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Two-Day Breeders’ Cup Attendance Up, Handle Down Over 2025

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Edited Press Release

All-sources, common-pool handle for the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course was $167,930,278. Total common-pool handle on Saturday’s 12-race Breeders’ Cup card was $114,303,297. All-sources common-pool handle on Breeders’ Cup’s 10-race Future Stars Friday card was $53,626,981.

Handle on the 14 Breeders’ Cup races over the two days was $146,431,783, down 1.2% from 2025. On-track handle for the two days was $18,322,068. Saturday’s attendance was 45,775. International separate pool wagering figures are not yet available.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships will return to Belmont Park in 2027, marking a return to New York for the first time since 2005. The 44th edition will be held there Oct. 29-30.

Breeders’ Cup Two-Day Attendance and Handle (Common-Pool) History:

2026: Keeneland — 81,604; $167,930,278

2025: Del Mar — 65,232; $180,036,799

2024: Del Mar — 67,418; $179,218,631

2023: Santa Anita Park — 109,624; $176,281,989

2022: Keeneland — 85,824; $189,060,373

2021: Del Mar — 47,089; $182,908,409

2020: Keeneland — No attendance reported due to COVID-19; $160,472,893

2019: Santa Anita Park — 109,054; $174,628,986

2018: Churchill Downs — 112,672; $157,445,841

2017: Del Mar — 70,420; $166,077,486

2016: Santa Anita — 118,484; $156,861,811

2015: Keeneland — 94,652; $149,869,035

2014: Santa Anita — 98,319; $151,158,813

2013: Santa Anita — 94,628; $160,704,877

2012: Santa Anita — 89,742; $144,272,332

2011: Churchill Downs — 105,820; $161,512,867

2010: Churchill Downs — 114,353; $173,857,697

2009: Santa Anita — 96,496; $153,271,176

2008: Santa Anita — 86,588; $155,740,328

2007: Monmouth Park — 69,584; $129,197,262

The post Two-Day Breeders’ Cup Attendance Up, Handle Down Over 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

This Was Bill Mott’s Finest Hour

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It was about a week before the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup that Bill Mott revealed that Sovereignty (Into Mischief) would miss what was supposed to be a key prep for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. He had an abscess in his left hind foot and would need a break from training.

This didn’t bode well for his winning the Classic, but Mott remained confident. He didn’t kick or scream or throw water buckets. He just went back to work and told anyone who asked that he was confident that he would have Sovereignty good enough to win come Classic Day, Oct. 31.

But would he?

After the foot problem surfaced, Sovereignty, who was dispatched to Saratoga, went four weeks without a workout. When he did return, his works were slow, slow and slower still. On Oct. 11, he worked five furlongs over the training track at Saratoga in 1:04.01. A week later, it was five furlongs in 1:02.76.

But Mott was not fazed.

“Visually, it looked fine to me,” Mott said after the 1:02.76 work. “He looked good. I didn’t have a watch, but I thought that everything looked good.”

He didn’t even have a watch. The message was clear: trust me.

He’s earned that right. There’s a reason why he’s been in the Hall of Fame for 28 years and has won more than 5,650 races. He’s as good as any trainer of his era and when it comes to getting a horse ready for a big race, there may not be anyone better.

The reports were that he was training well at Keeneland and that was where Mott tightened the screws, but just a bit. His final work before the Classic was a four-furlong breeze in :48.20.

But some still had their doubts, which, considering all the hurdles in his path, was only natural. But as the field swung into the stretch, any lingering concerns about Sovereignty evaporated. He was moving smoothly and effortlessly under Junior Alvarado.  A few strides later, it was clear that the race was over.

“I knew the power I had underneath me,” Alvarado said. “It was the way he was traveling. I never had a doubt the whole way around.”

Mott did allow himself a shadow of a smile when it was over. But he is not one to gloat.

“This horse is a runner,” he said. “It’s like a loaded gun is dangerous in anyone’s hands. I guess we got it done today. The horse did everything we needed him to do.”

In other words, he made it look easy. But there was nothing easy about this. There may be a few other trainers who could have pulled this off, but not many. It was a masterful training job.

