Looking to Expand its Charities Program, A New Breeders’ Cup Initiative Kicks off Tuesday

[Wandering Eyes]

To most people Tuesday will be just another Tuesday, but for the racing industry it is an important date. It will mark the start to the 100-day countdown to the Breeders' Cup.

To celebrate the occasion, the Breeders' Cup will launch its first-ever Annual Day of Giving, which will become a yearly event. The goal this year is to raise $200,000, which includes a generous pledge from Ken Freirich, a racehorse owner and philanthropist. He will match up to $100,000 of all donations made on July 23.

It's just one part of a bigger goal. Not only does the Breeders' Cup want to increase the amount of money it gives to racing-related charities, it wants to have an even higher profile within the industry than it does now.

“We've been taking an increasing leadership role over the last five, six years for the industry,” said Breeders' Cup COO John Keitt. “A lot of issues have arisen, and not just for the Breeder' Cup, but for all sports, that are focused on accountability, sustainability and social responsibility. We felt this was an opportunity for us to show some leadership. There are some great organizations in the industry that have been donating to charities for a long time. We feel that we can complement that.”

Breeders' Cup began its charitable endeavors about 20 years ago. Most of the money for the charities has come from the Breeders' Cup's cut on merchandise sales. This year, they want to make a bigger difference.

“We decided this year to launch a revamped, re-purposed Breeders' Cup charities to try to make a bigger difference,” Keitt said. “We've been working on this for about a year. The Board has been very supportive. The first big step was when they authorized us to take all net royalties from merchandise sales

and apply that to charity. That gives us a really strong foundation. What we're trying to do is build a more sustainable business model for the charity that relies on potential streams of revenue at our event. We're really changing things around with the idea of our program making a much more significant impact and to be a little bit more focused than we have been in the past.”

The Breeders' Cup will now be looking to make more money for its charities from the event itself. Keitt said that one example is that the Breeders' Cup will take, for its charities, a percentage of the revenue spent on every official Breeders' Cup cocktail. Fans will have multiple ways to contribute to the Breeders' Cups' programs, including an option to make a donation when purchasing tickets to the event.

According to a Breeders' Cup press release, significant contributions will be made across five core pillars: (i) Thoroughbred aftercare, (ii) jockey health and wellness, (iii) backstretch and industry workers, (iv) equine research and (v) other impactful community initiatives.

The recipients will include, among others, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, the Grayson-Jockey Research Foundation and the Race Track Chaplaincy of America.

“The charities that we have identified to start with are more than pleased with what are offering to give them,” Keitt said.

Keitt said there will be a Phase II, where the Breeders' Cup will work directly with some of its charities to help them with their own fundraising efforts.

“We will look at how we can join with organizations so that we can be even more impactful,” he said. “We want to partner with these organizations so we can tell their stories as well. This is part of the mandate the board has given us to be as involved in the overall industry as much as possible.”

To make a donation go to www.breederscup.com/charities or call 859-514-9428.

 

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