BREEDERS' CUP FUTURE BET FIELDS FINALIZED FOR SPRINT, DISTAFF AND CLASSIC; WAGERING AVAILABLE JULY 4-7

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has set the fields for this weekend's inaugural Breeders' Cup Future Bet. Street Cry, winner of the Dubai World Cup, has been listed as the morning line favorite for the Breeders' Cup Classic at 6-1 odds. War Emblem, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, is listed next at 10-1, tied with Sakhee and Mizzen Mast. The Future Bet is a special wager that challenges fans to select in advance the winners of Oct. 26 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships races to be held at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Ill. Races open for wagering this weekend are the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Breeders' Cup Distaff and the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Pools will be open July 4-7, from 1:00-7:00 p.m. (ET) each day.

"We're looking at very competitive, wide open fields for these races offering lucrative opportunities for fans to get involved with the Championships," said Ken Kirchner, NTRA senior vice president of product development. "With horses like Buddha (30/1), Sunday Break (50/1), Macho Uno (15/1) in the Classic; Forest Secrets (30/1), Chamrousse (30/1), You (20/1) in the Distaff; and, Aldebaran (30/1), Gygistar (30/1), and Left Bank (15/1) in the Sprint, there is tremendous value on the board for the players."

Under Breeders' Cup Future Bet rules, each race will offer pari-mutuel groupings of 23 runners plus one field entry consisting of all horses not in the body of 23 for each respective race. All betting, available at outlets nationwide, will be win-only with a minimum wager amount of $2.00. At the conclusion of wagering on July 7, odds for all entries become final. No refunds are made on horses that do not ultimately compete in their designated races. Arlington Park will serve as the processing hub for all wagers.

The opening fields for Breeders' Cup Future Bet wagering on the Distaff, Sprint and Classic appear below. The favorites for the three races are: Breeders' Cup Classic - Street Cry at 6/1; the Breeders' Cup Distaff - Azeri at 5/1; and, the Breeders' Cup Sprint - Kona Gold at 6/1. The odds were set by Mike Watchmaker of DRF.

The complete Breeders' Cup Future Bet schedule for 2002 is:

• Thursday, July 4 - Sunday, July 7: Breeders' Cup Classic, Breeders' Cup Distaff and Breeders' Cup Sprint (Pool I)
• Friday, August 9 - Sunday, August 11: John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf, Breeders' Cup Mile and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Pool 2)
• Friday, August 30 - Monday, September 2: Breeders' Cup Classic, Breeders' Cup Distaff and Breeders' Cup Sprint (Pool 3)
• Friday, September 20 - Friday, September 22: Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (Pool 4).

Daily Racing Form will provide extensive support for the Breeders' Cup Future Bet, including full past performance lines in all editions for all days the Future Bet is offered, plus comprehensive editorial coverage of the Future Bet horses. DRF will conduct special seminars with its handicappers at selected NTRA member racetracks, and DRF has set up a special Breeders' Cup Future Bet section at its website, www.drf.com.

This section includes the same past performances that may be found in the print edition, as well as pool dates and a list of simulcast outlets accepting the wager. The special section will also feature regularly updated odds of horses in the Future Bet pools during open pool dates.

Meanwhile, Equibase Company will be offering fans the opportunity to track all Future Bet horses through its free Virtual Stable e-mail notification service found at www.ntra.com and equibase.com. A similar Virtual Stable enhancement established for this year's Triple Crown has attracted almost 10,000 new subscribers since being introduced in mid-March.

The wager will be hubbed at Arlington Park, host track for the October 26th World Thoroughbred Championships. Arlington will provide a separate satellite feed with a continuous update of the pari-mutuel odds to all simulcast locations for presentation to racing fans at those sites. The special internet link will also be established displaying the pari-mutuel odds for all three races at ntra.com. Fans will wager on the Future Bet with the Classic being Race 1, the Distaff as Race 2 and the Sprint as Race 3 in the Future Bet pools.

The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horseracing interests, including the American Quarter Horse Association, charged with increasing popularity of horseracing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA and Breeders' Cup Limited also conduct the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, Thoroughbred racing's year-end Championships consisting of eight races and $13 million in purses and awards, the Breeders' Cup Stakes Program and the Great State Challenge. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and New York City. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA Web site, www.ntra.com.