The Breeders’ Cup began as a novel idea put forth by John R. Gaines, a prominent thoroughbred racehorse breeder whose father once owned the Gaines Dog Food Company before selling it off to General Foods. Mr. Gaines was a visionary and explained that one way for racing to keep up with the growth of the country’s major sports, while also competing with other forms of gambling was to have a championship day of racing, a special day when all age groups would be recognized on both dirt and turf surfaces and would entice some of the top horses in the world to come and participate.

Mr. Gaines, who owned one of the world’s foremost breeding farms and at the time stood such prominent stallions as Lyphard, Blushing Groom, Irish River, Riverman, and Vaguely Noble, put forth his idea to some of the most powerful and influential people in the sport when making a speech at the 1982 Kentucky Derby Festival.  As far as he was concerned, after the successful decade of the seventies, a magical ten years in which there were three Triple Crown winners, the sheer brilliance of arguably racing’s greatest ever filly Ruffian, and exceptional performances from other superstars such as Forego, Alydar and Spectacular Bid, racing had hit a lull.  Sure, the reformed claimer, John Henry, was exciting fans across the country, and in 1980 Genuine Risk became just the second filly to win the Kentucky Derby, but that was it.  Nothing else that would draw new fans to the sport as well as retain the current ones really stood out.

In 1982, people within the industry and racing fans, in general, were angry when trainer Henry Clark and owner Jane du Pont Lunger decided to skip the Kentucky Derby with the early favorite Linkage and point their colt to the Preakness Stakes instead.  In American horseracing, this was considered sacrilegious, and the outrage that followed saw Clark called a number of things, among them being incompetent, disrespectful, and even a Kentucky Derby hater.  In Linkage’s absence, America’s greatest race was eventually won by 21-1 shot Gato Del Sol, but this eventually led to even greater outrage when that colt became the first Kentucky Derby winner in 23 years to skip the Preakness and prepare for the Belmont Stakes.  This rankled racing fans to no end, many of whom, including the executive vice president and general manager of Pimlico Race Course, Chic Lang, voiced their displeasure and accused trainer Eddie Gregson and co-owners Arthur Hancock III and Leone Peters of cowardice and failing to support the crown-jewel of American horse racing, the Triple Crown.  Then to top it off, both Linkage and Gato Del Sol, as well as the Preakness winner, Aloma’s Ruler, were absolutely destroyed in the Belmont Stakes by Conquistador Cielo, a horse that would have been good enough to win the Triple Crown except that he missed the first two legs while he recovered from a minor leg injury.

Racing fans, those who were really interested in the sport and eagerly anticipated racing’s biggest series, the Triple Crown, were extremely upset.  Many considered these failures to compete an insult to the sport, and this was a major concern.

In truth, those who were running the sport had been stubbing their toes in recent years while horseracing was losing fans as well as its credibility. Mr. Gaines did not like what he was seeing, and he believed that if racing was going to survive and gain new fans, it was imperative that it be more interesting for the average two-dollar bettor, that they must encourage them to be just as much or even more interested in the horses themselves, and not just the stars, than the actual gambling.

“The two-dollar bettor is the person we must reach,” Gaines said. “An event such as this might help him or her to become a true racing fan and encourage them to attend the races to see the horses instead of going to the stock car races or other sporting events.”

Mr. Gaines went on to make other points. “The success of the inaugural Arlington Million last August (1981) is a clear indication that owners and breeders in the United States are extremely interested in high-quality stakes races for big purses. The Breeders’ Cup, if it materializes, could be a grand day of racing, and just as champions are crowned in other sports, the thoroughbreds crown their champions too. This event could help build momentum and be a fitting preliminary to the Eclipse Award balloting, and what better way to determine the champions than head-to-head meetings on the racetrack?”

Gaines then went on to explain his vision: seven championship races with a minimal purse of $1 million and a maximum of $4 million. The card would be rounded out with two $250,000 races for horses not participating in the actual Breeders’ Cup races but be openers on the same card, plus a steeplechase race, the total purse money totaling $13.5 million.

When asked where the money would come from, Gaines stated that they could implement a system that was not unlike that used in quarter horse racing where the horsemen and not the tracks would put up the money. Horsemen could nominate the progeny of participating sires, those sires to be made eligible at a cost equivalent to the advertised stud fee for each plus an additional amount if the stallion has more than fifty foals in a given year, this due on an annual basis.  In Europe, the nomination fee would be 50% of their fee, and in South America, 25%. The breeders of the resultant foals would also pay a one-time nomination fee (the amount to be determined). In addition, there would be declaration, entry, and starting fees as well as revenue from a TV contract, which he estimated to be approximately $2 million.

When asked why he envisioned this event in the fall when professional and college football dominated, he was very explicit: “This time of year was selected so we will have an anchor at the end of the racing season. We would have a goal for all at the end of the year and that would be a series of championship races. Obviously, if you put forth a program worth millions of dollars in purse money, people are going to be interested, and owners and trainers are going to point their horses for this just like they would point them to any other major race.”

