Breeders' Cup Going for Grade 1's Again

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I thought the original idea of the BC was to crown champions. .

You must not have been around when the whole thing was being discussed. The major factor in the creation of the Breeders' Cup was early retirements of top colts and finding a way to prevent them. The original race (Classic) was framed as an enticement for post-Triple Crown 3yos to be kept in training for the fall by dangling a huge purse in front of the owners. The other races were added to get the managers of stallions unlikely to sire top-class 10f runners to pony up fees.

By the way, there were no G1 sprints or G1 turf miles in the US before the Breeders' Cup program came along. The sprint championship was most often a consolation award to sprinter/milers who couldn't step up to classic distances (Dr. Patches, My Juliet) or an extra honor to the classic distance champion who also won sprint races (Forego, Ack Ack). Pure 6f sprinters horses were a minority among sprint championship winners (Ta Wee, Gallant Bob) until the Breeders' Cup came along.