Breeders’ Cup Classic: Dornoch retains top spot in rankings
Multiple Grade 1 winner Dornoch retained his lead in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings for a third straight week, holding the advantage with 286 votes.
The 3-year-old Dornoch Good Magic colt put together back-to-back wins in the Belmont Stakes and Haskell Stakes (G1) for trainer Danny Gargan.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Arthur’s Ride held fast in the No. 2 spot with 250 votes for a second week after his dominant Whitney Stakes (G1) score. The 4-year-old Florida-bred son of Tapit won the Whitney by 2 1/4 lengths in his graded-stakes debut for trainer Bill Mott, and earned an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Florida Derby (G1) and Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) winner Fierceness ranks third with 191 votes for trainer Todd Pletcher. Fellow 3-year-old Forever Young, winner of the UAE Derby (G2) and third in the Kentucky Derby, is in fourth place with 182 votes for trainer Yoshito Yahagi.
Sierra Leone, second in the Kentucky Derby, third in the Belmont Stakes for trainer Chad Brown and second in the Jim Dandy last out, ranks fifth with 150 votes.
Sixth in the Whitney last out, the 4-year-old National Treasure dropped to sixth place with 149 votes. National Treasure is trained by Bob Baffert.
The 6-year-old Saudi Cup (G1) winner Señor Buscador ranks seventh with 140 votes for trainer Todd Fincher.
Three-year-old City of Troy, who won the English Derby (G1) at Epsom and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown (G1) for trainer Aidan O’Brien, is in eighth place with 125 votes.
Four-year-old Kingsbarns ranks ninth with 118 votes. Trained by Pletcher, Kingsbarns secured an automatic berth for the Breeders’ Cup Classic when he won the June 29 Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs.
Seven-year-old Ushba Tesoro, second in the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup (G1), remains 10th with 104 votes for trainer Noboru Takagi.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings are determined by a panel of Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers and members of the Breeders’ Cup racing directors-secretaries panel. Rankings will be announced each week through Oct. 8. The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings have no bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
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.
| Rank | Horse | Trainer | Votes | First-place votes | Previous week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dornoch | Danny Gargan | 286 | 15 | 1 |
| 2 | Arthur's Ride | Bill Mott | 250 | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | Fierceness | Todd Pletcher | 191 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Forever Young | Yoshito Yahagi | 182 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Sierra Leone | Chad Brown | 150 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | National Treasure | Bob Baffert | 149 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | Señor Buscador | Todd Fincher | 140 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | City of Troy | Aidan O'Brien | 125 | 3 | 9 |
| 9 | Kingsbarns | Todd Pletcher | 118 | 2 | 8 |
| 10 | Ushba Tesoro | Noboru Takagi | 104 | 1 | 10 |