Sovereignty in the Travers. (Angelo Lieto)
Travers Winner Tops Weekly International Poll Tracking Leading Contenders for $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar
Breeders’ Cup Rlease
LEXINGTON, Ky. ― Displaying a dominant performance in Saturday’s Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, Godolphin’s homebred Sovereignty strengthened his overall lead in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings for the fourth consecutive week.
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’s 10-length win the Travers added to his mastery of the 3-year-old division in which he has also captured the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2). The son of Into Mischief garnered 418 votes, including 33 first-place votes.
Sierra Leone, the defending Breeders’ Cup Classic champion and Aug. 2 Whitney Stakes (G1) winner is in second place with 360 votes for owners by Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook T. Smith, and trainer Chad Brown.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC’s homebred 4-year-old Mindframe, winner of the Stephen Foster (G1), is in third place with 307 votes. He is followed by Preakness (G1) and Haskell Stakes (G1) winner Journalism,who ranks fourth with 298 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.
Nysos,winner of the San Diego Handicap (G2) for trainer Bob Baffert and Baoma Corp, is in fifth place with 239 votes.
4-year-old Forever Young (JPN), who captured the Saudi Cup (G1), ranks sixth with 191 votes for owner Susumu Fujita and trainer Yoshito Yahagi. Fierceness, second in the 2024 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic for owners Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael B. Tabor, and Mrs. John Magnier, and trainer Todd Pletcher, is in seventh place with 165 votes.
Baeza,third in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes for trainer John Shirreffs, and C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine,ranks eighth with 109 votes.
Godolphin’s 5-year-old homebred Highland Falls, runner-up in the Whitney Stakes, is in ninth place with 102 votes for trainer Brad Cox.
White Abarrio, winner of the 2023 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, is 10th with 57 votes for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., and owners C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber, and La Milagrosa Stable LLC.
Sierra Leone (Whitney), Mindframe (Stephen Foster), Journalism (Haskell), and Forever Young (Saudi 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 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 – Aug. 26, 2025*
| Rank | Horse | Votes | First Place Votes | Previous Week |
| 1 | Sovereignty | 418 | 33 | 1 |
| 2 | Sierra Leone | 360 | 8 | 2 |
| 3 | Mindframe | 307 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Journalism | 298 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Nysos | 239 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Forever Young (JPN) | 191 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | Fierceness | 165 | 0 | 7 |
| 8 | Baeza | 109 | 0 | 8 |
| 9 | Highland Falls | 102 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 | White Abarrio | 57 | 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.
