A poker tournament featuring Hollywood celebrities and executives, a Napa Valley wine tasting, a night at the Rose Bowl and a “Tweet Wall” are all part of the plans to make this year’s Breeders’ Cup even more of an elite social happening.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be held at California’s Santa Anita Park on Friday and Saturday, and will feature 13 races with purses of between $1 million and $5 million. The Breeders’ Cup has been working for years to make the event not just a sporting event but also a glitz- and glamour-filled celebration, and that effort continues.
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Actor David Arquette posed for the Twitter Mirror last year.
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“In the advancement of making the Breeders’ Cup the pre-eminent lifestyle and entertainment experience, we are adding a number of new initiatives and events,” said Drew Sheinman, Breeders’ Cup chief marketing officer. “It’s also in support of our strategy of expanding the Breeders’ Cup from a two-day event to more of a weeklong event.”
The Hollywood entertainment industry has been a big supporter of horse racing since Santa Anita Park opened in the 1930s in Arcadia, which is 25 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup festivities kick off Wednesday night with a celebrity poker event at the upscale Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.
On Thursday night, the Breeders’ Cup will host a special event at the Rose Bowl for horse owners, the media and special customers and fans. The Rose Bowl and the Breeders’ Cup have worked together before, as the Pasadena stadium is eight miles from the track, but this is the first time the Rose Bowl will host a Breeders’ Cup event, said Jens Weiden, chief revenue officer for the stadium.
The Rose Bowl event will be held in the stadium’s Court of Champions and will feature ESPN broadcaster and
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The Rose Bowl will play host to a special event for horse owners and other special guests.
Photo by: Rose Bowl Stadium |
horseplayer Kenny Mayne hosting a question-and-answer session with jockeys, trainers and horse owners participating in the Breeders’ Cup.
It’s good for the Rose Bowl and the Breeders’ Cup, Weiden said, adding that sports facilities are looking for ways to use the venues beyond big games and major event days. “What they are trying to do, and what all of us are trying to do in this business, is extend the business,” Weiden said. “We host dozens of events a year. This is really a chance for us to showcase our building for something other than a sports event.”
Friday night, the Breeders’ Cup will host “Taste of the World” at the Huntington Library, featuring gourmet food cooked by famous chefs, including horse owner and Breeders’ Cup board member Bobby Flay.
The Breeders’ Cup will also have a gifting lounge at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, the official hotel of the Breeders’ Cup, not unlike the Academy Awards and the Grammys. Horse owners and celebrities will get swag that ranges from gourmet food and wine to electronics.
For everyday fans, as well as fans who cannot attend the event, the Breeders’ Cup has created digital initiatives over the years to allow people to engage in the event online, including horse racing games on Facebook and a pick-the-winners contest on BreedersCup.com.
This year the Breeders’ Cup will create a “Tweet Wall,” where tweets with the hashtag #BC14 will be selected to run on the video board at Santa Anita Park and on “the players program,” which is the television broadcast for horseplayers that will go out to more than 1,000 outlets, including other tracks, off-track betting facilities and casinos around the world.
“That would be one of the tactics we are going to use to try to get #BC14 trending on Twitter,” said Justin McDonald, Breeders’ Cup vice president of marketing and digital.
It’s a way for fans to feel more involved in the event, whether they are at Santa Anita, or watching the Breeders’ Cup at an off-track betting facility or at home. The Breeders’ Cup will have a team of people reviewing tweets, and anything from someone taking a photo of a Breeders’ Cup party at home, to photos from the track, to horseplayers giving out their picks, can run on the Tweet Wall. In addition to tweets, the Breeders’ Cup will use Instagram and Facebook posts on the Twitter Wall.
“We want to give fans a chance to participate in the moment,” McDonald said, “and to have them see it across the venue and on the players show.”
The Breeders’ Cup is also reviving its Twitter Mirror, where celebrities can have their photos taken while holding up a card with their picks to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be aired in prime time on NBC. On BreedersCup.com, fans can try to win $1 million by picking the top 10 finishers of the Classic. Last year, one fan correctly identified the seven top finishers, in order, and won $1,000.
Horse racing on television has attracted more women than men in recent years, and one of the other new things this year will be a beauty bar on site at Santa Anita, presented by Los Angeles Magazine.
A Napa Valley wine tasting experience will be held on the third floor of Santa Anita, where guests can enjoy wines from 15 Napa vintners while they watch the races.
Musical entertainment at the track will include Kristin Chenoweth singing “The Best Is Yet to Come,” the Breeders’ Cup’s signature song, before the running of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and Richie Sambora performing the national anthem.
The Breeders’ Cup started as a one-day annual horse racing championship in 1984. It was expanded to two days in 2007, and in recent years new races, social events and entertainment have been added to make it a lifestyle happening.
“You want to improve and keep elevating the experience and try new ideas, and we are doing that,” Sheinman said. “And, I think we continue to elevate the brand as a pre-eminent world-class event.”
