Breeders' Cup goes to Chicago

Sakhee is beaten by Tiznow at Belmont Park

Arlington Park in Chicago has been confirmed as the venue for the 2002 Breeders' Cup.

The thoroughbred championship of the world took place at Belmont Park, New York, in 2001.

Arlington will be the first new site for the Breeders' Cup since Woodbine in Canada hosted the event in 1996.

There had been doubts about the Chicago track's ability to cope with the large crowds attracted by the world's richest meeting.

But plans have been drawn up to provide temporary seating for the event on 26 October.

It is the equivalent of racing's Super Bowl or World Series

Arlington Park chairman Richard Duchossois

Breeders' Cup president DG Van Clief Jr said: "Arlington is an outstanding, world-class racing facility.

"It is renowned for hosting top-flight international competition and providing its fans with an excellent presentation of thoroughbred racing."

Arlington Park chairman Richard Duchossois said he was delighted to be staging the Breeders' Cup.

"The World Thoroughbred Championships will bring the world`s best to Chicago and Illinois, while exposing our great city and state to a huge national and international audience," he said.

The course is best known for staging the Arlington Million, the world's first million-dollar race when it was instituted in 1981.

Lone Star Park in Texas is also due to join the Breeders' Cup rota in 2005, after renewals at Santa Anita in California (2003) and Churchill Downs in California (2004).

A crowd of more than 50,000 gathered at Belmont Park for the latest Breeders' Cup meeting, where Tiznow won a thrilling Classic from Sakhee.