How to watch Breeders' Cup 2018: TV, live stream details

Coverage of Breeders' Cup races Friday and Saturday at Churchill Downs will be featured on three networks, mainly the NBC family, which has promised new camera angles and upgraded technology for this year's championships.

All five "Future Stars Friday" Breeders' Cup races will air on NBC Sports Network during a 3-7 p.m. ET viewing window. Preceding that, at 1:30 p.m., is a "Betting the Breeders' Cup" special also on NBCSN.

TVG will pick up coverage of Saturday's first two Breeders' Cup races, the Filly & Mare Sprint and Turf Sprint, before coverage moves to NBCSN from 1-3:30 p.m. The main NBC network will broadcast the final four championship races from 3:30-6 p.m.

Looking for a simpler view of the races? Sign up for an Advanced Deposit Wagering service such as TVG or NYRABets and you can easily live stream the Churchill Downs track feed on your computer or mobile device.

Another live stream option is the new (and commercial-free) "Breeders' Cup Live!" -- essentially a pre-race show carried on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports Facebook page. It will air Saturday's first two races along with TVG.

Here's a race-by-race breakdown of where to watch:

Breeders' Cup Friday

Juvenile Turf Sprint (NBCSN)

Juvenile Fillies Turf (NBCSN)

Juvenile Fillies (NBCSN)

Juvenile Turf (NBCSN)

Juvenile (NBCSN)

Breeders' Cup Saturday

Filly & Mare Sprint (TVG)

Turf Sprint (TVG)

Dirt Mile (NBCSN)

Filly & Mare Turf (NBCSN)

Sprint (NBCSN)

Mile (NBC)

Distaff (NBC)

Turf (NBC)

Classic (NBC)

Additionally...

For the first time, Breeders’ Cup will produce a live virtual reality / 360-degree broadcast called Breeders’ Cup VR that will feature three VR cameras placed in the backstretch, paddock and winner’s circle at Churchill Downs. Breeders’ Cup VR will be hosted by racing expert Paul Espinosa and include in-show graphic elements and picture-in-picture features which will allow viewers to monitor the races while other pertinent visuals, such as interviews, social media feeds and live odds and entries are displayed in the background. One highlight of the broadcast is a ground-breaking computer vision enhancement that will automatically detect a horse within the user’s view and display data specific to that horse on their screen.

Fans will be able to experience Breeders’ Cup VR through most VR headsets via the Breeders’ Cup YouTube channel, including Oculus Go, Google Daydream and Cardboard. For those without a VR headset, the broadcast can be viewed in 360-degrees via the Breeders’ Cup website, mobile application and YouTube channel.

Also making its Breeders’ Cup debut at the 2018 World Championships is a state-of-the-art moving camera dubbed the “BatCam.” A cable-supported, self-powered, and mobile camera, the BatCam is mounted to an extensive network of overhead wires that affords access to unobstructed aerial perspectives of the races. The BatCam is able to accelerate to a speed of 60 miles per hour in 1.5 seconds and can reach speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, allowing the camera to deftly capture footage of the ground-level action without falter. The BatCam’s positioning and functionality enables it to follow the races closely, even in undesirable weather conditions that would typically obscure most sports cameras.

The Jockey Cam presented by Aston Martin, a helmet-mounted camera that debuted in the U.S. for the first time at the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, will also return in this year’s event. Last year, the Jockey Cam was worn by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith during his come-from-behind win in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and the resulting video provided an unprecedented first-person perspective to the races that subsequently amassed over 150,000 views online. This year, Breeders’ Cup will again utilize the Jockey Cam and plans to increase its usage throughout the weekend of the championships to provide fans with many unique, bird’s eye viewpoints of the races. The Jockey Cam is being produced by Equine Productions, an international film production company based in the United Kingdom.

“Modern horse racing fans are consuming content in completely new ways, and it is important for Breeders’ Cup to stay on the apex of the technological curve,” said Craig Fravel, CEO and President of Breeders’ Cup. “As a result, we will be implementing revolutionary video camera technologies in this year’s championship event, which will bring an unparalleled level of immersion to the fan experience. Whether our fans are cheering at Churchill Downs or in their homes, they will be able to experience the races in entirely new ways.”