“It’s his patience,” Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA’s director of bloodstock said when asked what makes Mott so good at what he does. “He teed the horse up to produce on the day, like he did in the Derby, the Belmont, the Travers, like the Whitney this year.”

It was also a good day for Godolphin. Sheikh Mohammed had never won the Classic under the Godolphin banner and Mott had speculated that the main reason Sovereignty was brought back as a 4-year-old was because the Godolphin team wanted to give him a chance in the Classic after he had missed the race last year with a fever.

“The team kept him in training and gave us an opportunity to showcase him this year,” Mott said.

Had Godolphin gone in a different direction, it probably would have won two Breeders’ Cup races. Knightsbridge (Nyquist) likely would have romped in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Instead, he went in the Classic and ran a creditable third. Knightsbridge earned $630,000 for running third in the Classic. Further Ado (Gun Runner) made $520,000 winning the Dirt Mile. But that’s not the point. Knightsbridge had been so brilliant at times during the year that he deserved an opportunity to show what he could do in the Classic. As it turns out, a mile and a quarter is not his best distance.

The biggest disappointment in the Classic was Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}). Attempting to win the race for the second straight year, he just didn’t have it. He was fifth, beaten three lengths, and was going nowhere in the stretch. In hindsight, his lackluster victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup was the tip-off. This was not the same Forever Young who looked so good when winning the Classic last year.

This was not a perfect year for Sovereignty. He started off his 2026 campaign with losses in the GII Oaklawn Handicap and the GI Stephen Foster Stakes and did not look like his 2025 self until winning the GI Whitney over super filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d’Oro). Then, there was missed time and a scramble to get him to the Breeders’ Cup.

Normally, I probably wouldn’t vote for a horse for Horse of the Year who had raced just four times and won only two races during the course of the year, but Sovereignty has to be the pick. The Whitney is arguably the second most important dirt race on the calendar for older males and the Breeders’ Cup is designed to be a championship event. Yes, he’s Horse of the Year. That’s because he’s a very good horse with a very good trainer.

The post This Was Bill Mott’s Finest Hour appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Two-Day Breeders’ Cup Attendance Up, Handle Down Over 2025

---

Edited Press Release

All-sources, common-pool handle for the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course was $167,930,278. Total common-pool handle on Saturday’s 12-race Breeders’ Cup card was $114,303,297. All-sources common-pool handle on Breeders’ Cup’s 10-race Future Stars Friday card was $53,626,981.

Handle on the 14 Breeders’ Cup races over the two days was $146,431,783, down 1.2% from 2025. On-track handle for the two days was $18,322,068. Saturday’s attendance was 45,775. International separate pool wagering figures are not yet available.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships will return to Belmont Park in 2027, marking a return to New York for the first time since 2005. The 44th edition will be held there Oct. 29-30.

Breeders’ Cup Two-Day Attendance and Handle (Common-Pool) History:

2026: Keeneland — 81,604; $167,930,278

2025: Del Mar — 65,232; $180,036,799

2024: Del Mar — 67,418; $179,218,631

2023: Santa Anita Park — 109,624; $176,281,989

2022: Keeneland — 85,824; $189,060,373

2021: Del Mar — 47,089; $182,908,409

2020: Keeneland — No attendance reported due to COVID-19; $160,472,893

2019: Santa Anita Park — 109,054; $174,628,986

2018: Churchill Downs — 112,672; $157,445,841

2017: Del Mar — 70,420; $166,077,486

2016: Santa Anita — 118,484; $156,861,811

2015: Keeneland — 94,652; $149,869,035

2014: Santa Anita — 98,319; $151,158,813

2013: Santa Anita — 94,628; $160,704,877

2012: Santa Anita — 89,742; $144,272,332

2011: Churchill Downs — 105,820; $161,512,867

2010: Churchill Downs — 114,353; $173,857,697

2009: Santa Anita — 96,496; $153,271,176

2008: Santa Anita — 86,588; $155,740,328

2007: Monmouth Park — 69,584; $129,197,262

The post Two-Day Breeders’ Cup Attendance Up, Handle Down Over 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

This Was Bill Mott’s Finest Hour

---

It was about a week before the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup that Bill Mott revealed that Sovereignty (Into Mischief) would miss what was supposed to be a key prep for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. He had an abscess in his left hind foot and would need a break from training.

