McKinzie No. 1 in final Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings; see the Top 10
Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman’s 4-year-old McKinzie finished as the top-rated horse in final polling for the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings by a panel of leading Thoroughbred racing media, horseplayers and members of the Breeders’ Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel.
Winner of the Alysheba Stakes (G2) and the Whitney (G1), McKinzie led the weekly Classic Rankings since polling began on June 11.
Trained by Bob Baffert, McKinzie finished six votes ahead of William S. Farish’s 3-year-old Code of Honor, who came on strongly during the second half of the year, capturing the Travers (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).
McKinzie finished with 11 first-place votes, one more than the 10 Code of Honor received in the final Classic Rankings.
Both McKinzie and Code of Honor are expected to be the leading contenders for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 2, the culmination of the 36th Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s 4-year-old Vino Rosso, who crossed the wire first in The Jockey Club Gold Cup, but was disqualified and placed second for interfering with Code of Honor in the stretch, finished third in the final poll. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Vino Rosso won the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (G1) in May.
China Horse Club International, WinStar Farm and Head of Plains Partners’ 5-year-old Yoshida, second to McKinzie in the Whitney, and fourth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic for trainer Bill Mott, finished fourth in the poll. Yoshida was followed by Hronis Racing’s TVG Pacific Classic (G1) winner Higher Power, trained by John Sadler, who rounded out the top five.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, a rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the 1 1/4-mile race, were announced each week through Wednesday. The Classic Rankings can be found on the Breeders’ Cup website along with the list of voting members.
In the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, each voter ranked 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 – Oct. 15, 2019*
Rank | Horse | Total Votes | First Place | Previous Week |
1 | McKinzie | 253 | 11 | 1 |
2 | Code of Honor | 247 | 10 | 2 |
3 | Vino Rosso | 224 | 7 | 3 |
4 | Yoshida (JPN) | 158 | 0 | 4 |
5 | Higher Power | 129 | 0 | 5 |
6 | Omaha Beach | 100 | 0 | 6 |
7 | Elate | 95 | 0 | 8 |
8 | Mongolian Groom | 72 | 0 | 9 |
9 | Seeking the Soul | 54 | 0 | 10 |
10 | Owendale | 45 | 0 | Not Ranked |
*Note – The Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings have no official bearing on qualification or selection into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.