Sierra Leone “right where he needs to be” says trainer Brown. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Sovereignty Scratched
Breeders’ Cup Classic Notes
Del Mar was abuzz on Wednesday as the Classic starters wrapped up their preparations for Saturday.
ANTIQUARIAN
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Luis Saez
Set: Approximately 6:30 a.m.
Wednesday Activity: Galloped 1 ¼m at Del Mar under exercise rider Edy Quinteros and gate schooled. Scheduled to school in the paddock today.
Planned Activity: Will go to the track for a routine gallop. Time TBD, but may return to usual 5:45 a.m. timing.
The Quote: The colt looks to be improving and establishing himself as a graded-stakes horse: “He is, physically and mentally. I’ve been driving from Boston to Saratoga every Friday to go watch his breezes and they were consistently getting better visually. Time is time, and Todd’s very consistent with the breeze times.
“Interestingly, after the seven-furlong race, his first race at Gulfstream this year. We knew that seven furlongs wasn’t going to be a forte. Even after that race (which he won by 2 ½ lengths), when he crossed the finish line, Todd looked at me, and I looked at Todd, and he says, ‘Wow, he showed a lot more speed than I thought he had.’ He’s showing that in his races, because he’s been a little bit more forwardly placed. It’s just neat to see the individual improve and be on the incline at the right time.” – Don Little Jr. president and co-owner of Centennial Farms.
Antiquarian serving face pic.twitter.com/UH7im20kfK
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) October 29, 2025
BAEZA
Trainer: John Shirreffs
Jockey: Hector Berrios
Set: 8:10 a.m.
Wednesday Activity: Galloped on the main track, schooled in the paddock
Planned activity: Similar routine tomorrow
The Quote: Trainer John Shirreffs reported that all remains well with Grade 1-winner Baeza in the final days before the Classic.
“I thought he went very well,” Shirreffs said of the colt’s morning gallop over the Del Mar dirt. “He’s smart and he’s very classy, especially on the racetrack. He’s matured a lot.”
Baeza was set to face off against three-time Grade 1-winner Sovereignty in the Classic, but that rematch will have to wait for possibly another afternoon as Sovereignty was scratched from the race Wednesday morning because of a fever. Baeza ran second to Sovereignty in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes in July at Saratoga Race Course, and third to his familiar foe in both the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes this year.
“Ah, I’m just really sorry about that,” Shirreffs said of the key scratch. “I was really looking forward to the race with Sovereignty in it. It’s a little disappointing that he’s not in it.”
Shirreffs added that Baeza proved he belongs with the best of his generation after his admirable efforts this summer in top 3-year-old events, including the Jim Dandy.
“We were within two lengths of Sovereignty in the Jim Dandy, and I thought Baeza ran a terrific race,” Shirreffs said. “He broke from the one hole, so he never got a break during the whole race because for him to relax a little and drop back, he would have caught all the dirt, so he had to maintain his position all the way.”
Baeza was a bridesmaid no more last out, taking a Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and living up to the expectations that have been placed on him since his older brothers, Mage and Dornoch, each won Classic races in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
“We wanted to win one of the Grade 1 races for 3-year-olds. We needed to do it some way, sometime, and we were running out of time,” Shirreffs said. “It was getting close to the end of the year, and the expectations on Baeza were pretty high, and he just had to come through. He ran a great day that day.”
BAEZA looking supremely pleased with himself this morning, 4 days out from the @BreedersCup Classic. #BC25 pic.twitter.com/gT0hL62dSp
— Michael Adolphson (@AdolphsonRacing) October 28, 2025
CONTRARY THINKING
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Set: 6:30 a.m.
Wednesday Activity: Galloped 1½m
Planned activity: Gallop 1½m
Quote: “I’m happy with the post (4). I think it shook out the right way. He’s in a good position.” — Chad Brown
FIERCENESS
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: John Velazquez
Set: Approximately 6:30 a.m.
Wednesday Activity: Galloped 1 ¼m at Del Mar under exercise rider Danny Wright and visited starting gate. Will school in paddock today.
Planned Activity: Will go to the track for a routine gallop. Time TBD, but may return to usual 5:45 a.m. timing.
The Quote 1: On the scratch of Sovereignty: “I feel bad for the connections and the racing public that was looking forward to seeing him run. It’s just one of those things as a trainer you hate to see that happen.” – Todd Pletcher.
