The Breeders’ Cup Challenge’s partnership with NBC Sports resumes this week with the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, a historic race being run for the first time at its new home, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, the site of the 2014 Breeders’ Cup. The winner will receive an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 1.

Run for the first time in 1938, the race formerly known as the Hollywood Gold Cup was moved to Santa Anita when Hollywood Park closed in December 2013. Its winners include such racing luminaries as Seabiscuit (1938), Triple Crown winners Citation (1959) and Affirmed (1979), and Lava Man, who won it in 2005, 2006, and 2007. From 2007 to 2013, the Gold Cup was run over the synthetic Cushion track at Hollywood.

Headlining this year’s Gold Cup is fan favorite Game On Dude, who will try to replicate Lava Man’s feat by winning the Gold Cup for a third consecutive year, and for the first time on dirt. With eight wins over the dirt track at Santa Anita, Game On Dude has shown affinity for both the track and the surface. Owned by a partnership that includes Major League Baseball’s Joe Torre, Game On Dude is the morning line favorite at odds of 4/5.

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