth Distaff, and the Turf and Classic, both at a mile-and-an-eighth. Betting on the full card at Sam Houston will be offered by Aqueduct and OTB, with first post at 2 p.m. EST.
The new twist to the Great State Challenge, besides giving Breeders’ Cup also-rans like Take Charge Lady, Forbidden Apple and Day Trader a chance at redemption, is that the 83 horses are divided into 10 “teams” based on the state where they were bred. Team Kentucky is favored with 11 entries; New York’s lone runner is Quiet Ruler in the Turf. Edgar Prado is the only New York-based jockey who will ride.
The horses to beat: Midnight Cry and Souris in the Juvenile Fillies; Only The Best and Crackup in the Juvenile; Day Trader, Dash For Daylight and Deer Run in the Sprint; Take Charge Lady in the Distaff; Forbidden Apple in the Turf; and Continental Red and Easyfromthegitgo in the Classic.