“You put so much thought and effort into what you’re going to do training-wise, where you’re going to do your preparations when you’re going to ship, when you’re going have your last breeze and you try to cover every base and try to do everything just right and things like this can still happen.” – Todd Pletcher
Breeders' Cup Classic hope Fierceness in his stall at Del Mar pic.twitter.com/J2EMarEZTH
— PA Racing (@PAracing) October 27, 2025
FOREVER YOUNG (JPN)
Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi
Jockey: Ryusei Sakai
Set: 7:45 a.m.
Wednesday Activity: Breezed in company with American Stage, 4f for 51.0
The Quote: “I thought his work might be too light by watching his breeze. His rider, Ryusei, said it was a good piece of work. Everything is going well so far, and we need to keep his condition until the race. We are here to win the Classic and I will leave it with my jockey.” – Yoshito Yahagi
“I checked his action on the final corner as it is crucial at a tight track, Del Mar. He moved well and it was perfect work this morning. This is a redemption against last year’s winner and runner-up. It is probably the last chance to beat both of them in a race so I would like to get everything out of him and become the champion in the world.” – Ryusei Sakai
FOREVER YOUNG # & AMERICAN STAGE # worked 1/2 mile this morning at @DelMarRacing in preparation for the @BreedersCup. pic.twitter.com/7GT2Qkhzpf
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 29, 2025
JOURNALISM
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Wednesday Activity: Galloped 1m at Del Mar under exercise rider Marc Witkowski and visited the starting gate.
Planned Activity: Will gallop at a time TBD.
The Quote: On the scratch of Sovereignty: “I don’t think it’s good. I don’t think it’s ever good when a horse scratches. It’s unfortunate for the fans. It’s unfortunate for the connections. On big days like this, all you want to do is everybody to get the starting gate doing as well as they could possibly be doing and let them figure it out on the race track.” – Michael McCarthy
Journalism did a little gate schooling this morning in preparations for the @BreedersCup Classic. How do you think the @mwmracing trainee is looking? pic.twitter.com/xUboDzEfdw
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 29, 2025
MINDFRAME
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Set: Approximately 6:30 a.m.
Wednesday Activity: Galloped 1¼m under exercise rider Carlos Perez and visited starting gate. Will school in paddock today.
Planned Activity: Will go to the track for a routine gallop. Time TBD, but may return to usual 5:45 a.m. timing.
The Quote: On the bumping incident at the start of the Jockey Club Gold Cup that knocked jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. out of the saddle. Stablemate Antiquarian won the race: “We were, first of all, very fortunate that he came out of the race relatively unscathed. It’s unfortunate that the whole thing happened and scary watching it. My biggest concern was that he was accustomed to doing his daily training on the main track and going on and off the quarter pole gap. And a lot of times when horses get loose, they’re looking for their way back to the barn and the quarter pole gap would have been that way. I was scared that he might try to jump, jump the gate there, where he normally goes on and off. That was, that was sort of frightening. Once he once he cleared that, I could tell the outriders were in position to catch him, and then I could kind of return my focus to watching the race itself and seeing Antiquarian.” – Todd Pletcher
@BreedersCup Classic contender Mindframe got a Haircut yesterday! He was a very good Boy! pic.twitter.com/uZPfe3KRh1
— zoecadman (@zoecadman) October 28, 2025
NEVADA BEACH
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Wednesday Activity: Galloped 1 1/2m
Planned Activity: Same as Wednesday
The Quote: On the scratch of Sovereignty: “Those things happen; it has happened to all of us. It’s disappointing to the connections that worked so hard to get him here. He was really doing well. That’s why we never relax until we put the saddle on. We are on pins and needles. A thousand things can go wrong.” – Bob Baffert
We’ll see you at the Seaside Oval, Nevada Beach.
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) September 28, 2025
Next up, #BC25 Longines Classic. pic.twitter.com/H6zceSoOuQ
SIERRA LEONE
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Set: 8 a.m.
Wednesday Activity: Galloped 1½m
Planned activity: Gallop 1½m
Quote: “Everything went well today. He looked great.” – Chad Brown
Back to defend his crown!
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 29, 2025
Here's the 2024 @BreedersCup Classic hero Sierra Leone being put through his paces overnight… pic.twitter.com/282Hp5gTVZ
Horse: Sovereignty
Trainer: Bill Mott Scratched