This didn’t bode well for his winning the Classic, but Mott remained confident. He didn’t kick or scream or throw water buckets. He just went back to work and told anyone who asked that he was confident that he would have Sovereignty good enough to win come Classic Day, Oct. 31.

But would he?

After the foot problem surfaced, Sovereignty, who was dispatched to Saratoga, went four weeks without a workout. When he did return, his works were slow, slow and slower still. On Oct. 11, he worked five furlongs over the training track at Saratoga in 1:04.01. A week later, it was five furlongs in 1:02.76.

But Mott was not fazed.

“Visually, it looked fine to me,” Mott said after the 1:02.76 work. “He looked good. I didn’t have a watch, but I thought that everything looked good.”

He didn’t even have a watch. The message was clear: trust me.

He’s earned that right. There’s a reason why he’s been in the Hall of Fame for 28 years and has won more than 5,650 races. He’s as good as any trainer of his era and when it comes to getting a horse ready for a big race, there may not be anyone better.

The reports were that he was training well at Keeneland and that was where Mott tightened the screws, but just a bit. His final work before the Classic was a four-furlong breeze in :48.20.

But some still had their doubts, which, considering all the hurdles in his path, was only natural. But as the field swung into the stretch, any lingering concerns about Sovereignty evaporated. He was moving smoothly and effortlessly under Junior Alvarado.  A few strides later, it was clear that the race was over.

“I knew the power I had underneath me,” Alvarado said. “It was the way he was traveling. I never had a doubt the whole way around.”

Mott did allow himself a shadow of a smile when it was over. But he is not one to gloat.

“This horse is a runner,” he said. “It’s like a loaded gun is dangerous in anyone’s hands. I guess we got it done today. The horse did everything we needed him to do.”

In other words, he made it look easy. But there was nothing easy about this. There may be a few other trainers who could have pulled this off, but not many. It was a masterful training job.

“It’s his patience,” Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA’s director of bloodstock said when asked what makes Mott so good at what he does. “He teed the horse up to produce on the day, like he did in the Derby, the Belmont, the Travers, like the Whitney this year.”

It was also a good day for Godolphin. Sheikh Mohammed had never won the Classic under the Godolphin banner and Mott had speculated that the main reason Sovereignty was brought back as a 4-year-old was because the Godolphin team wanted to give him a chance in the Classic after he had missed the race last year with a fever.

“The team kept him in training and gave us an opportunity to showcase him this year,” Mott said.

Had Godolphin gone in a different direction, it probably would have won two Breeders’ Cup races. Knightsbridge (Nyquist) likely would have romped in the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Instead, he went in the Classic and ran a creditable third. Knightsbridge earned $630,000 for running third in the Classic. Further Ado (Gun Runner) made $520,000 winning the Dirt Mile. But that’s not the point. Knightsbridge had been so brilliant at times during the year that he deserved an opportunity to show what he could do in the Classic. As it turns out, a mile and a quarter is not his best distance.

The biggest disappointment in the Classic was Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}). Attempting to win the race for the second straight year, he just didn’t have it. He was fifth, beaten three lengths, and was going nowhere in the stretch. In hindsight, his lackluster victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup was the tip-off. This was not the same Forever Young who looked so good when winning the Classic last year.

This was not a perfect year for Sovereignty. He started off his 2026 campaign with losses in the GII Oaklawn Handicap and the GI Stephen Foster Stakes and did not look like his 2025 self until winning the GI Whitney over super filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d’Oro). Then, there was missed time and a scramble to get him to the Breeders’ Cup.

Normally, I probably wouldn’t vote for a horse for Horse of the Year who had raced just four times and won only two races during the course of the year, but Sovereignty has to be the pick. The Whitney is arguably the second most important dirt race on the calendar for older males and the Breeders’ Cup is designed to be a championship event. Yes, he’s Horse of the Year. That’s because he’s a very good horse with a very good trainer.

The post This Was Bill Mott’s Finest Hour appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.