Three Japanese Group 1 races have been added to the 2016 Breeders' Cup Challenge series line-up, providing automatic berths to championship races this coming autumn at Santa Anita. Winners of the G1 February S., which was run Feb. 21, and the G1 Yasuda Kinen, run June 5, will retroactively receive berths to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and GI Breeders' Cup Mile, respectively. Moanin (Henny Hughes), owned by Yukio Baba and trained by Zei Ishizaka, won the February S., while Logotype (Jpn) (Lohengrin {Jpn}) captured the Yasuda Kinen for owner Teruya Yoshida and trainer Tsuyoshi Tanaka.
The third race added to the series is the Oct. 2 G1 Sprinters S., which will award the winner with an automatic entry to the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.
“Working in concert with the Japan Racing Association, we are very pleased and proud to strengthen the international reach of the Challenge series by adding the February S., Yasuda Kinen and the Sprinters S. to our schedule,” said Craig Fravel, Breeders' Cup President and CEO. “We thank the JRA for their commitment to the series and look forward to continued participation by Japanese horsemen in the Challenge series and in the World Championships.”
The three new Japanese races join the G1 Takarazuka Kinen, which has been part of the 'Win and You're In' series since 2011. The 5-year-old mare Marialite (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) won the Takarazuka Kinen Sunday, earning an automatic berth into the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf.
As a part of the benefits of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, the Breeders' Cup will pay for the pre-entry and entry fees of the winning horse of each challenge race. All international runners in the championships will be provided a $40,000 travel stipend. The challenge winner must be nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by the pre-entry deadline of Oct. 24 to receive the rewards.
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