Santa Anita, Keeneland, and Del Mar next three sites

The two-day Breeders’ Cup event will return to Santa Anita Park near Los Angeles in 2019 and will then be held at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club near San Diego in the succeeding two years, the organization announced on Friday.

The announcement of the three-year rotation was strikingly similar to the organization’s 2014 designation of the same three tracks as hosts from 2015-2017, though in a different order. However, in contrast to Santa Anita, which has hosted the Breeders’ Cup a record nine times, Keeneland and Del Mar have each hosted the event only once, with both generating positive reviews and strong financial results for Breeders’ Cup.

“We are extremely proud and excited to bring the Breeders’ Cup back to three of the country’s most beloved racetracks in California and Kentucky, all of which share our commitment to providing an exceptional raceday experience for horse racing enthusiasts and first-time guests alike,” said Craig Fravel, the president and chief executive of Breeders’ Cup, in a release. “Breeders’ Cup events at Santa Anita, Keeneland and Del Mar have resulted in record success and overwhelming support from our fans around the world.”

The selection of all three tracks had been widely telegraphed by officials in the racing industry for several weeks. While the three tracks were expected to be the next three hosts, the Friday announcement was confirmation of a setback to the operators of Laurel Park, which had expressed interest in hosting a Breeders’ Cup in the near future. (Laurel is owned by the parent company of Santa Anita, The Stronach Group.)

With Santa Anita’s selection for 2019, the track will have hosted seven of the last 12 Breeders’ Cup events. Santa Anita, which is favored by a large number of Breeders’ Cup board members because of its predictable, warm weather and the dramatic television backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains, hosted the event from 2008-2009, 2012-2014, and in 2016.

The 2019 event at Santa Anita is scheduled for Nov. 1-2, while the Keeneland event in 2020 will take place on Nov. 6-7. The Del Mar event is scheduled for Nov. 5-6, 2021.

Keeneland first hosted the Breeders’ Cup event in 2015, and the selection was deemed somewhat risky due to the small footprint of its grandstand and potential for cold weather. Attendance was capped at approximately 50,000 for each race day when including areas that did not give patrons access to the grandstand, and Breeders’ Cup and Keeneland spent large sums of money on temporary seating areas.

However, the event was widely considered to be a sporting and financial success, in part because the cap on attendance and erection of luxury areas allowed Breeders’ Cup to generate a record $17.5 million in revenue from ticket sales, twice the ticketing revenue from the event held at Santa Anita in 2014, according to the organization’s financial records. In addition, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah romped in the Classic that year in his final start, providing a flesh-and-blood advertisement for the surrounding Central Kentucky breeding industry.

After lifting ticket restrictions for the 2016 event at Santa Anita, the organization followed the same model as Keeneland for the 2017 event held at Del Mar, limiting attendance to 37,500 for each day and creating exclusive areas at the track with pricing to match. Ticketing revenue that year was $15.4 million, compared to $9.6 million for the Santa Anita event held a year earlier, according to the financial statements.

Supporters for a return of the Breeders’ Cup to New York after a 15-year absence will be disappointed that the region has been passed over again, but the New York Racing Association, which last hosted a Belmont Park Breeders’ Cup in 2005, has not applied to be a host track for several years, according to officials with knowledge of the application process.