Breeders' Cup Classic watch: Fierceness bounces back

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

Regarded as two of the strongest fields among Breeders’ Cup Classic preps, neither the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar nor the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga went entirely as planned this past weekend. 

Saturday in California, the highly regarded Nysos was scratched the day of the race because of a hoof bruise, leaving Journalism and Fierceness to be the two clear choices in the Pacific Classic. The defection took a bit of luster off what was anticipated to be a three-horse showdown. Trained by Bob Baffert, Nysos now will be pointed to the Goodwood Stakes (G1) on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita. 

Fierceness, who went off as the second choice in the race, almost never made it to the second furlong at Del Mar after he ducked in sharply toward the temporary rail shortly after the start. His rider, John Velazquez, almost fell off but the Hall of Famer was able to regain his balance and move Fierceness into contention the first time past the stands.

Journalism, who went off as the heavy favorite in his first try against older horses, showed absolutely no early speed and was detached from the rest of the field early under regular rider Umberto Rispoli.

Stuck behind the leaders for the early stages of the race, Fierceness took advantage of an opening between horses and shot the gap to strike to the lead as the field approached the far turn. Journalism had moved up but was still well behind his rival as he swung wide for his late run.

As they turned for home, it briefly looked like Journalism had a chance to gain on Fierceness, but the older horse had gotten the jump and was much too strong. Easily holding his younger rival at bay, Fierceness crossed the wire an impressive 3 1/4-length winner.

The race was a classic bounce-back performance for the winner, who had looked dull when finishing fifth in the Whitney (G1) in his start before. The champion now has run three big races in as many tries in Southern California and must be considered a major threat again in the Breeders' Cup Classic. 

Meanwhile, Journalism ran another good race, but his ability to beat the very best on Nov. 1 is in serious doubt after suffering his third straight second-place defeat at the 1 1/4-mile distance.

Although Fierceness was able to avoid disaster in the Pacific Classic, the field for the Jockey Club Gold Cup was not so lucky.

Phileas Fogg made a sharp move to the inside a few jumps out of the starting gate and started a chain reaction under rider Kendrick Carmouche. Every horse to his inside was bothered to varying degrees. Phileas Fogg was disqualified from third and placed seventh.

Antiquarian, who had been a bit unlucky in his two previous starts when finishing second in both the Blame Stakes (G3) and the Suburban (G2), reversed his fortune Sunday in a roughly run race. The 4-year-old son of Preservationist was clear of all the problems to his inside and turned in a strong performance to win at odds of 13-1 under rider John Velazquez, who had an amazing weekend.

Mindframe took the worst of it, unseating rider Irad Ortiz Jr. Thankfully, the talented Constitution colt eventually was wrangled by a Saratoga outrider and came out of the ordeal healthy. He now is expected to go straight to the Classic. Although banged up a bit, Ortiz was able to avoid serious injury. 

White Abarrio, who briefly had two riders on him as Ortiz was knocked onto his back, ran on well, all things considered. It’s remarkable that his rider, Edgar Zayas, was able to stay aboard during the incident. The 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner now is expected to run in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile this year. 

Bumped twice early and then having to avoid a fallen Ortiz, Sierra Leone got off to a terrible start as the favorite of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He then was fanned extremely wide when turning for home before rallying strongly to get up for second. His next start will be in defense of his Classic victory last fall at Del Mar. 

Highland Falls and Disarm also were bothered early in the running of the 1 1/4-mile race. Given all the trouble for most of the horses in the race, it’s hard to come away with any concrete conclusions from what we saw Sunday at Saratoga. 

The next noteworthy race on the Breeders’ Cup Classic trail will be the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) on Sept. 20 at Parx Racing. Restricted to 3-year-olds, the 1 1/8-mile test is expected to be led by Baeza.

The John Shirreffs trainee has finished second or third in four consecutive graded stakes since breaking his maiden, with only Sovereignty and Journalism finishing ahead of him in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Jim Dandy (G2).

Gosger and Goal Oriented, who battled down the entire stretch in the Haskell only to be passed late by Journalism, are expected to be among the top threats to Baeza in the Pennsylvania Derby. 

Other contenders expected to show up at Parx include the West Virginia Derby (G3) winner Chunk of Gold, Indiana Derby (G3) winner Tip Top Thomas, Ohio Derby (G3) winner Mo Plex, and the Ellis Park Derby winner Big Truzz. 

Track all the top contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Classic each week right here.

New to the list: None 

Dropped from the list: White Abarrio