The 2007 Breeders' Cup World Championships took place on October 26 and 27 at

Monmouth Park Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease ...

Oceanport Oceanport is a borough situated in the Jersey Shore region, within Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, specifically Central Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,150, an increase of 318 (+5.5% ...

, the first time the event had been held in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The 2007 event included several milestones, with three new races added, a second day added to the program and the introduction of the

Breeders' Cup Challenge The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year. The Challenge series began in 2007 with 24 "Win and Yo ...

series.

Breeders' Cup Challenge series

The

series was introduced in 2007 as a way to automatically qualify for the Breeders' Cup under a "win and you're in" format. In addition to the automatic entry, the goal was to build brand recognition for the Breeders' Cup and horse racing in general throughout the year, in combination with broadcast partner ESPN. "This is a long race," said ESPN programmer Len DeLuca. "This is a very long race, in terms of making the sport of kings interesting and accessible to the casual fan. But it's the next step in the evolution of horse racing coverage." The 2007 series consisted of 24 races held at 6 different racetracks in the United States and Canada. Fourteen of the series winners later raced in the Breeders' Cup, with four of them winning: War Pass in the Juvenile, Ginger Punch in the Distaff, English Channel in the Turf and Curlin in the Classic.

Lead-up

The Breeders' Cup was held at Monmouth Park for the first time in 2007. To accommodate the event, more than $25 million was invested in improving the facilities. The event was expected to generate $57.6 million for the state. The European-contingent was led by

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

, who was the top ranked horse in the world after winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. "He's as good a horse as we've ever had," said trainer Aidan O'Brien. "We think he's a superstar." O'Brien also shipped George Washington over to race in the Classic. George Washington had been retired after finishing sixth in the 2006 Classic but proved sub-fertile and returned to racing.

Friday: New Races

In January, The Breeders' Cup announced the creation of three new $1 million races to be held on Friday, the day before the traditional big day. By rule, the three new races could not be graded until several renewals were completed to evaluate their quality, meaning that these were the first Breeders' Cup Races that were not run under Grade 1 status. (In 1984, an exception was made for the original Breeders' Cup Races to immediately grant them grade 1 status.) The three New races were: TV:

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

4-6 PM ET
The attendance was 27,803.

Saturday: Day 2

The following races were run on the next day: The Classic was marred by a fatal injury suffered by

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, the 2006 European 3-year-old champion who had returned to training when his stud career was scuttled by fertility problems. He suffered a dislocated fracture of his right front ankle and was

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from ; "good death") is the act of killing an animal humanely, most commonly with injectable drugs. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditions or diseases, lack of resources to con ...

on the track. TV:

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

12-7 PM

References

{{BreedersCup

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

Breeders' Cup

Monmouth Park Racetrack