The Downey Profile Will Be Back for Breeders' Cup

Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge
Breeders’ Cup and Churchill Downs will host the second annual Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, a two-day handicapping tournament on Nov. 5-6.  The Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge will feature a potential prize pool of $340,000 and will be limited to 120 contestants.

Details

There's a $10,000 buy-in from each contestant.  Of that buy-in, $7,500 per entry will be the players betting bankroll and $2,500 will be dedicated towards the prize pool. Players retain any monies remaining in their bankroll at the end of the tournament. Entries open on July 15. Players may purchase a maximum of two entries. Players may reserve their position in the event by sending a $500 deposit, which will be credited towards the player’s buy-in.  The remaining $9,500 will be due on Nov. 1. Prize money will be paid to the top 10 finishers.  Players will retain all of the remaining monies in their bankroll at the conclusion of the event. The top three finishers will receive authentic Steuben crystal trophies.

Based upon the maximum 120 entries, the total prize money will be $340,000, with $175,000 to the winner. Last year’s champion, David Wilkenfeld, collected over $166,000 with his winning total of $41,000 and first place prize money of $125,000.

--The tournament, which will be held in Churchill’s sixth floor Gold Room, provides each player with individual betting carols, televisions, seating, and a track viewing area from the room's balcony.  All registered players will receive a full buffet each day, clubhouse credentials for themselves and a guest, discounted hotel rooms and a gift package of merchandise.

--The top six finishers will also qualify for the NTRA’s $1 million National Handicapping Championship, which will be held January 28-29, 2011 in Las Vegas.

Complete rules and information can be found on the Churchill Downs website at www.kyderby.com and also at www.breederscup.com beginning July 1.  The contact personnel for the event will be Merv Huber at Churchill Downs (502) 636-4503. Chris Bahr will again serve as the tournament director and can be reached at (858) 344-6611 or chris@dmtc.com.

Change in Our Breeders' Cup Coverage
The Downey Profile, a seasonal website, will return for Breeders' Cup, which will be staged on Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs. We'll be back online a month before that, as usual.

This year on the Subscription Page, we intend to narrow our coverage focus to four races--the Classic, the Juvenile and two races to be determined--and which will be announced in advance.

The working theory is that with its expanded format, Breeders' Cup has tried to become all things to all racing fans. That's the prerogative of Breeders' Cup, and that's fine. However, here at The Downey Profile, it's been decided that we cannot do justice to covering 14 championship races held over a two-day span.

Our bread and butter has always been analysis and coverage of two to four races a week on the road to the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown, culminating with the three races in Louisville, Baltimore and New York.

In order to try to retain that kind of focus for Breeders' Cup, we'll hone in on four specified races that we believe will be the most popular Breeders' Cup events among readers. We hope to make our selections for those races sharper and clearer as a result.

The free pages will, correspondingly, be most attentive to events leading to those four races.

This has not been a difficult decision, it's just been a year or two in the making. If it doesn't work out, we'll drop Breeders' Cup coverage after this year. We hope you'll stick with us and find the results satisfactory and rewarding.



The Downey Profile Store
We've come across some vintage racing memorabilia, including a few hundred old issues of Blood-Horse magazine. We haven't sorted through much of it yet, but we know some of the magazines are 40 years old, give or take. There are other items as well.

We plan to offer the materials for sale here. After we catalog them, we'll put them up at The Downey Profile to see if our readers have interest in purchasing the items.

Check back--we'll update this.

Contact us at: thedowneyprofile@thedowneyprofile.com

Breeders' Cup Challenge Schedule

* - purse includes Breeders' Cup Stakes funds