Looking Ahead to 2026: The Future of the Breeders' Cup

As Thoroughbred racing heads into a new year, it faces the inevitable challenge of learning from the past 12 months and applying those lessons to a new year. With 2026 at hand, BloodHorse has reprised its online year-end survey to ask some of the sport's leading individuals for their opinions on pertinent issues facing the sport. Through Jan. 2 in the BloodHorse Daily and on www.bloodhorse.com, a select group of panelists will address issues such as the most exciting freshman sire for 2026, field size, what participants tell newcomers they like most about the sport, fixed-odds wagering, foal crop size, and the Triple Crown. We continue the series today with a question about the Breeders' Cup. While realizing there are countless other voices, the hope is that these answers will spark meaningful discussion within the industry. Anyone who would like to offer their opinion is encouraged to submit it in writing to editorial@bloodhorse.com for inclusion in our Letters to the Editor. Longer pieces can be considered for an Industry Voices column. To access our 2023 year-end survey, please click the following link for a pdf version. Responses were edited for style and clarity. Question: Are there one or two changes you would like to see made to the Breeders' Cup in terms of host sites, going to an international site, calendar dates, number of races, nominations, the Challenge (Win & You're In) series, or marketing of the event? Or if no changes are needed, why is that the case? Peter Brant, owner: As an owner, I think there needs to be some checks and balances about what the Breeders' Cup is doing. There are some things that are very, very unfair. For example, if a horse like Sistercharlie (IRE) or another excellent horse wins multiple "Win and You're In" races, then they should award the money for starting fees to the second-place horse. They should not be bankrolling the money by not giving it to someone else. They are just building up their reserve and are not accountable for it. They should be using that money to raise purses, not saving it for a rainy day. That money is supposed to be distributed, and if you go back to 1984 when the Breeders' Cup started, the purses have not kept up with inflation. They have $1 million races for 2-year-olds on the grass and if (trainer) Chad Brown wanted to send one of my horses to California for one of them I would say, "no." I would not want to do that with a 2-year-old for that kind of money with a 3-year-old season coming up. I am not going to take a chance. It's just too big of a thing to ask for that kind of purse money. Even the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) on the dirt is $2 million and it should be at least $3 million. Last year, when Sierra Leone won the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) it was listed as a $7 million stakes but the purse was $6.44 million. There's not a good reason for doing that. I also believe the "Win and You're In" races are heavily favored toward Kentucky. There seems to be a movement to give Kentucky the benefit because the Breeders' Cup is run by people in Kentucky and New York has suffered because of it. They also have "Win and You're In" races in South America and Europe and it's questionable whether those horses will run in the Breeders' Cup. Like some sports such as tennis, they should also give a free spot to horses who won a Breeders' Cup in the past and are coming back. I believe that the Breeders Cup must also be accountable to the owners, breeders, and trainers so in the future it acts more democratic for its constituents. Drew Fleming, Breeders' Cup president and CEO: As stewards of the Breeders' Cup, we have an ongoing responsibility to fulfill our mission to conduct the World Championships at the highest levels of quality, safety, and integrity; and to promote the growth of Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and sales through proactive leadership, innovation, and service. Our board and members—prominent breeders and owners worldwide—are essential partners in this effort. We constantly engage in active dialogue with them and industry partners to evaluate opportunities for improvement and long-term growth. Our development of the Challenge Series into an important international recruitment and marketing tool is an ongoing change we will continue to build upon. Putting the Breeders' Cup brand front and center on marquee race cards around the globe throughout the year—while incentivizing connections to target the World Championships at the end of the season—dovetails with our ongoing efforts to grow the brand internationally, particularly in the Asian marketplace. We have also implemented significant changes to improve the participant and patron experience at the World Championships. These include an innovative digital ticketing rollout, enhanced hospitality and culinary offerings, and the creation of a week-long festival that celebrates our equine athletes, their connections, our great fans, and the equestrian lifestyle—and we will continue to build on these efforts. Beyond on-site enhancements, in an ever-changing media landscape and challenging position on the sports calendar, we continue to innovate and change how we position our product, expanding the global reach and accessibility of the Breeders' Cup across many platforms to provide coverage where, when, and how fans want to consume it. In 2025, thanks to a strategic renewal with broadcast partner NBC and an expanded content distribution strategy, the two-day World Championships were broadcast live in 182 countries through a number of domestic and global partners and could be viewed on both linear (i.e., NBC, USA, FanDuel TV) and digital platforms (i.e., Peacock, YouTube, Facebook, and X). Our core elements—including the 14 championship races and the position of the World Championships on the calendar—remain strong foundations that consistently attract the best horses from around the globe, foster international competition, and deliver a premier wagering product. Ultimately, the Breeders' Cup thrives because of the shared commitment of our board, members, fans, horsemen, horseplayers, and other industry partners. We are focused on positioning the organization to grow responsibly—strengthening our global relevance and fulfilling our broader responsibility to the Thoroughbred industry. Al Gold, owner, Gold Square: The obvious problem is that the entry fees are exorbitant. They are just ridiculous. Having it in California so often is also ridiculous. Most of the fans and owners are in the East and we're always traveling. The Breeders' Cup should be as important as the Kentucky Derby (G1) and to do that you have to get more fans interested in the sport. Let them have more of a say about what happens. Let the fans vote for the Eclipse Awards, just as baseball lets fans vote for the All-Star Game rosters. They also have to change how they rate horses to decide who can run in oversubscribed races. I had a horse that won a grade 1 stakes last year (Howard Wolowitz) and he got put on the also-eligible list because their rating system favors European horses over American horses (Howard Wolowitz ran in the 2024 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, G1T, after scratches). That has to change. It's the Breeders' Cup. So you should reward American breeders instead of European horses who win a minor stakes. The travel bonus also needs to be addressed and increased. When it's in California, I get $10,000 to ship my horse cross-country. What does $10,000 do these days? That's nonsense. Ken McPeek, trainer: The Breeders' Cup is a wonderful organization. They work very hard to do the right thing in every way, shape, and form. But I thought the vet protocols this year were over the top. They are so worried about a horse getting injured that they've gotten horsemen on pins and needles. But that's the veterinarian crew. They have gone overboard and they still did not come out (of this year's event) without a breakdown. Breakdowns are unfortunate and unfortunately, they are an inevitability in our sport. But too many horses were scratched. I had two of them and to me there was no reason in the world why they should have been taken out. What they did to White Abarrio (a gate scratch in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, G1) was incomprehensible. You have to trust trainers and the jockeys on the horses. I thought they were way over the top on the vet exams.