Benefitting from dominant wins in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and the GII Jim Dandy Stakes, Godolphin homebred Sovereignty (Into Mischief) leads the first week of tabulated votes for the 2025 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, which are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.
Sovereignty, a 3-year-old, earned 383 votes. Defending Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner, recent GI Whitney Stakes winner, and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) is in second place with 365 votes. Sierra Leone is followed in third place by 3-year-old Journalism (Curlin), winner of the GI Preakness Stakes and the GI Haskell Stakes, with 289 votes.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC's 4-year-old 'TDN Rising Star' Mindframe (Constitution), undefeated in three starts this year, including the GI Churchill Downs Stakes and the GI Stephen Foster Stakes, is in fourth place with 286 votes for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Baoma Corp's 4-year-old 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist), recent winner of the GII San Diego Handicap, is in fifth place with 197 votes for trainer Bob Baffert.
Repole Stable, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and Mrs. John Magnier's 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), runner-up in last year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic and fifth in Saturday's Whitney, is in sixth place with 186 votes.
Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), third in last year's Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, and winner of this year's G1 Saudi Cup, is in seventh place with 143 votes.
C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine's 3-year-old Baeza (McKinzie) is eighth place with 109 votes. Third in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes, Baeza is trained by John Shirreffs.
The 5-year-old Highland Falls (Curlin), runner-up in the Whitney Stakes, is in ninth place with 107 votes for owner/breeder Godolphin and trainer Brad Cox.
Completing the top 10 is C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber, and La Milagrosa Stable LLC's 6-year-old White Abarrio (Race Day), who won the 2023 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Winner of this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, and fourth in the Whitney for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., White Abarrio earned 64 votes.
Journalism (Haskell), Mindframe (Stephen Foster), Sierra Leone (Whitney), 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.
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