On the surface, this was a wonderful idea, but like all wonderful ideas, there was a downside. Many people were skeptical that such an idea would work, at least past the first year or so, while others complained that a series like this would negatively impact other important fall races.

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) was particularly upset because it felt that it currently presented a series of championship races in the fall: The Futurity, Frizette, Champagne, Beldame, and the latest version of the New York Handicap Triple, the Woodward, Marlboro Cup, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, as well as top turf races like the Man o’ War and the Turf Classic.  In addition, Laurel held the annual Washington D.C. International on turf, which would surely suffer, and Woodbine would see interest in its Rothman’s International drop as top International horses would avoid it because it was too close to the Breeders’ Cup. Some also pointed out the fact that the Rothmans, along with the Turf Classic and the D.C. International, already presented a good three-race series for turf horses, both local as well as those from overseas.

John Shapiro, the president of Laurel Race Course, was particularly incensed and fired off a letter to Mr. Gaines that read: “I am very much opposed to your concept. It will hurt Laurel Race Course more than any other track in America because of the time that it is run, and it will be in serious conflict with the Washington D.C. International, a traditional event that has taken years to build up.”

The connections at Arlington Park, which offered the world’s first million-dollar thoroughbred horse race, were more supportive.  They maintained that the Arlington Million wouldn’t be overly affected as their race was held in late August and would attract European horses who could stay and compete in the Breeders’ Cup.  However, other mid-west venues sang a different tune.

Seth Hancock, who ran Claiborne Farm, was concerned about Kentucky racing, especially the lucrative Keeneland fall program. He stressed that nothing should greatly disturb the sport in Kentucky with its incomparable racing assets. It has the Derby and the bluegrass region, which produces the world’s best thoroughbreds, and it has Keeneland, a delightful track that proves that good racing can flourish in a traditional setting surrounded by America’s finest horse farms without blatant commercialism.

“It would kill the Breeders’ Futurity and the Alcibiades,” Hancock said. “As well as the Spinster, which is a major race that annually helps determine filly and mare champions. These and other races have stood the test of time. People have put their life’s work into building them up to what they are now.”

Nevertheless, despite these concerns, and there were many others, there were a greater number of positives, and in the end, the positives won. A short time later, in July 1982, the Breeders’ Cup Ltd., a non-profit organization, was formed with John R. Gaines, who owned Gainesway Farm, named as president, with Brownell Combs II of Spendthrift Farm, and Seth Hancock III of Claiborne Farm, named as vice-presidents. One of their first duties was to appoint Will Farish III (Lanes End Farm) to chair a committee to seek out other board members who would be charged with devising a workable plan for the initial Breeders’ Cup. Among these were Bert Firestone (Catoctin Stud, Virginia and Gilltown Stud, Ireland), Nelson Bunker Hunt (prominent breeder in Lexington), Brereton C. Jones (Airdrie Stud), John Maybee (Golden Eagle Farm), John Nerud (Tartan Farm), and Charles Taylor (Windfields Farm).

Even though progress had been made, it still did not mean that everyone was satisfied. There would be several new squabbles, the foremost of which was where to hold the inaugural edition, which was slated for 1984. Eight racetracks immediately submitted their applications: Belmont Park, Hollywood Park, Santa Anita, The Meadowlands, Arlington Park, Woodbine Racetrack, Atlantic City, and Hawthorne Park. President Gerald McKeon of NYRA, when submitting his application, came right to the point and gave the committee an ultimatum: “We are willing to shift our fall race meetings in order to obtain the Breeders Cup Series. Give us this event for the first three years that you hold it, or we’re not interested, period.”

McKeon then added: “We have the most to lose by not getting it. Historically, all the divisional championships have been won and lost in New York. I think that Ack Ack was the only horse to ever win Horse of the Year without racing in New York in the year that he won it (Ack Ack actually began his career as a two-year-old in New York). Perrault (currently one of the country’s top horses) is running in the Marlboro Cup today because his owners and trainer know that a horse must still win a major New York race to be named Horse of the Year. But by 1984, if the inaugural Breeders’ Cup is on the West Coast, horses like Perrault and John Henry could still win the title while racing exclusively in California. Championship races like the Marlboro Cup and the Woodward would then become mere tune-ups for the Breeders’ Cup.”

Dave Stevenson, director of racing at NYRA, put forth the argument that he believed that Belmont Park was the ideal location to hold such a large event. “It’s suitable for large fields and is the only racetrack in America to have a 1-1/2 mile main track. And it certainly can handle large crowds. It is the most logical place to hold these races.”

Stevenson could see the Cup series, involving rich races in each of the various divisions, as fitting in perfectly with the other races already run at the Belmont meeting, known as the Championship Meeting, because all of the divisional titles are usually decided there.  “It coincides exactly with our fall schedule of big races, and it dovetails perfectly with those races.”