BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE ON ESPN360
ESPN360, ESPN.com, Breederscup.com Collaborating to Bring Racing Fans Extensive Week-Long and Live Race Day Coverage
ESPN and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced today that the 2006 Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held Saturday, November 4 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., will be available to fans live on ESPN360 - ESPN's signature broadband service - beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. ESPN360 will bring fans nearly six hours of live coverage without commercial interruption.
ESPN360's presentation will combine the live ESPN television coverage with alternate commentary, ESPN360-exclusive camera shots, and race news and information updates during commercial breaks on the ESPN telecast. Coverage will be hosted by Monmouth Park and Meadowlands Racetrack analyst Brad Thomas, whose commentary and insights will be available exclusively on the live, online presentation. Thomas will also conduct interviews with racing experts and answer questions submitted by fans via ESPN.com's SportsNation.
The ESPN360 coverage, minus live race coverage, will also be available at
http://www.breederscup.com/ . Replays of all eight Breeders' Cup races will be available shortly after each race's completion via ESPN Motion video on ESPN.com and at breederscup.com.
In addition, ESPN.com is providing week-long coverage leading up to the Breeders' Cup Championships, in a special section, including:
* Reports, columns and analysis from ESPN's Kenny Mayne, Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey as well as Bill Finley, Jay Cronley, and Jeremy Plonk;
* Video segments from ESPN2's Wire To Wire and ESPN's Breeders' Cup preview programming;
* Daily photo galleries;
* Cronley's running blog on raceday;
* News, information and horse and rider profiles from Breederscup.com, and more.
Fans can access the ESPN.com 2006 Breeders' Cup special section from the front page of ESPN.com or by going to:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/breederscup06/index?lpos=globalnav&lid=gn_espn_BreedersCup "We are proud to offer this unprecedented access to the Breeders' Cup World Championships," said Keith Chamblin, senior vice president of communications for the NTRA. "The live event is now as close as one's computer screen, giving fans enhanced options and opportunities to follow the Breeders' Cup throughout the week as the event unfolds. We thank ESPN for its support in this new initiative."
The NTRA is a broad-based coalition of horse racing interests, including the American Quarter Horse Association, charged with increasing popularity of horse racing and improving economic conditions for industry participants. The NTRA and Breeders' Cup Limited also conduct the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's year-end Championships consisting of eight races and $20 million in purses and awards and the Breeders' Cup Stakes Program. The NTRA has offices in Lexington, Ky., and New York City. NTRA press releases appear on the NTRA Web site, ntra.com.
ESPN360 is the multi-feature broadband service, free to sports fans that receive high-speed broadband service through an ESPN-affiliated provider. Accessed via ESPN's new online multimedia player, ESPN360 delivers hundreds of hours each month of live and on-demand content and gives fans easy access to the Internet's best sports video library. Launched in 2005, ESPN360's programming lineup includes exclusive, customizable content that covers the full spectrum of sports:
* Live sports including college basketball and football, 2006 FIFA World Cup matches, horse racing, Indy Car racing, ice-skating, lacrosse and boxing;
* Highlights, inside analysis, extended interviews and previews
* Premieres of upcoming ESPN shows and movies
* Archives of ESPN programs like Pardon The Interuption (PTI) and World Series of Poker,
* Distinctive and exclusive online video games.
New events, highlights and features are available every day just for ESPN360 users. More information is available at
http://www.espn.com/
