LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 7, 2020) – Whitney (G1) and Awesome Again Stakes (G1) winner Improbable maintained his lead in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, while Tom’s d’Etat rose to No. 2 and the filly Swiss Skydiver, who captured Saturday’s 145th Preakness Stakes (G1), enters the top 10 at No. 7.
The 2020 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings is a weekly poll of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). The 1 ¼-mile Classic, scheduled to be run on Nov. 7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., is the climactic race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
Improbable (312 votes), owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club International and SF Racing, rose to No. 1 in the rankings following his dominant win in the Sept. 26 Awesome Again at Santa Anita Park. This week, GMB Racing’s Tom’s d’Etat, winner of the Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs, jumped over Gary and Mary West, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Maximum Security (258 votes), winner of the TVG Pacific Classic (G1), into second place.
Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz the Law (233 votes), winner of both the Belmont (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1), remains in fourth place, followed by Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Authentic (202 votes), who finished second by a head to Swiss Skydiver in the Preakness. Allied Racing Stable’s By My Standards (166 votes) stays in sixth place.
Swiss Skydiver (124 votes), owned by Peter Callahan and trained by Kenny McPeek, became just the sixth filly in history to win the Preakness Stakes, prevailing in a dramatic stretch drive by a head over Authentic. The Preakness win gave Swiss Skydiver an automatic berth into the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. Swiss Skydiver also has a “Win and You’re In” berth in the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), which she earned by capturing the Alabama (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 15.
Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm’s Woodward Stakes (G1) winner Global Campaign (84 votes) rises from ninth to eighth place, and Juddmonte Farms’ Suburban Stakes (G2) winner Tacitus (76 votes) moves from 10th place to ninth.
W.S. Farish’s Code of Honor (72 votes), who finished second in Saturday’s Kelso Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park, drops from seventh to 10th place.
Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings – Oct. 7, 2020*
| RANK | HORSE | TOTAL VOTES | FIRST-PLACE VOTES |
| 1 | Improbable | 312 | 16 |
| 2 | Tom’s d’Etat | 261 | 7 |
| 3 | Maximum Security | 258 | 6 |
| 4 | Tiz the Law | 233 | 4 |
| 5 | Authentic | 202 | 1 |
| 6 | By My Standards | 166 | 0 |
| 7 | Swiss Skydiver | 124 | 0 |
| 8 | Global Campaign | 84 | 0 |
| 9 | Tacitus | 76 | 0 |
| 10 | Code of Honor | 72 | 0 |
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. 13. A list of voting members can be found here.
In the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, each voter rates horses on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.
The 2020 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic will be televised live on NBC.
Breeders’ Cup Press Release
