In a move that brings greater cohesiveness to Breeders’ Cup Friday, all five juvenile races will now be contested on the first of the two-day World Championships, newly branded “Future Stars Friday.”  Breeders’ Cup officials announced the scheduling revamp Thursday, with the new order to take effect when Churchill Downs hosts the horse racing extravaganza on November 2-3.

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and Juvenile Fillies(G1) switch to Friday, joining the events for the turf two-year-olds that had become a mainstay on day one.  The inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint is also set for the Friday.

To preserve the theme, two of the events for three-year-olds and up formerly held on the Friday – the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) and Dirt Mile (G1) – are accordingly transferred to Saturday.  That makes for a total of nine Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday.

The Juvenile will anchor the Breeders Cup on Friday at 6:05 p.m. (ET), while the six million Breeders Cup Classic (G1) remains the final act on Saturday at 5:44 p.m.  The entire race order for both days will not be revealed until October 24.  The Daily Racing Blog will post the official racing schedule as soon as it becomes available.

Also noteworthy are the distances of races that can fluctuate, usually depending upon the configuration of the host track. The Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) once again stretches out to 1 3/8 miles after its shortest-ever edition going 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar (which could have run it at 1 3/8 miles but chose otherwise). The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and the longstanding Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint will both be contested over 5 1/2 furlongs.

DRB likes this change of schedule.  The two year-olds now have their own day in the international spotlight, and with this years BC races being held at Churchill Downs, one can’t help but think we will see the top contenders for the 2019 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.