Mott lands a trio in latest Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s 5-year-old homebred mare Elate, winner of the Fleur de Lis (G2) and the Delaware Handicap (G2), has jumped into the Top 10 in the latest edition of the Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings which continue to be led by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman’s 4-year-old McKinzie.

Elate, a Bill Mott-trained bay daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of the Distorted Humor mare Cheery, rose from No. 14 to No. 7 during the past week. Elate has won two of her five starts this year, most recently finishing second by a nose in an epic battle with Midnight Bisou in the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga.

Elate’s victory in the Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs on June 15 earned her an automatic berth into the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Both Mott and Claiborne Farm are considering a start in either Distaff or the Classic for Elate. Mott won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1995 with Cigar and again in 2011 with Drosselmeyer.

With Godolphin’s Thunder Snow off the Classic trail, William S. Farish’s Code of Honor moved into the second spot in this week’s rankings. McKinzie runs Saturday in Santa Anita Park's Awesome Again (G1), while across the country Code of Honor goes in Belmont Park's Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

Both the Awesome Again and the Jockey Club Gold Cup will be televised on NBCSN, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Preservationist (third), Yoshida (fourth), Vino Rosso (sixth) and Tacitus (ninth) could each clash in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Mott also trains Yoshida and the 3-year-old Tacitus, giving him a trio in this week's Top 10.

Higher Power (fifth) and Seeking the Soul (eighth) are going in the Awesome Again.

The Breeders’ Cup  Classic Rankings, a weekly rating of the top 10 horses in contention for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park, Nov. 2, 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 the Breeders’ 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:Sept. 24, 2019