McKinzie a nearly unanimous No. 1 in Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings
Coming off a quiet week in the division, the latest Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings stood pat from the list formed following Saratoga's closing weekend Woodward Stakes (G1). Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman’s 4-year-old McKinzie leads the Top 10, with the next six positions staying in tact from Sept. 3.
The 4-year-old McKinzie, winner of both the Alysheba Stakes (G2) and the Whitney (G1) for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, holds a commanding lead over Godophin’s 5-year-old Thunder Snow, the two-time Dubai World Cup (G1) winner.
Others in the Top 5 are the Woodward winner Preservationist, Travers Stakes (G1) hero Code of Honor and Haskell Invitational (G1) winner Maximum Security.
Trained by Jason Servis, Maximum Security, disqualified from first place for interference in the Kentucky Derby, worked three furlongs handily in 40.55 last Friday at Parx Racing in preparation for the Sept. 21 Pennsylvania Derby (G1), which will be televised live on NBC.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, a weekly listing of the Top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million race Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park, are determined by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers and members of the Breeders’ Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel. Rankings are announced each week through Oct. 15 and can be found on theBreeders’ Cup website along with the list of voting members.
In the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, each voter ranks horses by assigning their allotted votes on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system in descending order.
Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings Top 10 – Sept. 10, 2019 *
Rank | Horse | Total Votes | First Place | Previous |
1 | McKinzie | 276 | 24 | 1 |
2 | Thunder Snow | 174 | 2 | 2 |
3 | Preservationist | 166 | 0 | 3 |
4 | Code of Honor | 162 | 0 | 4 |
5 | Maximum Security | 140 | 1 | 5 |
6 | Yoshida | 111 | 0 | 6 |
7 | Higher Power | 79 | 0 | 7 |
8 | Vino Rosso | 74 | 0 | 8 |
9 | Catholic Boy | 69 | 1 | 8 |
10 | Game Winner | 59 | 0 | 10 |
*Note – The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings have no official bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.