EUROPEAN BREEDERS' CUP FUND BOARD DECISION (EBF)

It is with regret that the European Breeders’ Fund (EBF) acknowledges that Breeders’ Cup Ltd has opted to terminate the BC/EBF Cross-Registration Agreement, an Agreement which has stood the test of time since the 1995 Covering Season. Now, from the 2011 Covering Season, BC will be applying different regulations in an attempt to boost the numbers of horses eligible to run in the “World” Championship days – and we wish them well in their efforts.



For its part, the EBF will continue to operate under the same general format as before, sponsoring over 1,200 races in Europe each year. It has proved a successful, significant and stabilizing factor since 1984, when EBF funds were first applied to European racing. Although the aims of BC and EBF have been very different, the Cross-Registration Agreement has meant that the two parties have worked closely together throughout the period of the Agreement.



In general terms, the BC and EBF will be operating completely separately, but under similar terms. The EBF is very conscious of the large number of US-sired youngstock which are imported each year to race in Europe – very different to the traffic in the opposite direction. We know that it is highly unlikely that the whole of a crop by a US-based sire will ever be imported to Europe, but details of the 990 Breeders’ Cup sired yearlings of 2010 that have already been nominated to the EBF at $500 by 1st May 2010 make interesting reading. The 990 are the progeny of no less than 132 individual BC sires. Three of those sires have had over 41 yearlings nominated; three have had between 31 and 40 nominated; eight have between 21 and 30 nominated; and four have between 15 and 20 nominated. It might make some sense for some of those stallions to be nominated to the EBF in 2011 at a rate yet to be ratified, thus providing the breeders, who used those stallions, with significant savings, as the progeny will be automatically eligible for the EBF programme which involves around 1,200 races confined to EBF Eligibles.



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