LEXINGTON, Ky., April 8 (UPI) -- The 2023 Breeders' Cup Challenge will include 67 races providing automatic qualification for the World Championships in November.
Nine new races are included in the list, which encompasses events in 10 countries, Breeders' Cup officials said Monday.
In addition to qualifying for the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Nov. 1-2, the winners also will be eligible for travel allowances ranging up to $40,000 for foreign horses. For the first time, U.S. horses who win Challenge races will be eligible for a $10,000 travel allowance if they are based outside California.
Qualifying is retroactive to January, when Variety Club won the SAF-Group 1 L'Ormarins Queen's Plate at Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town, South Africa, qualifying for a spot in the Breeders' Cup Mile. The next race is the T J Smith Stakes on Saturday at Randwick in Australia -- a race expected to feature the undefeated mare Black Caviar. The winner qualifies for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.
The U.S. portion of the series starts with the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 15, a qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Three of the newly added races are in California. Two are at York, in the north of England, during the Ebor Meeting in August.
Last year, 45 winners of Challenge races went on to take part in the World Championships and seven of them were winners in those events.
