From the Breeders’ Cup Media Team / Jim Gluckson:

SOVEREIGNTY FINISHES ATOP FINAL LONGINES BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC RANKINGS

Godolphin Star Dominated Weekly International Poll Tracking Top Contenders for $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 7, 2025) ― Leading all the way from the start of voting 10 weeks ago, Godolphin’s homebred 3-year-old Sovereignty finished first in the final poll of the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings.

The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), which will be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, California, during the 42nd Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Trained by Bill Mott, Sovereignty, winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and the Travers Stakes (G1), earned 394 votes.

Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael B. Tabor, and Mrs. John Magnier’s Fierceness, who won the Aug. 30 Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar, is in second place with 338 votes for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Whitney Stakes (G1) winner and defending Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone finished in third place with 317 votes for owners Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook T. Smith, and trainer Chad Brown.

Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) winner Mindframe finished in fourth place with 245 votes for owners Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC, and trainer Todd Pletcher.

Susumu Fujita’s Forever Young (JPN) won the Oct. 1 listed Nippon TV Hai at Funabashi Racecourse in Japan in his first start since finishing third in the Dubai World Cup (G1) in April. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi, Forever Young, third in last year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, improved from sixth to fifth place in the final poll, earning 217 votes.

Journalism, winner of the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Haskell Stakes (G1), dropped one position to sixth place with 212 votes for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, and Derrick Smith, and trainer Michael McCarthy. Baeza, winner of the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) for C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine, came in seventh place with 172 votes for trainer John Shirreffs.

Two more Pletcher-trained horses finished in the eighth and ninth positions. Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner Antiquarian came in eighth place with 120 votes for Centennial Farms, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm’s 4-year-old Locked, who won the Sept. 27 Woodward (G2) at Aqueduct, came in ninth place with 58 votes.

Godolphin’s 5-year-old homebred Highland Falls, runner-up in the Whitney Stakes (G1), rounded out the top 10 with 45 votes for trainer Brad Cox.

The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings were determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders’ Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. A list of voting members can be found here.

In the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rated horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.

Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings – Oct. 7, 2025*

 

Rank Horse Votes First Place Votes Previous Week
1 Sovereignty 394 35 1
2 Fierceness 338 2 2
3 Sierra Leone 317 2 3
4 Mindframe 245 0 4
5 Forever Young 217 1 6
6 Journalism 212 0 5
7 Baeza 172 0 7
8 Antiquarian 120 0 8
9 Locked 58 0 9
10 Highland Falls 45 0 10

 

*Note – The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings had no bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The 2025 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 1/4 miles on the main track at Del Mar, is limited to 14 starters. The race will be broadcast live on NBC.