Breeders’ Cup Classic watch: Sovereignty strengthens case

This is the seventh installment of a weekly Horse Racing Nation feature tracking the Breeders’ Cup Classic horses all the way through the $7 million race on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

There are two huge Grade 1 races on the Breeders’ Cup Classic trail this week, but no matter what happens on Saturday in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar or Sunday in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga, it will be nearly impossible to top the show put on by Sovereignty during the weekend.

Granted, it was a short and suspect field that he beat in Saturday’s $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1), but the big horse could not have looked any better winning by 10 lengths over Bracket Buster while running one of the fastest editions in the history of the prestigious race at Saratoga.

Zipse: Sovereignty leads memorable Spa day.

Managed with patience and care by his Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Sovereignty has blossomed into one of the more impressive 3-year-olds we have seen in recent memory. With the Breeders’ Cup Classic scheduled to be his next race, he will ship to Del Mar as the favorite as he takes on older horses for the first time.

As good as Sovereignty has looked in his four-race winning streak, the big test at Del Mar will be anything but a foregone conclusion. His opposition in the 1 1/4-mile classic will be strong and will be shaped by the two big Grade 1 races on the docket this weekend.

Saturday’s Pacific Classic will give three top contenders a run over the track and at the distance ahead of the Breeders’ Cup. It also will be the first marquee matchup to see how the top sophomores stack up against their older male counterparts.

Bob Baffert-trained Nysos will be the likely favorite in the 35th edition of the race. A winner of five of his six career starts, the 4-year-old son of Nyquist comes into his biggest test yet off two uncomplicated victories in Southern California.

Two starts back he romped home in the seven-furlong Triple Bend (G3) at Santa Anita before easily winning the San Diego Handicap (G2) last time. That latest victory came at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar in his longest race to date. Unbeaten in two starts over the track, he will be tested for stamina on Saturday.

Michael McCarthy-trained Preakness winner Journalism also should get plenty of betting support Saturday. In seven consecutive graded-stakes starts, the flashy son of Curlin has won five times and finished second twice.

His only two defeats in that stretch came at the hands of Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Most recently, he kicked it in late to get up and win Monmouth Park’s Haskell Stakes (G1) in thrilling style.

Fierceness, the 2023 juvenile male champion, is the third big name for the Pacific Classic. Although he comes in off a disappointing fifth-place result in the Whitney (G1), the 4-year-old son of City of Light has bounced back time after time for trainer Todd Pletcher.

The winner of last year’s Travers has gone out to Southern California twice and run big on both occasions, winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile two seasons ago and finishing a strong second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.

As for the Jockey Club Gold Cup the following day at Saratoga, Mindframe and Sierra Leone will headline the historic, 1 1/4-mile affair. Although Mindframe finished ahead of Sierra Leone in each of their meetings so far, look for Sierra Leone to be the betting choice on Sunday.

A 4-year-old son of Gun Runner, Sierra Leone is rounding into his best form. The winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year has improved with each of his three starts in 2025. Two starts back he closed well to be second behind Mindframe at Churchill Downs. Four weeks ago he put it all together and rallied for the win in the Whitney Stakes (G1).

After success in the Whitney, trainer Chad Brown once again will enter Contrary Thinking in the Jockey Club Gold Cup as a rabbit to set the table for the late run of Sierra Leone. The guarantee of a solid, early pace often has been the difference in winning and losing for the 2024 3-year-old male champion.

Mindframe, on the other hand, is perfect in three starts this season. The lightly raced son of Constitution will return to 1 1/4 miles for the first time since last year’s Belmont Stakes, where he ran a good second to Doornoch in only his third career start.

He has won two straight Grade 1 races for Pletcher and earned his biggest career win when beating Sierra Leone in the Stephen Foster (G1) nine weeks ago in Kentucky.

While those two will take the majority of the betting dollars in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the field will be deep with good horses. Highland Falls, Disarm and White Abarrio, the three who ran best behind Sierra Leone in the Whitney, are expected back on Sunday.

Highland Falls is the defending winner of this race. Although he failed in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, the son of Curlin has come back in fine fettle for trainer Brad Cox this year. Now 5, he was a strong second in the Whitney after romping in an allowance in his return.

The top two from July’s Suburban Stakes (G2) add to the overall depth of this big race at the Spa. Run at the same 1 1/4-mile trip at Saratoga, Phileas Fogg and Antiquarian both turned in big performances that day with Phileas Fogg holding on to win in a photo.

New to the list: none.

Dropped: Magnitude, Thorpedo Anna.