Antiquarian scoring the Jockey Club Gold Cup. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)
Sovereignty Still Leads Weekly International Poll Tracking Leading Contenders for $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar
Breeders’ Cup Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. ― Centennial Farms’ Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner Antiquarian rose to seventh place after the sixth week of voting in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, while Sovereignty retains the overall lead.
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 Todd Pletcher, Antiquarian gained his second win of the year following his 1 1/2- length victory in the Aug. 31 Jockey Club Gold Cup and earned an automatic starting position into the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. The 4-year-old son of Preservationist rose to seventh place in the rankings this week with 129 votes.
Godolphin’s Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) winner Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott, leads in the rankings with 402 votes. He is followed in second place by the Pletcher-trained Pacific Classic (G1) winner Fierceness (341 votes) for owners Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael B. Tabor, and Mrs. John Magnier.
Sierra Leone, last year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and winner of this year’s Whitney Stakes (G1), is in third place with 329 votes for owners Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook T. Smith, and trainer Chad Brown.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC’s Mindframe, winner of the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1), is in fourth place with 265 votes.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, and Derrick Smith’s Journalism stays in fifth place with 220 votes for trainer Michael McCarthy.
Saudi Cup (G1) winner Forever Young (JPN), is in sixth place with 191 votes for owner Susumu Fujita and trainer Yoshito Yahagi.Following seventh-place Antiquarian is Baoma’s Corp’sSan Diego Handicap (G2) winner Nysos, trained by Bob Baffert, who is in eighth place with 121 votes.
C R K Stables and Grandview Equine’s Baeza, third in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes for trainer John Shirreffs, is in ninth place with 97 votes.
Godolphin’s 5-year-old homebred Highland Falls, runner-up in the Whitney Stakes, is in 10th place with 65 votes for trainer Brad Cox.
Fierceness (Pacific Classic), Sierra Leone (Whitney), Mindframe (Stephen Foster), Journalism (Haskell), Forever Young (Saudi Cup) and Antiquarian (Jockey Club Gold Cup) have each earned automatic starting positions, and fees paid, into this year’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In. The final automatic qualifier for this year’s Classic will be the Goodwood Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park on Sept. 27.
The Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers, and members of the Breeders’ Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 7. A list of voting members can be found here.
In the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.
Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings – Sept. 9, 2025*
| Rank | Horse | Votes | First Place Votes | Previous Week |
| 1 | Sovereignty | 402 | 34 | 1 |
| 2 | Fierceness | 341 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Sierra Leone | 329 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Mindframe | 265 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Journalism | 220 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Forever Young (JPN) | 191 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | Antiquarian | 129 | 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Nysos | 121 | 0 | 7 |
| 9 | Baeza | 97 | 0 | 8 |
| 10 | Highland Falls | 65 | 0 | 10 |
*Note – The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings have 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.
