Dornoch, National Treasure lead Breeders' Cup Classic rankings

Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Haskell Stakes winner Dornoch and Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) winner National Treasure are tied atop the first week of tabulated votes for the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings, which include three horses based in Japan.

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.

There were 284 votes each awarded to the 3-year-old Dornoch, trained by Danny Gargan, and the 4-year-old National Treasure, trained by Bob Baffert.

National Treasure is entered in Saturday’s Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, with the race winner gaining an automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Repole Stable’s 3-year-old Fierceness, trained by Todd Pletcher, is in third place with 211 votes, following his 1-length victory over Sierra Leone in last Saturday’s Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga.

Japan-bred Forever Young, winner of the UAE Derby (G2) and third in the Kentucky Derby, is in fourth place with 200 votes for trainer Yoshito Yahagi. Sierra Leone, second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes for trainer Chad Brown, is in fifth place with 171 votes.

Four-year-old Kingsbarns is in sixth place with 143 votes. Also trained by Pletcher, Kingsbarns secured an automatic start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic when he won the June 29 Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs. The 6-year-old Senor Buscador, who won the Saudi Cup (G1) for trainer Todd Fincher, is in seventh place with 132 votes.

Horses based overseas complete places eight through 10 in the Rankings, beginning with 3-year-old City of Troy, who is in eighth place with 128 votes. Trained by Aidan O’Brien, the Kentucky-bred son of Justify won the Derby (G1) at Epsom and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown (G1) against older horses this year.

Seven-year-old Ushba Tesoro, second in the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup (G1), is in ninth place with 126 votes for trainer Noboru Takagi. Four-year-old Derma Sotagake, who finished second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, is in 10th place with 94 votes for trainer Hidetaka Otonashi.

The 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. 8. A list of voting members can be found on the Breeders' Cup website.

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.