Breeders' Cup Exec Says Name Will Work With More Marketing

NTRA Vice Chair and Breeders' Cup President D.G. Van Clief said in a Q&A with the DAILY RACING FORM's Matt Hegarty when changing the name of the "Breeders' Cup" to the "Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships," the phrase "Breeders' Cup" remained since it has a "significant amount of equity within the industry, and we do not think it is advisable just to drop it cold." Van Clief added, in the future, "people are going to tend to either go to the common usage of either Breeders' Cup or World Thoroughbred Championships." Van Clief said when names were tested, World Thoroughbred Championships "came back with the highest rating and appeal," with National Thoroughbred Racing Championships second. Van Clief, on why it has been an "uphill battle" to sign sponsors for the Breeders' Cup: "It's fair to say that you can look at the Breeders' Cup as a microcosm of the problem the industry has faced for years due to lack of centralized marketing. Although the Breeders' Cup has been a successful event ... it's been inhibited by the fact that it has operated independently and it is a one-day event." When asked about a possible merger between the NTRA and Triple Crown Productions, which holds the marketing and media rights to the Triple Crown races, Van Clief said, "We haven't had any formal talks with Triple Crown Productions about a merger or the type of operational combination that the NTRA and Breeders' Cup executed, but we are certainly looking to the future at that very possibility" (DAILY RACING FORM, 7/9).