Could Hong Kong have its first Breeders’ Cup runner in 11 years? Not likely.
Self Improvement’s shock victory in Sunday’s US$1 million (HKD$7.79 million) G3 Korea Sprint in Seoul has given him a “Win And You’re In” spot in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on November 1.
The lure of a US$2 million (HK$15.58 million) race, with all entry fees paid and travel largely covered, would seem a no-brainer for Self Improvement’s trainer Manfred Man and the horse’s owners.
But Self Improvement won’t be following grand globetrotter Rich Tapestry in chasing the Breeders’ Cup dream.
Unlike most events where a horse can be entered weeks, or even days, before a race, the Breeders’ Cup operates on a model that rewards early nominations from breeders.
To run at the Breeders’ Cup, horses must be nominated to the scheme – a process that can confuse even the most learned racing mind.
It all begins with stallions, which is the base level that determines eligibility. North American farms can nominate their stallion before December 15 each year for a stipend equal to one service fee. That means foals conceived from the following breeding season are eligible for Breeders’ Cup nomination.
According to statistics released by the Breeders’ Cup in 2024, 380 of North America’s 928 stallions were nominated last year, including nearly all with a fee above $5,000.
International stallions can also be entered at a rate of 50 percent of their stud fee in the Northern Hemisphere and 25 percent in the Southern Hemisphere, with about 250 nominated each year. Still, any foal by a Breeders’ Cup-nominated stallion anywhere in the world is eligible for nomination.
North American foals are encouraged to nominate early – US$400 as a newborn can balloon to US$100,000 later in its career. There are different nomination stages with gradually increasing fees at each stage.
In recent years, eligible stallions produced approximately 10,000 foals with roughly 65 percent of them being Breeders’ Cup-nominated as a foal.
The system is best illustrated by Korea Cup runner-up Chancheng Glory, a 2020 North American foal by Breeders’ Cup-nominated sire Mor Spirit. His breeder missed the early $400 payment, but new owners later paid a $1,500 late fee. That secured Breeders’ Cup status for life, so had he won the Korea Cup on Sunday he would have been fully eligible for the Dirt Mile and received all of the associated “Win And You’re In” perks.
It does work slightly differently for horses foaled abroad, but it is a moot point as Newgate Farm – who stood Self Improvement’s sire Deep Field – have not nominated their stallions, joining the mass Australian exodus from the Breeders’ Cup nomination scheme.
That means Self Improvement is not considered an “eligible” horse and so, should Man and the Wong family wish to run him in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, they would have to pay a nomination fee of US$200,000 (HK$1.56 million) to enter the scheme.
They would then receive the perks – pre-entry and entry fees covered (valued at US$60,000), a US$40,000 travel subsidy and an automatic spot in the gate against some of the best sprinters on the planet.
With all that in mind, it is little wonder that Self Improvement will likely next be seen on December 7 in a Class 2 handicap over 1200m on the Sha Tin all-weather track – a race worth HK$2.84 million (US$364,600) – rather than the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. ∎
